Umar
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| Umar bin a-Khittab | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Reign | 634 – 644 | |
| Born | 580 | |
| Mecca, Saudi Arabia | ||
| Died | 7 August 644 | |
| Madinah,Saudi Arabia | ||
| Buried | Al-Masjid al-Nabawi | |
| Predecessor | Abu Bakr | |
| Successor | Uthman | |
`Umar ibn al-Khattāb (in Arabic, عمر بن الخطاب) (c. 580 – August 7, 644), sometimes referred by Sunni Muslims as `Umar al-Farūq (Umar the Distinguisher (between Truth and Falsehood)), 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 Caliph (634 – 644) following the death of Abu Bakr, the first Caliph. He is regarded by Sunnis as the second of the four Khulafā' ar-Rashīdīn ('rightfully-guided caliphs').
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[edit] Life
[edit] Early life
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Umar was born in Mecca. His father was Khattab ibn Nufayl, and he is said to have belonged to a middle class family. He 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 wrestler.[1]
[edit] Conversion to Islam
When Muhammad first declared his message of Islam, `Umar ibn al khattab resolved to defend the traditional religion of the Quraish (regarded by Muslims as idolatry). `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, Ta-Ha, that she had been reading. He was so struck by the sūrah that he accepted Islam that very day.
[edit] 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 the 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. Muhammad's household was not always peaceful; his wives quarreled over his favors and took sides against each other. `Umar was much displeased when he heard this, and according to the story, scolded her thus:
- "Hafsa, the (news) has reached me that you cause God's Messenger (may peace be upon him) trouble. You know that God's Messenger (may peace be upon him) does not love you, and had I not been (your father) he would have divorced you." (On hearing this) she wept bitterly. ([1])
Shi'a say that this demonstrates his harshness; Sunni say that this shows that he put loyalty to Muhammad over the closest family ties.
[edit] The death of Muhammad
After an illness of lasting two weeks, Muhammad died at noon on Monday June 8, 632 (12th Rabi ul-Awwal, AH 11), in the city of Medina, at the age of sixty-three. Upon hearing the news, Umar refused to let the body be buried. He insisted that Muhammad was absent from his body but would return. Abū Bakr had been absent from Medina; upon being told of Muhammad's death, he returned post-haste. According to many accounts, Abu Bakr rebuked Umar and said:
- "If anyone worships Muhammad, let them know that Muhammad is dead, but if anyone worships God, then let them know that God is living and does not die." [citation needed]
Abū Bakr then recited these words from the Qur'an: "Muhammad is but a messenger; messengers (the like of whom) have passed away before him. If, then, he dies or is killed, will you turn back on your heel?"[citation needed] Umar then permitted the burial.
Sunni Muslims say that this episode demonstrates Umar's deep love for Muhammad. Shi'a Muslims say that Umar was only feigning his mad grief; the whole purpose of the episode was to delay burial and gain time for Abu Bakr to return to Medina and usurp command of the Muslim community from Ali ibn Abi Talib, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law.[citation needed]
[edit] 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 Saqifah. 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.
Accounts of this meeting differ and Sunni and Shi'a Muslims differ radically as to their opinion of the legitimacy of the meeting and its outcome. See the article, Succession to Muhammad, for further details and discussion.
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 the proper heir to Muhammad, Ali ibn Abi Talib.
[edit] Umar's Reign as a caliph
During `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.
Another small 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 routed the Sassanid army and killed the Persian general Rostam Farrokhzād.
In 637, after a prolonged siege of Jerusalem, the Muslims took the city.
According to some stories, 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 Treaties, 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 [2].
Divergent accounts of Umar's stay in Jerusalem may be related to stages in the Islamisation of the city's holy places.
"Here, as elsewhere, developments extending over generations have been concentrated into idealised pictures associated with the revered figure of the second caliph. For indeed, 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. Levi DellaVida and M.Bonner, Encyclopaedia of Islam).
`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.
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 Muhammad, p. 74)
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 Hijraand.
[edit] Narratives from Islamic literature
Historically, after the siege of Jerusalem he had dinner, The reason behind Sophronius's welcoming reception was that -according to the biblical prophecies known to the Christian church in Jerusalem at that time- he learned of a time when a poor, but just and powerful, man will come walking beside a donkey (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 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.[citation needed]
Another interesting story lies in the meeting between one of Persia’s leaders who previously fought against the Muslims, namely hurmuzan(who later converted to Islam).[2] 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."[3]
[edit] 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 is said to have held a personal grudge against Umar; he stabbed the Caliph six times as `Umar led the dawn prayers in the Masjid al Nabawi mosque in Medina. `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 prominent Muslims appointed by `Umar before his death.
[edit] Sunni views
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. One hadith, or oral tradition, credited by Sunnis says that at the time of his death he was asked if he would like to nominate his son `Abd-Allah bin `Umar as caliph to which he replied: "One is enough from the Khattab (Umar's) family."
[edit] Shi'a views
Most Shi'a regard `Umar as a usurper, and criticize him. He is said to have questioned some of Muhammad's decisions, shown cowardice in battle, and been too harsh to his daughter when he scolded her for her behavior towards Muhammad. During the matter of the disputed succession to Muhammad, Shi`as believe he persecuted Imam Ali and caused the death of Muhammad's daughter Fatima Zahra as well as an unborn child. Shi'as say that `Umar ruled capriciously as caliph, at times giving legal rulings which contradicted the Qur'an and sunnah.
[edit] Non-Muslim view
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 great powers of the time, the Sassanid and Byzantine empires. They analyze his decisions primarily in military and political terms, and are less concerned with the religious or character judgments that interest Muslims.
Michael H. Hart in his book The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History, ranks Umar in the 52nd place.[3]
[edit] Farūqī
The family names Farūqī (alternative spellings, Faruqi, Farooqui, Farooqi, Faruqi, etc.) and El-Umari are used by families claiming descent from `Umar.
[edit] See also
- The first four Sunni Caliphs and the Sunnah
- Historiography of early Islam
- Pact of Umar
- Rashidun
- Abu Bakr (1st Rashidun)
- Umar ibn al-Khattab (2nd Rashidun)
- Uthman ibn Affan (3rd Rashidun)
- Ali ibn Abi Talib (4th Rashidun)
- Sahaba
- Shia view of Umar bin al-Khattab
- Succession to Muhammad
[edit] Notes
- ^ Numani, Shibli (2004). `Umar, I.B. Tauris Publishers. ISBN 1850436703. p. 4
- ^ Occupation of Khuzestan by Muslims
- ^ Fatwa pertaining to the authenticity of the story.......
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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
| Preceded by Abū Bakr |
Caliph 634-644 |
Succeeded by `Uthmān |
