Umar

Umar
Sunni Caliph of the Muslim Ummah
Reign	634 – 644
Predecessor	Abu Bakr
Successor	Uthman
Burial	Al-Masjid al-Nabawi, Medina
Names `Umar ibn al-Khattāb
House	Banu Adi
Father	Khattab ibn Nufayl
Mother	Hantamah bint Hisham

For other uses, see Umar (disambiguation).

`Umar ibn al-Khattāb (in Arabic, عمر بن الخطاب) (c. 584 – November 7, 644), sometimes referred by Sunni Muslims as `Umar al-Farūq (Umar the Distinguisher (between Truth and Falsehood)), and is regarded by them as the second of the four Khulafā' ar-Rashīdīn ('rightfully-guided caliphs'). also known in English as Omar or Umar, was from the Banu Adi clan of the Quraysh tribe. He was a companion of Muhammad and became the second Sunni Caliph (634 – 644) following the death of Abu Bakr, the first Sunni Caliph.

Life

Early life

Umar was born in Mecca. In his earlier years, he worked as a shepherd and a merchant, growing up in humble surroundings. His father was Khattab ibn Nufayl, who is said to have been an emotional polytheistic or pre-Christian religion (not a Christian or Muslim or Jew),belonging to a middle class family. Umar was literate, which by some accounts is considered to be uncommon in those times, and he was also well known for his physical strength, being a champion warrior.

Conversion to Islam

When Muhammad began preaching Islam, `Umar ibn al khattab resolved to defend the traditional, polytheistic religion of Arabia. `Umar was most adamant in opposing Muhammad and very prominent in persecuting the Muslims. According to an early story, recounted in Ibn Ishaq's Sīrah, `Umar resolved to assassinate Muhammad. A Muslim he met on the way told him to set his own house in order first, as his sister and her husband had converted to Islam. `Umar went to her house and found her reciting verses of the Qur'an. He became infuriated and hit her. When he saw her bleeding, he was sorry for what he had done and in order to please her he said he would read the sura, Taha, that she had been reading. He was so struck by the sūrah's verses that he accepted Islam that very day. When Umar later went to inform the Quraish chief, Abu Jahl, about his acceptance of Islam, Abu Jahl is reported to have scolded Umar, by saying "God damn you, and damn what you have brought." Full of zealousness, according to one account, Umar, thereafter prayed openly in Ka'abah as the Quraish chiefs, Abu Jahl and Abu Sufyan were said to have watched in anger. According to the same account, this further helped the Muslims to gain their confidence in practicing Islam openly as nobody dared to interfere with Umar when he was openly praying.

However, other traditions acknowledge the steadfastness of Umar in his new faith, still they illustrate that he was beaten for it by Quraysh and thus received protection from al-As b. Wa'il (Ibn Ishaq p 184-185, Ibn Hisham, I p298-299, op. cit. Suliman Bashear, The Title "Fārūq" and Its Association with 'Umar I, Studia Islamica, No. 72. (1990), p 60)

Migration to Medina

`Umar was part of the first emigration (Hijrah) to Yathrib (later renamed Medīnat an-Nabī, or simply Medina) in 622.

Umar was one of the chief advisors (minister) to Muhammad, the other being Abu Bakr.

He was present at the battles of Badr, Uhud, Khaybar, and the raid on Syria, as well as many other engagements. He was one of Muhammad's close companions. In 625, `Umar's daughter Hafsah was married to Muhammad.

Caliphate of Abu Bakr

Abu Bakr was chosen as the new leader of the community by a group of men gathered in a hall, or Calipah. The Muslims who were natives of Medina, the Ansar, had met separately and were planning to elect their own leader. This would have split the community between the native Medinans and the immigrants from Mecca, the Muhajirs. Abu Bakr and Umar arrived at the meeting, where after a days discussions on the question of the new Caliph, Umar forced the issue by publicly giving his allegiance to Abu Bakr. "In Medina, Umar took charge of securing the pledge of allegiance of all residents. He dominated the streets with the help first of the Aslam and then the Abd Al-Ashhal of Aws who in contrast to the majority of Khazraj, quickly became vigorous champions of the new regime. The sources mention the actual use of force only with respect to Companion Al- Zubayr who had been together with some others of the Muhajirun in the house of Fatima. Umar threatened to set the house on fire unless they came out and swore allegiance to Abu Bakr" (Wilferd Madelung, The Succession To Muhammad, p 43, Cambridge University Press)

Abu Bakr was caliph for only a short time. Most of his caliphate was occupied with the Ridda Wars, in which tribes who tried to desert the Muslim alliance were brought to heel. `Umar was one of his chief advisors.

Abū Bakr appointed `Umar as his successor prior to his death in 634. Shi'a Muslims see Abu Bakr's choice as further proof that Abu Bakr and Umar had conspired to keep the leadership from Ali ibn Abi Talib.

Umar's Reign as a caliph

Main article: Reforms of Umar's era

During `Hazrat Umar's reign, the Islamic empire grew at an unprecedented rate, taking Mesopotamia and parts of Persia from the Sassanids (effectively ending that empire), and taking Egypt, Palestine, Syria, North Africa and Armenia from the Byzantines. Many of these conquests followed watershed battles on both the western and eastern fronts. The Battle of Yarmūk, fought near Damascus in 636, saw a small Muslim army defeat a much larger Byzantine force, permanently ending Byzantine rule south of Asia Minor.

A Muslim army achieved victory over a larger force in the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah (c. 636), near the banks of the Euphrates River. During the course of the battle, Muslim general Sa'ad bin Abu Waqqas soundly routed the Sassanid army and killed the Persian general Rostam Farrokhzād.

In 637, after a prolonged siege of Jerusalem, the Muslims finally invaded the city.

According to some accounts, Hazrat Umar entered the city in humble fashion, walking beside a donkey on which his servant was sitting. He is said to have been given the keys to the city by the Orthodox Christian Patriarch Sophronius, then led Muslim prayers at the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. A mosque, the Dome of the Rock, was later built there. It is also said that Umar and the Christians agreed to a number of pacts called The Umariyya Covenant, which set out the rights and obligations of each party. For one version of `Umar's speech to the people after the surrender of Jerusalem, see [1]. Umar demonstrated respect for the other faiths in Jerusalem. For instance, Umar restored the Temple Mount despite Islam not yet "fully establishing" if the Jewish holy site contained any sanctity worth venerating.

However, Jerusalem had probably surrendered at least a year before, and that divergent accounts of Hazrat Umar's stay in Jerusalem may be related tostages in the Islamisation of the city's holy places. A text, existing in a number of versions, in which Hazrat Umar receives the submission of the inhabitants of Jerusalem to the Muslims and formally sets out the rights and obligations of both parties, became known as the Pact or Covenant of Hazrat Umar (Ahd Umar), a foundational text of the dhimma. Much of the Pact has been shown to have originated in later times; here, as elsewhere, developments extending over generations have been concentrated into idealised pictures associated with the revered figure of the second caliph. For indeed, Hazrat Umar's caliphate has traditionally been regarded as the time in which nearly all the major political institutions of Islam had their origin, which cannot have been so in every instance (G.LeviDellaVida and M.Bonner, Encyclopaedia of Islam).

Hazrat Umar undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy, establishing an advanced administration for newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, as well as ordering a census of all the Muslim territories. During his reign, the garrison cities (amsar) of Basra and Kufa were founded or expanded. In 638, he extended and renovated the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina. He also began the process of codifying Islamic law.

Hazrat Umar also ordered the expulsion of the Christian and Jewish communities of Najran and Khaybar and forbade non-Muslims to reside in the Hijaz for longer than three days. (G. Levi DellaVida and M. Bonner, Encyclopedia of Islam, and Madelung, The Succession to Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), p. 74)

Hazrat Umar was known for his simple, austere lifestyle. Rather than adopt the pomp and display affected by the rulers of the time, he continued to live much as he had when Muslims were poor and persecuted. In 639, his fourth year as caliph and the seventeenth year 17 since the Hijra, he decreed that the years of the Islamic era should be counted from the year of the Hijra.

Narratives from Sunni Islamic literature

According to the Sunni tradition, after the siege of Jerusalem, the reason behind Sophronius's welcoming reception was that--according to the biblical prophecies allegedly known to the Christian church in Jerusalem at that time--he learned of a time when a poor, but just and powerful, (because of his extremely austere lifestyle) with his right hand sitting on it after a prolonged battle in Jerusalem (this description perfectly matched the image of `Umar at the time of his arrival) and will actually prove to be a protector and an ally to the Christians of Jerusalem. In agreement with these alleged prophecies, Umar -out of respect to the Christians of Jerusalem- chose to pray some distance from the Church, so as not to endanger its status as a Christian temple.

Another interesting story, according to certain Sunnis, in the meeting between one of Persia’s leaders who previously fought against the Muslims, namely hurmuzan(who later converted to Islam). He found Umar sleeping on the ground after he had sought him out for battle and was amazed of his humility and austere lifestyle he found before him. He commented on that by saying his famous phrase: “You ruled by justice, therefore you became safe; only because of that, you are now able to sleep peacefully anywhere."

Death

`Umar died in 644, the victim of an assassin's dagger. `Umar's killer (Abu-Lu'lu'ah) was a nonmuslim Persian slave who said to have held a personal grudge against Umar; he. A parvenu Arab leader called Mughira ibn Shu’ba bought him and took him to Medina in Arabia for slavery work. He stabbed the Caliph six times. "Umar ordered before his death that all Arab slaves held by the state be freed. The strong bias against non-Arabs in Umar's policies evidently contributed to create the atmosphere in which the Persian captive Abu Lu'lu'a Fayruz, outraged by a perceived slight on the part of the caliph, was prepared to assassinate him"(Wilferd Madelung, The Succession to Muhammad, p 75) `Umar died two days later, and was buried alongside Muhammad and Abū Bakr. Uthman ibn Affan was elected as his successor, by a group of people appointed by `Umar before his death.

Shi'a view

Most Shiite regard Umar as a usurper, brutal and coward. On the grounds of repudiating Muhammad's proclamation of Ali as his heir, being the one of the fugitives of the battles of Uhud and Hunayn and that in the course of the disputed succession to Muhammad, he restored to the threat of using violence against Ali, in order to induce the latter to submit to the authority of Abu Bakr (see for instance Tabari, I, 1819-20). Among Shiite scholars, it is disputed whether Umar caused the death of Muhammad's daughter Fatima Zahra and her unborn child Muhsen.

According to Shi'ites, Umar's rule relied on the support of the Ummayad to strength his position and in turn rewarded the governorate of Syria Yazid b. Abi Suffian during Abu Bakr's caliphate and to his brother Mu'awiyahwhen Umar was the Caliph. They allege that Umar staged the Shura Council to ensure the selection of Uthman, in effect Umar sowed the seeds for the establishment of Umayyad dynastic despotism.

Sunni views

Main article: Sunni view of Umar

Main article: Hadith of Umar and the Qur'an

Sunnis remember Umar as a Farooq and it means leader, jurist and statesman, and the second of the rightly-guided Caliphs. He did not seek advancement for his own family, but rather sought to advance the interests of the Muslim community, the ummah. The general Sunni sentiment for Umar is precisely summarized by one of Muhammad's companions, Abdullah ibn Masud who stated:

Omar's submission to Islam was a conquest, his migration was a victory, his Imamate (period of rule) was a blessing, I have seen when we were unable to pray at the Kaabah until Umar submitted, when he submitted to Islam, he fought them (the pagans) until they left us alone and we prayed.

Non-Muslim view

Main article: Non-Muslim view of Umar

Non-Muslim scholars generally treat Umar as a pivotal figure in the history of Islam, since it was under his aegis that the Muslims expanded outwards from the Syro-Arabian steppe to conquer the Sassanid (Persian) empire and to capture much of the Byzantine Empire's territory in Asia and Northern Africa. They analyze his decisions primarily in military and political terms, while some praise his religious and character judgments. For example, in speaking about his devotedness to Islam, the academic David Norcliff, stated:

Umar was a very pious individual who applied the laws of Islam sternly both to himself and others, and no Muslim would stand against him.

In making reference to Umar's political skills, the Italian orientalist Laura Veccia Vaglieri, was quoted as stating:

if an isolated episode in Arab history, such as Islam was before the death of Muhammad, was transformed into an event of world-wide importance, and the foundations of a Muslim empire which civil wars, lack of unity, and attacks from abroad might shake, but could not destroy, the chief credit for these things must be attributed to the political gifts of Umar.

On the other hand, David Samuel Margoliouth offers a more critical assessment of Umar:

We have no record of any occasion on which Umar played remarkable courage, though many examples are at hand of his brave on another occasion owed his life to the good nature of an enemy (Mohammed and the Rise of Islam, pg 164)

Farūqī

The family names Farūqī (alternative spellings, Faruqi, Farooqui, Farooqi, Faruqi, etc.) and El-Umari are used by families claiming descent from `Umar.

Quotes

Some of Omar's famous quotes include:

• How did you enslave people who were born free men
• Fear him whom you hate.
• One who keeps his own counsel keeps his affairs in his own hand.
• The less of the world, the freer you live.
• Avoidance of sin is lighter than the pain of remorse.

See also

• The first four Sunni Caliphs and the Sunnah
• Historiography of early Islam
• Pact of Umar
• Rashidun
  • Abu Bakr (1st Rashidun)
    • Family tree of Abu Bakr
  • Umar ibn al-Khattab (2nd Rashidun)
    • Family tree of Umar ibn al-Khattab
  • Uthman ibn Affan (3rd Rashidun)
    • Family tree of Uthman ibn Affan
  • Ali ibn Abi Talib (4th Rashidun)
    • Family tree of Ali ibn Abi Talib
• Sahaba
• Succession to Muhammad

References

• Donner, Fred, The Early Islamic Conquests, Princeton University Press, 1981
• Guillaume, A., The Life of Muhammad, Oxford University Press, 1955
• Madelung, Wilferd, The Succession to Muhammad, Cambridge University Press, 1997
• "G.LeviDellaVida and M.Bonner "Umar" in Encyclopedia of Islam CD-ROM Edition v. 1.0, Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands 1999"
• Previte-Orton, C. W (1971). The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

External links

• Family tree of Umar bin al-Khattab
• Excerpt from The History of the Khalifahs by Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti
• Sirah of Amirul Muminin Umar Bin Khattab (r.a.a.) by Shaykh Sayyed Muhammad bin Yahya Al-Husayni Al-Ninowy.
• Umar bin al-Khattab, the Second Khalifa of the Muslims A critical review of Umar's reign