In the year 18 AH the plague came to the Levant. It arrived in the small town of Amwas near Ramla in Palestine, and from there it spread across the whole of Sham. It killed indiscriminately: soldiers, scholars, children, servants, princes. Twenty-five thousand Muslims died in it. Among them were the commander of the entire Muslim army in Sham and the greatest of the deputies of Umar in the conquered lands. This commander was Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah.
He was the man the Prophet ﷺ had called the Trustworthy of this Ummah. The kunya Amin al-Ummah was not a nickname. It was a title given by the Prophet ﷺ himself, and it was tied to Abu Ubaidah's life in a particular way. When the plague reached his army, Abu Ubaidah stood among his soldiers and did not consider leaving.
Umar heard about the plague while traveling north from Madinah to inspect the Sham garrisons. He reached Sargh on the border between Hijaz and Sham. He gathered the Muhajirun. They gave him different opinions. He gathered the Ansar. They gave him different opinions. Finally he sent for the elders of Quraysh who had emigrated in the year of the conquest. They spoke with one voice: turn back, they said. Do not lead the people of Muhammad ﷺ into a land where the plague is raging.
Umar told his herald to announce that he would return to Madinah.
Abu Ubaidah was at Sargh with him. He turned to Umar and said: are you fleeing from the decree of Allah?
The question was sharp. It was the kind of question a commander could ask a caliph only if there was a very deep trust between them. And Umar answered without hesitating: yes, Abu Ubaidah, we flee from the decree of Allah to the decree of Allah. If a man had two valleys, one green and one barren, and he grazed his camels in the green one, he would be acting by the decree of Allah. If he grazed them in the barren one, he would still be acting by the decree of Allah. There is no contradiction. We flee to the decree that gives us life.
Then Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf came late to the meeting and heard the exchange. He said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: if you hear of the plague in a land, do not enter it, and if it breaks out in a land where you are, do not leave it. Umar praised Allah for confirming his decision. He returned to Madinah.
Abu Ubaidah stayed in Sham with his men. The plague reached the camp. Abu Ubaidah gathered the soldiers and spoke to them. He said: this plague is a mercy from your Lord and an answer to the prayer of your Prophet ﷺ and the death of the righteous who have come before you. Then he said: I ask Allah to give me a share of it. He caught it that same week. Muadh ibn Jabal, who was second in command, watched him die.
Before he died, Abu Ubaidah addressed his soldiers again. He gave them his final testament. He said: I bequeath you these words. Establish the salat. Pay the zakat. Perform the hajj and the umrah. Do not obey a man who disobeys Allah. Do not deceive one another. Do not be traitors. Do not be extravagant. Do not exceed the just bounds. Then he said: peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah, and he died.
Muadh ibn Jabal took command briefly, and then Muadh himself died in the same plague, and then Muadh's son Abd ar-Rahman died, and Muadh's wife died, and the wife's sister died, all in the same house. Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan took command after them, and he also died in the plague. When Umar received the news in Madinah he wept. He said: by Allah, if I had my choice, I would have chosen Abu Ubaidah as caliph after me, and if I were asked why, I would say: because the Messenger of Allah ﷺ called him the Trustworthy of this Ummah.
What the story teaches. A trustworthy man is one who does not leave his post when leaving would be permissible. Abu Ubaidah could have left the Sham garrison with the caliph's blessing when the plague came. He stayed with his soldiers. He asked Allah for a share of the very sickness that was killing them so that he would not be spared while they died. The title Amin al-Ummah was not a title of honor without cost. It cost Abu Ubaidah his life, and it cost Umar his greatest general.