Umar is one of the few leaders of Islamic Civilization that is unique other than the career of the Prophet Muhammad with whom this whole cycle of events started. From his early days he had shown signs of greatness and the future to come. It was Abdullah ibn Masood [1] who said of him, We are still noble since Omar’s Submission to Islam[2] He also said Omar’s Submission to Islam was a conquest, His Migration was a victory, His Immate [period of rule] was a blessing, I have seen when we were unable to pray at the house [Kaba] until Umar submitted, when he Submitted to Islam he fought them [the antagonistic idolaters] until they left us alone and we prayed.[3] There are many traditions that speak of the high regard that the companions of Muhammad had for Umar. He was the one of the two main counselors of the Messenger, the other being Abu Bakr. There are many reasons for the greatness of this man. He was of paramount importance in the early formation of the Islamic State. During his time many new innovations were adopted. The state was expanding at a unprecedented rate and swift action needed to be taken which he did not hesitate to take or adopt. His bravery and simple life were trademarks of his era. His genius for leadership clearly is shown in his many accomplishments. The great prose writer Abas Mahmoud al-Aqad, at the turn of the century had written a volume dedicated to him called, Abqaryat Umar [4], [The Genius of Umar.] There is quite number of good works on Umar in Arabic. There also seems to be quite a number of books just about him either popular or scholarly. Al-Aqad’s book is one of the popluar works so is Ali Tantanwi, the famous Muslim TV personality, book about Umar. The Fiqh Council of (al-Majmah al- Fiqhi li Jamat al- Imam Muhammad bin Saud) Muhammad bin Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia had published a 3 volume book on the Fiqh of Umar. There is also a Ph.D. thesis that is only dedicated to the Innovations of Umar in Administration and Judicial Affairs.[5] While in this short thesis we can only point to some of his most important contributions there are still many others that must be ignored for the sheer number of them. A work of this size will only limit it self to the most evident and important of these accomplishments. Further this thesis will also concentrate on the conquests of the Islamic State during his rule. The turning points during Umar’s life are in his Submission to Islam and in his rule after the death of Abu Bakr the Caliph of the Messenger in 13 A.H./634 AD. He ruled for ten years and was assassinated by a Magian named Abu Lulu Feroze, who had a attacked him during prayer with a dagger and stabbed him several times.
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 10:14:31 +0000
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