Jakarta –
A well in Medina is known as a well that was donated by Uthman bin Affan while he was still alive. This well is more than 1,400 years old and is still operating and producing water today.
Uthman bin Affan is one of the companions of the Prophet SAW who is known as a philanthropist. He never hesitated to spend his wealth in the way of Allah SWT.
Including one of them is the story of Uthman bin Affan buying a well belonging to a Jew in Medina. This story was shared by AR Shohibul Ulum in his book titled Utsman bin Affan: 30 Days of Immersion in the Asceticism of the Charity.
Uthman migrated with the Prophet SAW to Madinah al-Munawwarah with the Muslims. After the migration to Medina, the Prophet SAW together with his companions began a new phase of the struggle to spread the teachings of Islam.
Not long after, Medina was hit by a famine. Communities find it difficult to get clean water, both for drinking and ablution and to meet their daily water needs.
This situation is of course very difficult, especially since the Muhajirin are used to living with abundant zam-zam water in the city of Makkah.
A Jew’s Well
Not far from the Prophet’s Mosque, there lived a Jew who was famous for his greed. He has a fairly large well, with abundant and clear water.
Even though the water from this well was abundant, he did not want to share water with the people of Medina, even if it was only a drop. He made his wells a business field, by selling water to the people of Medina.
The water producing well is named Bir Rumah (House well).
Every day, the Jew sold one bucket of water for one mudd (half a basket) of rice grains. Of course, the price is quite burdensome. However, the people of Medina had no other choice.
Residents are forced to stand in line and buy clean water from the Jews, whose price is not cheap.
Seeing this incident, the companions then told the Prophet SAW. The Prophet SAW then hoped that among his companions there would be those willing to buy the spring, so that the water could flow to the people of Madinah without charging a fee.
“O my friends, whoever of you buys the well, then donates it to the people, then one day he will be in heaven,” the Prophet called out for an offer.
Hearing that, Uthman stood up. Without thinking, Uthman rushed to get to heaven. So, he immediately went to the Jewish owner of the well and offered to buy the well at a high price.
It turned out that, despite being given the highest offer, the Jewish owner of the well still refused to sell it.
“If I sell this well to you O Uthman, then I do not have the income that I can earn every day,” said the Jew explaining the reason for his refusal.
Uthman bin Affan, who was eager to get a reward in the form of heaven from Allah SWT, did not lose his way of dealing with this Jewish rejection. Uthman was also known to be good at negotiating.
“What if I just buy half of it from your well,” Uthman launched his negotiating move.
“You mean?” asked the surprised Jew.
“Look, if you agree, then we will have this well in turn. One day this well is mine, the next day it’s back to you, then the day after tomorrow it’s mine again, and so on one day after another. How about that?” explained Uthman.
The Jew thought fast. “… I got big money from Uthman without losing my well,” he thought.
Finally the Jew agreed to this offer and agreed to sell ‘half’ of his well. Uthman bought half of the spring for 12,000 dirhams.
Then, the way of utilization is by taking turns. One day for the Jew and one day for Uthman.
Water alms from Uthman bin Affan
After owning half of the well, Uthman bin Affan then began to give water alms. He announced to all residents of Medina who needed water that they could fetch water for their needs free of charge (no charge), because today the well is his.
Uthman reminded the people of Medina to take enough water for 2 days, because the next day the well would no longer belong to Uthman.
The next day, the Jews found that their well was empty of buyers, because the people of Medina still had water at home. Jew was devastated because by doing so he lost his income. After that, the Jew came to Uthman and said, “O Uthman, buy half of my well at the same price as you bought half of it yesterday.”
Uthman agreed, then he bought half of the well. Thus the well also belonged to Uthman completely.
Uthman bin Affan donated the well so that it could be used by anyone who needed water. Even the previous Jewish owner of the well is also welcome to use this water free of charge.
Uthman bin Affan’s well is still operational
The well which became Uthman bin Affan’s waqf continues to flow goodness. Even the water is still flowing today.
A few years after this well was endowed by Uthman, several palm trees grew around the well. The number is increasing day by day.
The Ottoman Daulah maintained it until it grew, followed by the Saudi Arabian government, until now there are more than 1,550 date palms around the well.
The Saudi Arabian government, in this case the Saudi Ministry of Agriculture, sells the produce of these date palms to markets. Half of the profits are distributed to orphans and the poor, while the other half is saved and kept in a special account belonging to Uthman bin Affan at a Saudi bank in the name of Uthman bin Affan, under the supervision of the Department of Agriculture.
And so on, until the money in the bank is enough to buy a piece of land and build a fairly large hotel in a strategic place near the Prophet’s Mosque. The hotel building will be rented out as a 5-star hotel. It is estimated that the turnover is around 50 million riyals per year (equivalent to 200 billion rupiah per year).
Half of the profits are donated to orphans and the poor, and the other half is kept and saved in the bank in the name of Uthman bin Affan ra Masha Allah!
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2023-09-06 22:00:09
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