Umar
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Categories: Converts to Islam | Arab people | Assassinated people | Rashidun | Sahaba | 580 births | 644 deaths | Family of Muhammad
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For other uses, see Umar (disambiguation).
`Umar ibn al-Khattāb (in Arabic, عمر بن الخطاب) (c. 581 CE – November 7, 644), also known as Umar the Great or Omar the Great was an early Muslim convert from the Banu Adi clan of the Quraysh tribe,[1] and a righteous companion of Muhammad. He became the second Caliph (634 – 644) following the death of Abu Bakr, and is thus regarded by Sunni Muslims as one of the Rashidun (four righteously guided Caliphs). Because of his conquests and political skills he is regarded as a pivotal figure in the history of Islam.
Name`Umar ibn al khataab is also referred to as `Umar al-Farūq (meaning: Umar the Distinguisher [between Truth and Falsehood]). He is regarded by Sunni Muslims as the second of the four Khulafā' ar-Rashīdīn (meaning: rightfully-guided caliphs). In English, his name has also been spelled as Omar. LifeEarly life
Umar was born in Mecca, or Makkah. In his earlier years, he worked as a shepherd and a merchant, growing up in humble surroundings.[2] His father was Khattab ibn Nufayl, who is said to have been an emotional polytheist [3]belonging to a middle class family. Umar was literate, which by some accounts was uncommon in those times, and he was also well known for his physical strength, being a champion warrior. Although Umar was a very well respected and honourable man, and came from a family of noble descent, he was just like the rest of Quraysh.‘Omar was like most of Quraysh before Islam, yet after Islam he became one of the greatest men to walk this earth[4] When Muhammad began preaching Islam, `Umar ibn al-Khattāb resolved to defend the traditional, polytheistic religion of Arabia. He 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. [5] On the way to assasinate the Prophet Umar met a Muslim who told him to set his own house in order first, as his sister and her husband had converted to Islam. Upon arriving at her house, `Umar found her reciting verses of the Qur'an. This so infuriated him that he began to beat her husband. His sister tried to defend her husband, but in the process, Umar mistakenly hit her. When he saw her bleeding, he regretted what he had done. In order to reconcile himself with her, he promised to read the Ta-Ha sūrah, which she had just been reading. So struck was he by the sūrah's verses, that he accepted Islam that very day. When `Umar later went to inform the chief of Quraish, Abu Jahl, about his acceptance of Islam, Abu Jahl is reported to have abused Umar: "God damn you," he said, "and damn what you have brought." [6] Full of jealousness, 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. [7] According to the same account, this further helped the Muslims to gain their confidence in practicing Islam openly, since no one dared to interfere with Umar when he was openly praying. Migration to Medina`Umar was part of the first migration (Hijrah) to Yathrib (later renamed Medīnat an-Nabī, or simply Medina, which means "the city," in 622. [8] where he was one of two chief advisors to Muhammad, the other being Abu Bakr. In the following years, he participated at the battles of Badr, Uhud, Khaybar, and the raid on Syria, as well as many other engagements. He was one of Muhammad's companions. In 625, `Umar's daughter Hafsah was married to the prophet. Caliphate of Abu BakrAbu Bakr was chosen as the new leader, the Khalifah, of the community by a group of men gathered in Saqeefah Bani Saadah, in Medina. 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 natives of Medinas and the immigrants from Mecca, known as the Muhajirs. Finally, both Abu Bakr (RA) and Umar (RA) arrived at the meeting, and, after a day of deliberations, Umar (RA) took the initiative by publicly giving his allegiance to Abu Bakr (RA). The Ansar followed suit, and swore allegiance to Abu Bakr (RA), pointing to various hints given by Muhammad (PBUH) that Abu Bakr (RA) should be his successor. 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 (RA) was one of his chief advisors. Just before his death in 634, Abū Bakr (RA) appointed Umar (RA) as his successor. Umar's Reign as a caliphDuring 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. Although the Islamic empire grew through battles in first days of its life, peoples of occupied lands (especially in Persia) had the most prominent role in improving islamic culture. 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 routed the Sassanid army and killed the Persian general Rostam Farrokhzād. The Treaty of `UmarIn 637, after a prolonged siege of Jerusalem, the Muslims finally entered the city peacefully following the signing of a treaty by the Patraich of Elya Al-Quds (i.e. Jerusalem) and Umar himself. Several years earlier, the Patriach had announced that he would not sign a treaty with anyone other than the Caliph himself. For this reason, `Umar personally came to Jerusalem after Muslims had established control of all the surrounding territory. According to both Muslim and Christian accounts, `Umar entered the city humbly, walking beside a donkey upon which his servant was sitting. He is said to have been given the keys to the city by the Orthodox Christian Patriarch Sophronius, after conducting the peace treaty known as the Treaty of Umar, the English translation of which is provided below:
Then Umar asked the Patriach to lead him to the place of the old Jewish Temple. Umar was shocked to find the site covered in rubbish, as the Romans had initiated the custom of using it as a dung heap. `Umar imemdiately knelt down immediately, and began to clear the area with his hands. When the Muslims saw what he was doing, they followed his example, and soon the entire area of al-Aqsa, approximately 35 acres, was cleaned up. Thereafter, commissioned the construction of a wooden mosque on the southern end of the site, exactly where the present-day mosque of Al-Aqsa stands. `Umar was then led to the sites of the Foundation Stone by a rabbi, Ka'ab al-Ahbar, who had converted to Islam. The rock was surrounded it by a fence, and several years later an Umayyad Khalif built the Dome of the Rock over the site. Upon taking Jerusalem, `Umar demonstrated the utmost respect for members of the other faiths living in the city. For the first time in 500 years since their expulsion from the Holy Land, Jews were allowed to practice their religion freely and live in the vicinity of Jerusalem. According to the Encyclopedia Judaica, seventy Jewish families took up residence in the city. `Umar also agreed to several pacts, called the Umariyya Covenant, with the local Christian population, determining their rights and obligations under Muslim rule. As a conqueror, `Umar undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy. He established an advanced administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories. During his rule, 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. At the same time, `Umar also ordered the expulsion of the Christian and Jewish communities of Najran and Khaibar 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) As a leader, `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 literatureAccording to Sunni tradition, after the siege of Jerusalem, Sophronius welcomed `Umar because, according to biblical prophecies allegedly known to the church in Jerusalem, "a poor, but just and powerful man" will rise as a be a protector and an ally to the Christians of Jerusalem. Sophronius believed that `Umar, a great warrior who led an austere life, was a fulfilment of this prophecy. In the account by the Patriarch of Alexandria, Eutichius, it is said that `Umar paid a visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and sat in its courtyard. When the time for prayer arrived, however, he left the church and prayed outside the compound, in order to avoid having future generations of Muslims use his prayer there as a pretext for converting the church into a mosque. Eutichius adds that `Umar also wrote a decree which he handed to the Patriarch, in which he prohibited that Muslims gather in prayer at the site. [9] Another story tells of the meeting between `Umar and Hurmuzan, a Persian leader who fought against the Muslims, but later converted to Islam.[10] He found `Umar sleeping on the ground after he had sought him out for battle, and was amazed at his humility and austere lifestyle. The story continues that Hurmuzan declared: "You ruled by justice, therefore you became safe; only because of that, you are now able to sleep peacefully anywhere."[11] Image:Tombstone of Umar (r.a) by mohammad adil rais.JPG
Tombstone of Caliph Umar. The first window from the right gives a view of Umar's grave.
DeathUmar died in 644, the victim of an assassin's dagger. His murderer, Abu-Lu'lu'ah, was a Persian slave who is said to have held a personal grudge against `Umar, having once complained to him that he was being overworked by his master. When `Umar ruled in his master's favor, the slave swore to take his revenge. One day when the caliph was leading prayers in the mosque, Abu-Lu'lu'ah walked over to him and stabbed him six times. `Umar died two days later, and was buried alongside Muhammad and Abū Bakr. Uthman ibn Affan was chosen as his successor, by a group of people appointed by Umar before his death. Muslim ViewsIslam remembers Umar as a Farooq, meaning "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 muslim sentiment for Umar is summarized by one of Muhammad's companions, Abdullah ibn Masud:
Non-Muslim ViewNon-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 Norcliffe, stated:
In making reference to Umar's political skills, the Italian orientalist Laura Veccia Vaglieri, was quoted as stating:
On the other hand, David Samuel Margoliouth offers this assessment of Umar:
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