Biography of umar khattab

Another reason for Umar to censure the Saqifa meeting as a falta was no doubt its turbulent and undignified end, as he and his followers jumped upon the sick Khazraji leader Sa'd bin Ubada in order to teach him a lesson, if not to kill him, for daring to challenge the sole right of Quraysh to rule. This violent break-up of the meeting indicates, moreover, that the Ansar cannot all have been swayed by the wisdom and eloquence of Abu Bakr's speech and have accepted him as the best choice for the succession, as suggested by Caetani.

There would have been no sense in beating up the Khazraji chief if everybody had come around to swearing allegiance to Umar's candidate. A substantial number of the Ansar, presumably of Khazraj in particular, must have refused to follow the lead of the Muhajirun. According to various Twelver Shia sources and Madelung, [ 43 ] [ 44 ] Umar and Abu Bakr had in effect mounted a political coup against Ali at the Saqifah.

It has been reported in mainly Persian historical sources written years later, such as in the History of al-Tabarithat after Ali's refusal to pay homage, Abu Bakr sent Umar with an armed contingent to Fatimah 's house where Ali and his supporters are said to have gathered. Umar is reported to have warned those in the House that unless Ali succumbed to Abu Bakr, he would set the House on fire [ 40 ] [ page needed ] and under these circumstances Ali was forced to capitulate.

This version of events, fully accepted by Shia scholars, is generally rejected by Sunni scholars who, in view of other reports in their literature, believe that Ali gave an oath of alliance to Abu Bakr without any grievance. But then other Sunni and Shia sources say that Ali did not swear allegiance to Abu Bakr after his election but six months later after the death of his wife Fatimah putting into question al-Tabari's account.

Either way the Sunni and the Shia accounts both accept that Ali felt that Abu Bakr should have informed him before going into the meeting with the Ansar and that Ali did swear allegiance to Abu Bakr. Western scholars tend to agree that Ali believed he had a clear mandate to succeed Muhammad, [ citation needed ] but offer differing views as to the extent of use of force by Umar in an attempt to intimidate Ali and his supporters.

For instance, Madelung discounts the possibility of the use of force and argues that:. Isolated reports of use of force against Ali and Banu Hashim who unanimously refused to swear allegiance for six months are probably to be discounted. Abu Bakr no doubt was wise enough to restrain Umar from any violence against them, well realizing that this would inevitably provoke the sense of solidarity of the majority of Abdul Mannaf whose acquiescence he needed.

According to Tom Holland, Umar's historicity is beyond dispute. Rather than ape the manner of a Caesar, as the Ghassanid kings had done, he drew on the example of a quite different kind of Christian. Umar's threadbare robes, his diet of bread, salt and water, and his rejection of worldly riches would have reminded anyone from the desert reaches beyond Palestine of a very particular kind of person.

Monks out in the Judaean desert had long been casting themselves as warriors of God. The achievement of Umar was to take such language to a literal and previously unimaginable extreme. Due to the delicate political situation in Arabia [ vague ]Umar initially opposed military operations against the rebel tribes there, [ citation needed ] hoping to gain their support in the event of an invasion by the Romans or the Persians.

Later, however, he came to agree with Abu Bakr's strategy to crush the rebellion by force. By late CE, Khalid ibn Walid had successfully united Arabia after consecutive victories against the rebels. During his own reign later, Umar would mostly adopt the policy of avoiding wars and consolidating his power in the incorporated lands rather than expanding his empire through continuous warfare.

Abu Bakr appointed Umar as his successor before dying in CE. Umar was well known for his extraordinary willpower, intelligence, political astuteness, impartiality, justice, and care for the poor. His Umar's strictness was there because of my softness when the weight of Caliphate will be over his shoulders he will remain no longer strict.

If I will be asked by God to whom I have appointed my successor, I will tell him that I have appointed the best man among your men. Abu Bakr was aware of Umar's power and ability to succeed him. His was perhaps one of the smoothest transitions of power from one authority to another in the Muslim lands. In his will he instructed Umar to continue the conquests on Iraqi and Syrian fronts.

Even though almost all of the Muslims had given their pledge of loyalty to Umar, he was feared more than loved. According to Muhammad Husayn Haykalthe first challenge for Umar was to win over his subjects and the members of Majlis al Shura. Umar was a gifted orator, and he used his ability to improve his reputation among the people. Muhammad Husayn Haykal wrote that Umar's stress was on the well-being of the poor and underprivileged.

He followed Abu Bakr's decision over the disputed land of Fidak, continuing to treat it as state property. In the Ridda wars, thousands of prisoners from rebel and apostate tribes were taken away as slaves during the expeditions. Umar ordered a general amnesty for the prisoners, and their immediate emancipation. With the necessary public support on his side, Umar took the bold decision of recalling Khalid ibn Walid from supreme command on the Roman front.

The government of Umar was a unitary governmentwhere the sovereign political authority was the caliph. Provinces were further divided into about districts. Each district or main city was under the charge of a junior governor or Amir, usually appointed by Umar himself, but occasionally also appointed by the provincial governor. Other officers at the provincial level were:.

In some districts there were separate military officers, though the Wali was, in most cases, the Commander-in-chief of the army quartered in the province. Every appointment was made in writing. At the time of appointment an instrument of instructions was issued with a view to regulating the Wali's conduct. On assuming office, the Wali was required to assemble the people in the main mosqueand read the instrument of instructions before them.

Remember, I have not appointed you as commanders and tyrants over the people. I have sent you as leaders instead, so that the people may follow your example. Give the Muslims their rights and do not beat them lest they become abused. Do not praise them unduly, lest they fall into the error of conceit. Do not keep your doors shut in their faces, lest the more powerful of them eat up the weaker ones.

And do not behave as if you were superior to them, for that is tyranny over them. Various other strict codes of conduct were to be obeyed by the governors and state officials. The principal officers were required to travel to Mecca on the occasion of the Hajj, during which people were free to present any complaint against them. In order to minimize the chances of corruption, Umar made it a point to pay high salaries to the staff.

Umar was first to establish a special department for the investigation of complaints against the officers of the State. This department acted as the Administrative courtwhere the legal proceedings were personally led by Umar. In important cases Muhammad ibn Maslamah was deputed by Umar to proceed to the spot, investigate the charge and take action.

Sometimes an Inquiry Commission was constituted to investigate the charge. On occasion, the officers against whom complaints were received were summoned to Medina, and charged in Umar's administrative court. Umar was known for this intelligence service through which he made his officials accountable. Another important aspect of Umar's rule was that he forbade any of his governors and agents from engaging in any sort of business dealings whilst in a position of power.

An agent of Umar by the name of Al Harith ibn K'ab ibn Wahb was once found to have extra money beyond his salary and Umar enquired about his wealth. Al Harith replied that he had some money and he engaged in trade with it. Umar said: By Allah, we did not send you to engage in trade! Since Medina, with a rapidly growing population, was at risk of recurring famines when crops were lacking, Umar sought to facilitate the import of grain.

He ordered the building of a canal connecting the Nile to the Red Sea and an improvement of port infrastructure on the Arabian coast. When Basra was established during Umar's rule, he started building a nine-mile canal from the Tigris to the new city for irrigation and drinking water. These two canals were the basis for the agricultural development for the whole Basra region and used for drinking water.

Umar also adopted a policy of assigning barren lands to those who undertook to cultivate them. This policy continued during the Umayyad period and resulted in the cultivation of large areas of barren lands through the construction of irrigation canals by the state and by individuals. Under Umar's leadership, the empire expanded; accordingly, he began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast territory.

He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy, establishing 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.

He also permitted Jewish families to resettle in Jerusalem, which had previously been barred from all Jews. Umar also forbade non-Muslims from residing in the Hejaz for longer than three days. Umar was founder of Fiqhor Islamic jurisprudence. Inhe established Bayt al-mala financial institution and started annual allowances for the Muslims. 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. Umar's visit to Jerusalem is documented in several sources. A recently discovered Judeo-Arabic text has disclosed the following anecdote: [ 69 ]. Umar oversaw the work. The Jews who had come sent letters to the rest of the Jews in Palestine and informed them that Umar had permitted resettlement of Jerusalem by Jews.

Umar, after some consultation, permitted seventy Jewish households to return. They returned to live in the southern part of the city, i. Their aim was to be near the water of Silwan and the Temple Mount and its gates. Then the Commander Umar granted them this request. The seventy families moved to Jerusalem from Tiberias and the area around it with their wives and children.

It is also reported in the name of the Alexandrian Bishop Eutychius — CE that the rock known as the Temple Mount had been a place of ruins as far back as the time of the Empress Helenamother of Constantine the Great, who built churches in Jerusalem. According to lexicographer David ben Abraham al-Fasi died before CEthe Muslim conquest of Palestine brought relief to the country's Jewish citizens, who had previously been barred by the Byzantines from praying on the Temple Mount.

The military conquests were partially terminated between and during the years of great famine in Arabia and plague in the Levant. According to one estimate more than 4, cities were captured during these military conquests. At his death in Novemberhis rule extended from present day Libya in the west to the Indus river in the east and the Oxus river in the north.

In CE, Arabia fell into severe drought followed by a famine. Soon after, the reserves of food at Medina began to run out. Umar ordered caravans of supplies from Syria and Iraq, and personally supervised their distribution. His actions saved countless lives throughout Arabia. Later, Abu Ubaidah paid a personal visit to Medina and acted as an officer of disaster managementwhich was headed personally by Umar.

For internally displaced people, Umar hosted a dinner every night at Medina, which according to one estimate, had attendance of more than a hundred thousand people. While famine was ending in Arabia, many districts in Syria and Palestine were devastated by plague. While Umar was on his way to visit Syria, at Elathe was received by Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, governor of Syria, who informed him about the plague and its intensity, and suggested that Umar go back to Medina.

Umar tried to persuade Abu Ubaidah to come with him to Medina, but he declined to leave his troops in that critical situation. Abu Ubaidah died in of the plague, which also cost the lives of 25, Muslims in Syria. After the plague had weakened, in lateUmar visited Syria for political and administrative re-organization, as most of the veteran commanders and governors had died of the plague.

To be close to the poor, Umar lived in a simple mud hut without doors and walked the streets every evening. After consulting with the poor, Umar established the first welfare state, Bayt al-mal. The Bayt al-mal ran for hundreds of years, from the Rashidun Caliphate in the 7th biography of umar khattab through the Umayyad biography of umar khattab — and well into the Abbasid era.

Umar also introduced a child benefit and pensions for the biographies of umar khattab and the elderly. Local populations of Jews and Christians, persecuted as religious minorities and taxed heavily to finance the Byzantine—Sassanid Warsoften aided Muslims to take over their lands from the Byzantines and Persians, resulting in exceptionally speedy conquests.

He was among the most notorious man who tortured and annoyed muslims, thus some muslims felt desperate for him embracing Islam due to his harshness and ferociousnesshence it was said that Umar would not embrace Islam until one of the donkey of Al Khattab embraced it. However, the crown forelocks of all human beings under the power and will of Allah the Glorified and Exalted, and Allah the Glorified and Exalted is omnipotent of all things.

Whoever Allah wish will be guided, and whoever He wish will be misled. Among those things is:. Allah the Glorified and Exalted is Able to turn a barren earth becomes green and fertile and Allah the Glorified and Exalted is Able to turn a heart that is as hard as a rock becomes soft and sensitive. Allah the Glorified and Exalted decreed:.

A great many of them are now evil-doers. Know well that Allah revives the earth after it becomes lifeless. We have clearly shown Our Signs to you, perchance you will use your reason. One day the messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- invoked Allah the Glorified and Exalted, saying:. After Umar embraced Islam, the glory and power of Islam increased.

I came to the gatherings of the infidels and I announced that I testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and Muhammad is His messenger, thus they swarmed over me and we hit each other, until when their number increased, a man came and stopped us. When muslims were commanded to emigrate, some of them left Mecca furtively, feared of the tricks of the infidels of Quraish.

But Umar emigrated to Medina openly with 20 men from the companions of the messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him. Umar became Muslim in AD, one year after the Migration to Abyssinia, when he was twenty-seven years old. He accepted Islam three days after Hamzah R. At that time the Muslims numbered thirty-nine. Thus, Allah caused His religion to prevail and grant glory to Islam.

Abdullah Ibn Masood R. He also said:. His Migration to Madinah:. When Umar R. Ibn Abbas R. Revelation of the Quran Agreeing with His Opinion:. Umar was an expert jurist and is best known for his justice, in the same way for Muslims and non-Muslims. His Asceticism:. His food was very coarse and he would patch his cloth with leather. He used to carry a water skin on his shoulders in spite of his great esteem.

He used to laugh little and never joked with anyone. When he was appointed as the Caliph, he said: "Nothing is permissible for me from the treasury more than two clothes, one for the cold season and the other for the dry season. The sustenance of my family will be the equivalent of an average man of Quraish and not the rich amongst them, for I am just an ordinary man among the Muslims i.

At the time of drought, Umar R. When Abu Bakr's R. Hence they came back to him and said:. So he looked out over the people and said to them:.

Biography of umar khattab: Umar ibn al-Khattab also spelled

Then Abu Bakr R. He said:. Umar Ibn Al-Khattab R. The above conversation clearly shows that Abu Bakr's R. Hence, we see that the appointment of Umar R. Hence, Umar R. His Reign as Caliph:. His achievements, during his reign as Caliph, are so many and cannot be mentioned in this article. Jerusalem first Qiblah was conquered during his reign alongwith the whole Sassanid Persian Empire and two thirds of the Eastern Roman Empire.

He was also the first person ever to appoint police forces to keep civil order. Another important aspect of Umar's R. His Martyrdom:.

Biography of umar khattab: His personal name was 'Umar,

Imam ibn Kathir said that when Umar R. Allah indeed kind to whom He wishes. He stabbed him three times, one of these below the naval. He asked Abdul Rahman bin Awf R. Abu Lulu withdrew with his dagger but kept stabbing whoever came his way in the mosque until he stabbed thirteen people out of which six died as a result of their injuries. Abdullah bin Awf R.

This was in contrast to his pre-Islam days and also in contrast to the pomp and display many rulers displayed. He devotedly followed the Muslim religion and, as ruler, was concerned with the well-being of the poor and disadvantaged.

Biography of umar khattab: Umar (RA) was wise,

At the time, it was the custom to cut off the hands of thieves. However, Umar did not allow this to be carried out because he felt responsible for not being able to provide full employment for his citizens. In the latter part of his rule, he developed a form of the welfare state, which offered aid to both Muslim and non-Muslim poor, elderly and the disabled.

He used his skill as an orator to gain the loyalty of his subjects. Although he was often feared rather than loved. He cultivated the respect and authority of the population. Umar died on 3 November Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan.