Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah

Hazrat Zaid bin Aslam narrates from his esteemed father Hazrat Aslam (may Allah have mercy on him) that when the land of the Arabian Peninsula became dry due to famine, Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote a letter to his (Egyptian) governor Sayyiduna Amr bin Al-Aas (may Allah be pleased with him) (the contents of which were as follows): From the servant of Allah, Umar, the Commander of the Faithful, to Aas bin Aas. By my life, what concern do you have when you and the people of your region are well-fed and healthy, while I and the people of my region have become thin and weak due to the drought? "O Allah, help us." Sayyiduna Amr bin Al-Aas (may Allah be pleased with him) replied to this letter, writing: Peace be upon you. After that, I submit that I am present to serve you, ready to comply with your command. A caravan is coming to you, the first camel of which will be with you and the last with me. Along with this, I also hope to send goods by sea route. Then, when the first caravan reached (Madina Munawwara), Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) called Sayyiduna Zubair (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: Take responsibility for this first caravan and take it to Najd, and send as much goods to each house as you can, and for those who cannot carry the goods, give each household a camel with supplies, and instruct them to make clothes from the sacks of wheat, melt the fat by slaughtering the camels, dry the meat in the sun to preserve it, and use the hides as well. Then, mix some quantity of dried meat, ghee, and flour, cook it, and let everyone eat until Allah provides them sustenance (until it starts raining and crops begin to grow). Sayyiduna Zubair (may Allah be pleased with him) excused himself from taking this responsibility. Upon this, Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: By Allah, you will never receive such a blessing in your entire life. Then he called another man—I think it was Sayyiduna Talha (may Allah be pleased with him)—but he also excused himself. Then Sayyiduna Abu Ubaidah bin Jarrah (may Allah be pleased with him) was called, and he set out to fulfill this responsibility. When he returned after fulfilling this duty, Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) gave him one thousand dinars. Sayyiduna Abu Ubaidah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O Ibn Khattab, I did not do this work for your pleasure, but rather for the pleasure of Allah, and I will not take any wage for this work. Upon this, Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to send us for such responsibilities and would give us wages, but we did not like to take the wages, yet the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would not accept our dislike (rather, he would insist on giving the wages). Therefore, O Abu Ubaidah, you should also accept this wage and use it for your religious and worldly needs. Thus, Sayyiduna Abu Ubaidah (may Allah be pleased with him) accepted the wealth. Then the rest of the hadith was narrated. Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says: I have some reservation in my heart about Atiyyah bin Sa’d. But this narration has also been reported by Zaid bin Aslam from Ata bin Yasar from Sayyiduna Abu Sa’id (may Allah be pleased with him), which I have mentioned elsewhere. (The comment of the Imam relates to the next hadith.)