Hazrat Umar ibn Al-Khattāb (Umar Son of Al-Khattab) R.A, also spelled as Omar, [579 CE –3 November 644 CE], was one of the most powerful and influential Muslim caliphs (Heads of Islamic, pro-humanitarian, democratic, rehabilitative, reformative, representative government) in history. He was a Sahabi or close companion of the last and final holy Prophet Hazrat MOHAMMED MUSTAFA (S.A.W). He succeeded Abu Bakr (632–634) as the second Khalif-e-Rashid(Rightly Guided Caliph) of the Rashidun Caliphate on 23 August 634. He was an expert Islamic jurist and is best known for his pious and just nature, which earned him the title Al-Farooq (the one who distinguishes between right and wrong). Under Hazrat Umar’s rule, the Rashidun Caliphate expanded at an unprecedented rate, ruling the whole Sasanian Empire (Persian Empire) and more than two thirds of the Byzantine Empire (Roman Empire). His attacks against the Sassanid Persian Empire resulted in the conquest of Persia in fewer than two years. It was Hazrat Umar, according to Jewish tradition, who set aside the Christian ban on Jews and allowed them into Jerusalem and to worship. Al-KHILAFAH ar-RASHIDAH (Rightly Guided Caliphate) was an IDEAL MODEL of Governmental System, based on the commandments of ALLAH (i.e. al-Quran) and perfect practical demonstration and traditions (as-Sunnah) of his holiness Hazrat MOHAMMED MUSTAFA (S.A.W), established in city of Madinah or Medina in 622 C.E. The same IDEAL MODEL was followed by the Rightly Guided Caliphs (Heads of Government) i.e. Hazrat ABU BAKR as-SIDDIQUE (R.A), Hazrat OMAR al FAROOQUE, Hazrat OTHMAN al GHANI, Hazrat MOULA ALI al MURTAZA (R.A), Hazrat MOULA HASSAN al MUJTABA (R.A), continued upto the 30 years after the worldly physical death of holy Prophet (S.A.W). KHILAFAT-e-RASHIDAH was the pro-humanitarian, democratic, rehabilitative, reformative, government system that safeguarded, guaranteed and strongly supported the establishment of the HUMAN RIGHTS, specially the RIGHTS of the most DEPRIVED, DEPRESSED,OPPRESSED, SUPPRESSED and SUBJUGATED SEGMENTS of SOCIETY such as Slaves and Prisoners, Orphans and Children, Widows and Women, Aged and Ills, Physically and Mentally Disable Persons and Poor People, Laborers and Blue Collar Workers etc. The ORIGINAL OBJECTIVE of KHILAFAT-e-RASHIDAH government system was to take total responsibility for providing every type of immediate and urgent help and support and security for provisions (i.e basic necessities) which are essential for a life of poor and needy people (such as fresh food, neat and clean drinking water, clothing, shelter, education, social and medical security and socio-politico-economic services etc), free of cost at their door step, without begging or demanding by any person, by establishing the system of SALAWT and ZAKAT through the MASJID, positively and efficiently engaging the RICH and WEALTHY class of community in this great goal of human service. Hazrat Umar R.A was born in Makkah or Mecca to the Banu Adi clan of Quraish tribe, which was responsible for arbitration among the tribes. His father was Khattab ibn Nufayl and his mother was Hantama bint Hisham, from the tribe of Banu Makhzum. He is said to have belonged to a middle-class family. In his youth he used to tend to his father’s camels in the plains near Mecca. His father was famed for his intelligence among his tribe. He was a High-class merchant. Despite literacy being uncommon in pre-Islamic Arabia, Hazrat Umar R.A learned to read and write in his youth. Though not a poet himself, he developed a love for poetry and literature. According to the tradition of Quraish, while still in his teenage years, Hazrat Umar R.A learned martial arts, horse riding and wrestling. He was tall, physically powerful and was soon to become a renowned wrestler. Hazrat Umar R.A was also a gifted orator, and due to his intelligence and overwhelming personality, he succeeded his father as an arbitrator of conflicts among the tribes. In addition, Hazrat Umar R.A followed the traditional profession of Quraish. He became a merchant and made several journeys to Rome and Persia, where he is said to have met the various scholars and analyzed the Roman and Persian societies closely. However, as a merchant he is believed to have never been successful. In 610 the beloved holy Prophet Hazrat MOHAMMED MUSTAFA (S.A.W) started preaching the message of Islam. Hazrat Umar R.A, alongside others in Mecca, opposed Islam and threatened to kill Hazrat MOHAMMED (S.A.W). He resolved to defend the traditional, polytheistic religion of Arabia. He was adamant and cruel in opposing Hazrat MOHAMMED (S.A.W) and very prominent in persecuting the Muslims. Hazrat Umar was among the first to conclude that Hazrat MOHAMMED (S.A.W) had to be murdered in order to finish Islam. He firmly believed in the unity of the Quraish and saw the new faith of Islam as a cause of division and discord among the Quraish. Due to the persecution at the hands of the Quraish, Muhammad ordered his followers to migrate to Abyssinia. As a small group of Muslims migrated Umar became worried about the future unity of the Quraish and decided to have Muhammad assassinated. Hazrat Umar R.A reverted to Islam in 616, one year after the Migration to Abyssinia. Hazrat Umar R.A is regarded as one of the greatest political geniuses in history. While under his leadership, the Caliphate was expanding at an unprecedented rate, He 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 Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina. Umar also ordered the expulsion of the Christian and Jewish communities of Najran and Khaybar allowing them to reside in Syria or Iraq. He also permitted Jewish families to resettle in Jerusalem, which had previously been barred from all Jews. He issued orders that these Christians and Jews should be treated well and allotted them the equivalent land in their new settlements. Hazrat Umar also forbade non-Muslims to reside in the Hejaz for longer than three days. He was first to establish army as a state department. Hazrat Umar was founder of Fiqh, the Islamic jurisprudence. He is regarded by Sunni Muslims to be one of the greatest Faqih. Hazrat Umar as a jurist started the process of codifying Islamic Law. In 641, he established Bayt al-mal, a financial institution and started annual allowance for the Muslims. A year later he also started allowance for the poor, underprivileged and old non-Muslim citizens of the Caliphate. As a leader, 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 Islamic calendar should be counted from the year of the Hijra of Hazrat MOHAMMED (S.A.W) from Makkah to Madinah. Hazrat Umar (R.A) was also known by his nickname as Abu al Hafs (father of Hafsa) Hazrat Hafsa (R.A) was the daughter of Umar ibn al-Khattab and Zaynab bint Mazoon. She was born when Quraish were building the House of ALLAH [Kaaba], five years before the advent of Prophethood, i.e., in 605. She was married to Khunais ibn Hudhaifa but became a widow in August 624. As soon as Hazrat Hafsa had completed her waiting period, her father Hazrat Umar (R.A) offered her hand to Hazrat Uthman Ibn Affan, and thereafter to Hazrat Abu Bakr; but they both refused to marry. When Umar went to Hazrat MOHAMMED (S.A.W) to complain about this matter, Hazrat MOHAMMED (S.A.W) replied, ALLAH will marry Uthman to better than your daughter and will marry your daughter to better than Uthman. Hazrat MOHAMMED (S.A.W) married Hafsa in Shaaban AH 3 (late January or early February 625). With this marriage, Hazrat MOHAMMED (S.A.W) strengthened his ties to Hazrat Umar (R.A), who now became his father-in-law. According to Islamic tradition, Hazrat Hafsa (R.A) had memorized the Quran. The copy of Zayd ibn Thabit, which was recorded on the instructions of Abu Bakr on the final consultative recommendation of Hazrat Moula ALI al Murtaza (R.A) as an Imam-e-Walyat (i.e. the legitimate leadership authority and leadership to provide the selfless and significant support for the preservation, conservation, implementation, application and establishment of Islam as a complete and comprehensive code, decision, law, rule, path, system of life, authorized by the holy prophet Hazrat MOHAMMED (S.A.W) as a last and final Prophet and Messenger of ALLAH), was kept in Hafsas house. Uthman Ibn Affan, when he became Caliph, on the final consultative recommendation of Hazrat Moula ALI al Murtaza (R.A) as an Imam-e-Walyat (i.e. the legitimate authority and leadership to provide selfless and significant support for the preservation, conservation, implementation, application and establishment of Islam as a complete and comprehensive code, decision, law, rule, path, system of life, authorized by the holy prophet Hazrat MOHAMMED (S.A.W) as a last and final Prophet and Messenger of ALLAH), used Hafsas copy when he standardized the text of the Quran. She is also said to have narrated sixty hadiths from Muhammad. She died in Shaban AH 45, i.e., in October or November 665. She is buried in Jannat-Ul-Baqi. To be close to the poor, Hazrat Umar R.A lived in a simple mud hut without doors and walked the streets every evening. After consulting with the poor, Hazrat Umar established the welfare state . The welfare state was for the Muslim and non-Muslim poor, needy, elderly, orphans, widows, and the disabled. Hazrat Umar also introduced Child Benefit and Pensions for the children and the elderly. The expansion of the state, was partially terminated between 638–639 during the years of great famine and plague in Arabia and Levant respectively. During Umars reign, within 10 years Levant, Egypt, Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, Fezzan, Eastern Anatolia, almost the whole of Sassanid Persian Empire including Bactria, Persia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Caucasus and Makran were incorporated into Islamic State of Caliphate. A Persian Munafique (hypocrite), Abu Lu’lu Feroz (Pirouz) Nahavandi who was assigned the mission of assassinating Hazrat Umar (R.A). According to the plan, before the Salawt-ul-Fajr (the morning congregational prayers before the dawn) Feroz (Pirouz) would enter Al-Masjid al-Nabawi, the main masjid of Madinah where Hazrat Umar led the prayers and would attack him during the prayers, and then flee or mix with the congregation at mosque. On 3rd November 644, Feroz (Pirouz) attacked hazrat Umar (R.A) while he was leading the morning prayers, stabbing him six times in the belly and last on the navel, that proved fatal. Hazrat Umar (R.A) was left profusely bleeding while Abu Lulu Feroz tried to flee, but people from all sides rushed to capture him; in his efforts to escape he is reported to have wounded twelve other people, six or nine of whom later died before slashing himself with his own blade to commit suicide. Hazrat Umar (R.A) died of the wounds three days later on Sunday, 7th November 644 (26th Dhū al-Ḥijja or 1st Muharram). Umar is reported to have left the following testament: “Be kind and generous to the Muhajirun and the Ansar. Those out of them who are good, be good to them; those who are bad overlook their lapses. Be good to the people of the conquered lands. They are the outer line of our defense; they are the target of the anger and distress of our enemies. They contribute to our revenues. They should be taxed only on their surplus wealth. Be gracious to the Bedouins as they are the backbone of the Arab nation. I instruct you to be good to the Dhimmis (non-combating non-muslim) for they are your responsibility. Do not tax them beyond their capacity. Ensure that they pay the Jizya (tax paid by rich non-muslims for supporting and helping poor and unprivileged non-muslims) without undue inconvenience. Fear ALLAH (God), and in all that you do keep His pleasure in view. In the matter of people fear ALLAH (God), and in the matter of ALLAH do not be afraid of the people. With regard to the people, I enjoin upon you to administer justice with an even hand. See that all the legitimate requirements of the people are met. Be concerned for their welfare. Ensure the safety of their person and property. See that the frontiers of our domains are not violated. Take strong steps to guard the frontiers. In the matter of administration do not prefer the rich to the poor. Be hard against those who violate the law. Show them no mercy. Do not rest content until you have brought the miscreants to book. Treat all the people as equal. Be a pillar of strength for those who are weak and oppressed. Those who are strong but do wrong, make them pay for their wrong-doings. In the distribution of booty and other matters be above nepotism. Let no consideration of relationship or selfish interest weigh with you. The Satan is at large; it may tempt you. Rise above all temptations and perform your duties in accordance with the injunctions of Islam. Get guidance from the Holy Quran and Sunnah. Freely consult the wise men around you. Apply your own mind in difficult cases, and seek light from ALLAH (God). Be simple in your living and your habits. Let there be no show or ostentation about you. Lead life as a model Muslim. As you are the leader of the Muslims, justify your leadership by being the best among them all. May God bless you.” As per Hazrat Umars will, he was buried next to Al-Masjid al-Nabawi alongside Hazrat MOHAMMED (S.A.W) and 1st Caliph Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (R.A) by the permission of Umm-ul-Momineen Hazrat Aisha Siddiqua (R.A).
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 14:41:42 +0000
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