Takhrij Hadith 1685: "Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah…"

Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) set out for Al-Sham (Greater Syria). When he reached Sargh, the commanders of the armies, Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah and his companions, met him and informed him that a plague had broken out in the land of Al-Sham. Ibn Abbas said: Umar said: Call the earliest Muhajirun (Emigrants) for me. So I called them, and he consulted them and informed them that the plague had broken out in Al-Sham. They differed in opinion. Some of them said: You set out for a purpose, and we do not think that you should turn back from it. Others said: With you are the remainder of the people and the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and we do not think that you should expose them to this plague. He said: Withdraw from me. Then he said: Call the Ansar (the Helpers) for me. So I called them, and he consulted them. They followed the same course as the Muhajirun and differed as they had differed. He said: Withdraw from me. Then he said: Call for me those elders of Quraysh who are here from among those who emigrated at the time of the Conquest. So I called them, and not two of them differed with one another. They said: We think that you should return with the people and not expose them to this plague. Umar then announced among the people: I shall set out in the morning on my mount, so be ready to set out. Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah said: Are you fleeing from the decree of Allah? Umar said: Had someone other than you said this, O Abu Ubaidah! Yes, we flee from the decree of Allah to the decree of Allah. Consider: If you had camels that descended into a valley with two sides, one fertile and the other barren, would you not, if you grazed them on the fertile side, graze them by the decree of Allah, and if you grazed them on the barren side, graze them by the decree of Allah? Then Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf came, having been absent attending to some need of his, and said: I have knowledge concerning this matter. I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: “If you hear that it has broken out in a land, do not enter it; and if it breaks out in a land while you are there, do not leave it in flight from it.” Umar praised Allah and then returned.