All are equal before the law

All are equal before the law

1989 10 October 6 All are equal before the law (225) An Egyptian came to Umer Ibn Khattab. “Commander of the Faithful,” he said, “I have come to you to seek shelter from oppression.” Umer told him that his request was granted.

“I had a race against Mohammad Ibn Amr Ibn AI-Aas, the son of the governor of Egypt,” the man protested. “I overtook him and he got angry. He started whipping me, felling me at the same time: ‘Take that! I come from a noble family.” When Umer heard this, he immediately wrote to Amr Ibn Aas, telling him to bring his son to Medina at once. When they arrived, Umer called the Egyptian, gave him a whip and told him to whip the young man. Umer kept on saying: “Take that, member of a noble family,” as he did so. When he had finished whipping Mohammad Ibn Amr Ibn AI-Aas, Umer told him to whip the boy’s father as well, for the son had only acted because of his father’s authority. “I have whipped the one who whipped me”, the Egyptian replied. “Now I don’t need to whip anybody else”. “If you had whipped him, then we would not have stopped you,” Umer told him. “But if you let him go yourself, then that is another matter.” Then, addressing Amr Ibn AI-Aas, he said: “Since when have you enslaved people who were born free?”