Umar ibn al-Khattāb

[hamo81]

`Umar ibn al-Khattāb (in Arabic, عمر بن الخطاب) , was an early Muslim convert from the Banu Adi clan of the Quraysh tribe,[1] and a 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 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-Khattāb is also referred to as `Umar al-Farūq (meaning: Umar the Distinguisher [between Truth and Falsehood]) and Farooq-e-Azam (meaning: Greatest 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, he is also known as Omar or Umar.

Early life:

Umar was born in Mecca. 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 is considered to be uncommon in those times, and he was also well known for his physical strength, being a champion warrior.[4]

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. [5] 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." [6] 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. [7] 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. [8]

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, the Khalifah, of the community by a group of men gathered in a hall. 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, a minority splinter sect, perceive Abu Bakr's choice as a 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 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. Once in the city he asked Sophrinous to take him to the Al-Aqsa sanctuary. When they reached the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa, Umar was shocked to find it covered in rubbish as the Romans were using the area as a rubbish tip. The Caliph knelt down immediately and with his own hands began to clear the area. When the Muslims saw what he was doing, they followed suit and soon the whole area was cleansed. The area of Al-Aqsa is approximately 35 acres. Umar thereafter commissioned the construction of a wooden mosque on the southern end of the noble sanctuary close to where the present-day black domed Mosque of Al-Aqsa stands.

Umar demonstrated respect for the other faiths in Jerusalem. After the Muslims had liberated Jerusalem and the rest of al-Sham, the prime benefactors were the Jews. For the first time in 500 years since their expulsion from the Holy Land, the Jews were allowed to practice their religion freely and live in the vicinity of Jerusalem. Encyclopedia Judaica - After the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem, Seventy Jewish families started living 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].

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.


P.T.O>>

[hamo81]

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 the account by the Patriarch of Alexandria, Eutichius, it is said that Umar paid a visit to the church of the Resurrection and sat in its courtyard but at the time of prayer he left the church and prayed outside, fearing that future generations might use his prayer inside the church as a pretext for converting it into a mosque. Eutichius further say that Umar wrote also a decree which he handed to the Patriarch, in which he prohibited that Muslims gather in prayer at the site.

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).[10] 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 was killed in 644, the victim of an assassin's dagger. `Umar's killer (Abu-Lu'lu'ah) was a 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. Usman ibn Affan was elected as his successor, by a group of people appointed by `Umar before his death.

“ 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. ”

Farūqī

The family names Farūqī (alternative spellings, Faruqi, Farooqui, Farooqi, Faruqi, "Farooq" etc.) and Al-Omari are used by families descent from `Umar."Al-Faruq: The Life of Omar The Great" is the biography of Umar written by Islamic scholar Shibli Nomani.Its publication took the Muslim World by storm and was considered a great literary event in history of Islamic literature.

[SABRAWY]

Thanks Hamo
keep it up

[hamada14u]

thank you hamo for such a topic

[hamo81]

you are wellcome Hamada
thanks for passing here

[El_Masry1983]

thanks alot hamo
go on

[hamo81]

Originally Posted by El_Masry1983

thanks alot hamo
go on

you're welcome
thanks for Passing

[great_jop]

Thanks Man

[hamo81]

Originally Posted by great_jop

Thanks Man

you're welcome
thanks for Passing

[mahadzira]

And for that heart wrenching story posted up there
Here i conclude a video clip about Syaidina Umar Al Khattab




listen click her:
The leader of the Mu'mineen speaks to us again through the thought-provoking letter written to the leader of the Muslim army in Persia.

This letter details exactly what this Ummah needs for success.

This tells us how we, as Muslims can bring ourselves back from the pitfall we're in, and for the rest of the world to see us as being worth more than the oil we sell.

Please don't underestimate its importance and significance.