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Chapter 7 - Caliph Umar Ibn Al Khattab (RA)
Chapter 7 - Caliph Umar Ibn Al Khattab (RA)
Abu Bakr (RA), during his illness consulted the Shura about the next Caliph and
then gave his decision in favour of Umar (RA).
Umar (RA) was intelligent, had strong will power and a sense of justice – which
earned him the title ‘al-Farooq’, one who distinguishes between right and
wrong
Umar (RA) assumed the office as the second caliph on the same day that his
predecessor died.
Muslims took (Bai’ah ) allegiance of loyalty at the hand of Umar (RA), in Madinah
in Jamada-al-akhirah, in the year 13 A.H/634C.E
After the allegiance, Umar ascended the pulpit and addressed the people who were
assembled in the mosque, “Abu Bakr is no more with us. He successfully ran
the affairs of the Ummah for more than two years. I wish the responsibility of
leading the nation had fallen on someone else. I never desired such a
position. I do not want to put myself on the same level as Abu Bakr”
Some of the reforms and that helped to make Umar’s caliphate so admirable are given below:
• Divided state into provinces each under experienced & qualified governors called
wali – made caliphate safe and prosperous and well administered that led to the
prosperity of its people.
• Complaints against them were heard at the time of hajj and dealt with effectively
and they were instructed to live simply. All this ensured that the public servants were
there to serve the people and ensure smooth running of government without any
corruption.
• Umar (RA) imposed certain restrictions on his officers, he made them take pledge
that they would not keep doorkeepers to ensure easy access to the public, or wear
silk cloths, or eat bread made from refined flour or ride Arabian horse.
• Umar ran the affairs of the state by consultation hence Majlis Shura was established that
comprised both muhajireen and ansaars and a democratic system of government was
put in place.
• He made the judiciary separate from the executive, Qadi was the head of judiciary -
appointed judges which gave the citizens swift and impartial justice. He was
displeased when a judge showed some respect to him when he appeared in his
court as a defendant.
• The bait-ul-maal was created under Amils - made the government finances safe
from misuse and introduced checks and balances on public finance and kept
corruption out of government.
• Umar (RA) would even give to poor Christians and Jews. Upon designating them as
being poor, he would waiver the Jizyah tax from them and give charity.
• The revenues were generated from jizyah, Zakat, Kharaj (spoils of war) and fai’y
(refers to all wealth that Muslims get from polytheists by peaceful mean). One fifth of
the Faiy tax is distributed among specific categories off people, mentioned in the
Quran. He also levied tax on the produce of the land called usher.
• He introduced Islamic calendar and ordered that it should be counted from the first
year of Hijrah and set Muharram as the first month of the year.
• Umar (RA) was the first Muslim to mint the Islamic currency in the year 18 AH. He
imprinted over the Persians inscriptions and added the phrase, “All praise to Allah”
similar phrases were added on different coins and other part of the coin ‘Khaleefah
‘Umar’ (RA) was inscribed.
• Special attention was given to the wellbeing of non-Muslims which ensured good
relations between all the citizens so much so that their affairs were settled by their
religious laws. It fostered religious tolerance.
• He took special care of the farmers in the conquered land and forbade Arab
soldiers to acquire land in the conquered territories. He also gave unused lands to
the people who were willing to make use of them. He said, “O people whoever
revives a dead (barren, unused) land gains ownership thereof.” He founded
new cities such as Kufa, Basra and Fustat.
• During the era of Umar(RA) judges were relied on the same sources that had been
relied upon by messenger of Allah; the Quran, Sunnah and Ijtihaad. But there were
some new developments during the era of rightly guided caliphs. The meaning of
Ijtihaad broadened which resulted in new forms of legal procedures; Ijmaa
(consensus), Qiyas(analogy) and legal precedents.
• He stressed female education and promoted them to receive it. He sent specially
trained teachers to teach Quran. Number of schools and mosques were also built.
Conclusion:
Umar (RA) was an outstanding example of being intelligent, responsible, just and simple, after Holy
Prophet (SAW). He consolidated the conquered territories in an efficient system of administration.
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Battles During the Reign of Umar Ibn Al-Khattab (RA)
Battle of Buwaib
(Ramadhan 13 AH – 634 A.D)
Conquest of Egypt
Fall of Alexandria
Battle of Qadisiyyah (20. A.H - 639 A.D)
(Muharram 15 AH – 637 A.D)
Fall of Mada’in
Battle of Jalula
(637 A.D)
Battle of Nahawand
(Muharram 19 A.H - 642 A.D)
• Persians were defeated and Muslims won this battle. Jaban the right hand of
Rustam was killed in battle.
• It is also believed that Jaban was not killed but was captured and later he was
released. It is believed that Jaban was captured by the companion Matar binn
Fidhah- Al Tamimi. The captor did not realize that he has captured the commander
of opposite army and he set him free for a ransom. However, the Muslims recaptured
him and presented to Abu Ubaid, informing him that he was the Persian commander
and urged him to execute the captive. Abu Ubaid said, “I fear Allah that I may
execute him while a Muslim granted him security. The captor beseeched
saying, “He is the leader!” but Abu Ubaid remained adamant saying, “Even if he
is, I will not betray!” Hence, Jaban was set free.
• Many people who got to know about such exemplary act of Muslims, accepted Islam
and became Muslim. Muslims were victorious in this battle.
• Elephants were the strongest ‘weapon’ that Muslims had to cope with. Every time
enemy attacked sound of bells & the sight of elephants frightened Arabian horses and
they would flee. Only handful of expert horsemen were able to rein in their horses to
maintain their positions.
• Muslims were able to kill 6,000 of enemy troops.
• Persians targeted Muslims with arrows – killed many Muslims
• Abu Ubaid ordered army to dismount and fight. He called out to concentrate on the
elephant and cut their saddle girths to make the troops on them fall to the ground.
• Finally, it was decided to cut elephants’ lips so that they would die but this did not work
though Muslims fought bravely and hundreds of them were trampled under the beasts’
feet.
• Abu Ubaidah was martyred by one of the elephants, his brothers succeeded him,
but one by one, the Muslims commanders were martyred
• Muthanna took charge as commander. He backed by few soldiers and seized the
banner.
• Saad sent an envoy of fourteen people to the court of Yazdgrid with this message
• The emperor insulted the delegation and ordered his men to place the basketful of earth
on head one the noblest men of delegation, Asim ibn Amr
• Asim returned to Qadisyyah and placed the load before Saad and exclaimed, ‘Rejoice,
O Saad! Allah has given us the soil of Persia. He has given us the keys to their
kingdom.’
• Rustam came out with huge army of about 60,000 strong men and many elephants
• Rustum encamped with his army on the opposite bank of the river. He intended to tire
out the Muslims or make them short of supplies before attacking.
• He reached al-Qadisiyyah at a bridge called al-Atiq, facing Muslim camp, with a river
between them
• Muslims again offered a peace agreement to them and gave them 3 days. Rustom
consulted with his officers and they refused to enter into this agreement.
• Arab raiding parties, which attacked the fertile Persian fields, forced the emperor to
order Rustum to commence fighting
• Rustum and his army crossed the river in the secrecy of the night by building a dam to
check the flow of the water.
• Muslims were fully prepared for the fight and they offered dhuhr prayer. Upon hearing
the call to prayer (Azan) Rustum lamented, “It feels as if Umar has eaten my liver!”
• On the first day known as the Day of Armath, Saad commanded his army to advance
after reciting verses from Surah Anfal and boosting the morale of Muslim troops.
Fall of Mada’in
Background and Cause of the Battle
• Saad used successful methods at Battle of Qadissiyah and chased the defeated and
demolished Persian to Babel, where they had sought refuge.
• Saad with the permission from Caliph Umar marched towards Mada’in the capital of the
Persian Empire with the intention to capture it.
• The Victory of Nahawanad came to be known as Fatah al-Futuh, the Victory of Victories.
• Persians were defeated and Firuzan was killed along with 38,000 Persians.
• Thus in 642, this battle shattered the ancient Empire of Persia for all times to come
• Series of victories followed the victory of Nahawanad
• Umar (RA) ordered his commanders to march against all the remaining provinces
• This administered a death blow to the Persian Empire and all unity and cohesion of the
empire was gone
• It was the last and the greatest victory of Umar (RA)’s marvelous reign.
Introduction:
• The Eastern Roman Empire consisting of Syria, Jerusalem and Egypt was called
Byzantine Empire. Muslims under the leadership of Khalid bin Walid (RA) had captured
Hims and Qinnasrin and had laid seige to Damascus at the time of Abu Bakr’s death.
The Muslims conquered Damascus at the time of Umar (RA).
• The fall of some important cities angered the Roman Emperor, Heraclius. He sent huge
army to fight against Muslims. In order to face the huge army, the Muslims left some
places they had occupied and returned to safer border. While leaving the conquered
lands, the Islamic forces paid back the Jizyah that they had collected from non-Muslims
of those regions, telling them, ‘Since we cannot protect you, we are returning it.’ This was
an extremely rare example of integrity set by Muslims in history.
• The Romans were very perturbed at the fall of important cities like Damascus and defeat
at Fihl and Hims in 635 AD
• When Heraclius received reports of the fall of these cities, he became determined in his
decision to recover the towns.
• He issued orders to mobilize troops from all corners of his empire.
• He mobilized a large army around 260,000 men who camped in the valley of Yarmuk
• Battle of Yarmuk was a turning point in the history of the Byzantine empire
• The power of Byzantine was completely crushed & Syria fell in the hands of Muslims
forever
• Heraclius moved his capital to Constantinople after withdrawing from Syria
• After this battle the Muslim forces spread out in all directions in Jordan and captured key
areas to pave the way to Jerusalem.
• After the victory of Yarmuk, Muslims captured many other towns and besieged Jerusalem
under the leadership of Amr bin al-Aas
• The city of Jerusalem surrounded by huge wall (Muslim had special links to Jerusalem)
• Later Abu Ubaida and Khalid bin Waleed joined him.
• Artabun was the guardian of Jerusalem at that time, he was second in authority only to
the emperor himself
• The siege lasted for four months. Muslims had to endure rain, snow and bitter cold.
• The winter season had created difficulties for Muslims and Romans to give stiff
resistance.
• Hazrat Amr bin Aas ‘s army was reinforcement by Hazrat Abu Ubaida who was the
Muslim commander in chief.
• Since the people of Jerusalem had already seen the defeat of the Byzantine forces, they
agreed to surrender but only if caliph came in person to sign the treaty in their presence
• The message was sent to Umar (RA) after consulting with the Shura, he accepted the
offer
• He appointed Ali (RA) as his deputy in Madinah and went to Jerusalem with his slave
• They had one camel on which they rode turn by turn
• When they entered Jerusalem, it was his slaves turn to be on the camel, Umar (RA)
entered Jerusalem holding the rope of camel on which his slave was riding
• His cloths were very simple, dirty and had several patches on them
• Umar (RA) signed the treaty under which the inhabitants of Jerusalem were guaranteed
complete security of their life and property, they agreed to pay Jizyah
• There Places of worship were secured and remained intact
• People were allowed to follow their religion freely which made many people accept Islam
• They offered him keys of Jerusalem and visited to Masjid-al-Aqsa, Christian churches
and other historical places.
• This way Jerusalem also fell into the hands of the Muslims.
• Amr bin Al-Aas entered Egypt through root of Wadi Al Arish and after attacking some
small towns laid siege to one of the strongest force of Romans in Egypt at Fustat.
• Amr handed over the operations to Zubair who captured the fort after a 7-months long
siege, by scaling the walls and opening the gates for the Muslim army to enter.
• The fall of Fustat give a severe blow to the Roman might in Egypt
• The Byzantine emperor upon hearing the news of the fall of fort got furious and sent a
big army to Alexandria
• It is important to note that at that time Alexandria was the capital of the region and also
the financial capital and Romans were aware of the dangers posed by the Muslims
invasion of the city.
• When Muslims reached the city, they found it heavily fortified manned by 50,000 soldiers
and the Muslims strength was about 12,000 only
• Whenever the Muslims tried to get close to the city the enemy rained boulders on them
and also because Alexandra was the major port and help could come from sea anytime
Heraclius wished to personally face the Muslims in the battle of Alexandria but Allah
caused his death during the Siege and that caused disorder in his troops as well.
• This seige was dragged on for about 9 months and finally the troops were placed under
Ubaidah Ibn Samit by Amr bin Al-Aas and the Muslims conquered Alexandria the same
day- it was last month of the year 21 AH, 641 CE.
• Al Mughaira bin Shu'bah, who was the governor of Kufah, had a Persian slave named
Feroz Abu Lulu, who was a native of Nihawand. He was highly skilled worker,
carpenter, smith and sculptor.Al Mughaira wished to let him work in Madinah and to profit
from his earnings as under Islamic law the owner of the slave was entitled to a certain
share in the latter's gains.Abu Lulu set up his trade in Medina and prospered.
Cause of Assassination
• Al-Mughaira used to take 4 Dirhams from his daily earnings which was quite reasonable
• Feroz complained to Omar (RA) that his master charged him too high tax
• Umar found out that his earnings were far above the sum demanded by Al-Mughaira
• Though he planned to talk Al Mughaira, for the present, however he advised a slave to
behave well
• This roused the slave's anger and he openly threatened to kill Omar when Umar (RA)
asked him, “Have I not been told that you say that if you wanted you could make a mill
that is run by the wind?”
• He scowled in response, “I will make a mill for you that people will talk about!” Umar
(RA) turned to his companions and said, “The slave has threatened me.”
• Some people advised Omar to arrest the slave but he refused to do so and also, he laid
down the rule that citizen should not be arrested on grounds of suspicion.
• On the morning of 27th Dhul Hijjah, Abu Lulu attacked Omar with a double-bladed
dagger while Omar was leading the Dawn prayer
• Omar (RA) took the hand of Abdur Rehman bin Awf and made him advance to lead
the prayer. Omar (RA) was severely wounded in the stomach and survived for few days
after the attack. One of the slashes was below the navel and that is the one that proved
fatal.
• Abu lulu also stabbed thirteen more companions in the mosque, seven of whom
succumbed to their wounds and died.
• Umar (RA) said, “O Ibn Abbaas! Find out who attacked me.” Ibn Abbas (RA) kept on
looking here and there for a short time and came to say. “The slave of Al Mughira.”
Umar (RA) said, “May Allah curse him! I did not treat him unjustly. All praise to
Allah the Almighty who has not caused me to die at the hand of a man who claims
himself to be a Muslim.”
• When Feroz was caught, he killed himself.
• Suhaib bin Sinan (RA) led the prayers between Prophet (SAW)’s pulpit and his house.
• Suhaib (RA) was leading Muslims in obligatory prayers on Umar (RA)’s order that is why
he was chosen for his funeral prayer.
• He was martyred on Wednesday with three or four days remaining of Dhul Hijjah (last
month of Islamic calendar).
• He passed away at the age of 63 in 23rd AH, 644 A.D
• He ruled for 13 and a half years and a few days.
• He was buried next to Prophet (SAW) in the apartment of Ayesha (RA) as he requested
her to permit his burial by the side of Prophet (SAW).
• Umar (RA) said, “If she gives permission, burry me there and if she refuses, then
take me to the graveyard of the Muslims.”
• Despite of the fact, Ayesha (RA) wanted to be buried next to her husband and her father
but she granted permission to Umar (RA).
• Ayesha (RA) said, “I had the idea of having this place for myself, but today I prefer
Umar to myself.”