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my faith
...
ISLAM
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her husband had just passed away.
That was why she had no money to
buy food. Unfortunately the people
in charge of the
Bayt al- Mal
, the
public treasury, did not know of the
lady’s trouble. If they had known,
they would have helped her.
Tears welled up in the pious
Khalif’s
eyes. “
Why ever did you not tell the
Khalif about this?
”
“
I am a woman
,” answered the lady,
“
And I cannot go about looking for
the Khalif to tell him my troubles. If
he is really the Khalif, he should
know about them. It is his duty to
help people in trouble. I feel our
Khalif is not doing his duty properly.
‘Umar [r] has let me down. I don’t
think he ought to be Khalif if this is
how he treats those who are in
need.
”
“But how can ‘Umar know of your
