When was umar ibn khattab born

Umar was part of the first emigration to Medina, and became an important companion of Muhammad. He participated in all of the Muslim battles against the Quraish. Upon the death of Muhammad, Umar was in such a state of despair that he threatened to decapitate anyone who said that Muhammad was dead. Abu Bakr became the first successor to Muhammad. During Abu Bakr's short reign as caliph, Umar was an important advisor to him, and Abu Bakr selected Umar as his successor prior to his death.

Umar reigned as caliph from until his assassination in Umar's time as caliph saw the Islamic empire grow at an unprecedented rate, taking Iraq and parts of Iran from the Sassanids, and thereby ending that empire, and taking Egypt , Palestine, Syria , North Africa and Armenia from the Byzantines. Umar also codified Islamic law, and was known for his simple lifestyle and modest living. When the physician noticed this, he told Umar that there was no hope of his recovery, and advised him to make his will since little time was left for him in this world.

Word rapidly spread that the khalifa was mortally wounded, and the news caused much commotion in the city. Many companions called on Umar to enquire after his health. Some of them suggested that he designate someone as his successor. Umar said:. But if I do not designate anyone as my successor, nothing would be amiss with that either since the Apostle of God did not designate his own successor, and he was better than both of us Abu Bakr and Umar. The Apostle of God was pleased with all six of them when he left this world, and each of them is qualified to become the khalifa of the Muslims.

Umar then called all six members of his electoral committee to his home to explain to them what they had to do. When they came, he addressed them as follows:. Verily, the Apostle of God died, and he was pleased with all six of you. I have, therefore, decided to make it the selection of khalifa a matter of consultation among you, so that you may select one of yourselves as khalifa.

If five of you agree upon one man, and there is one who is opposed to the five, kill him. If four are one side and two on the other, kill the two. And if three are on one side and three on the other, then Abdur Rahman ibn Auf will have the casting vote, and the khalifa will be selected from his party. In that case, kill the three men on the opposing side.

You may, if you wish, invite some of the chief men of the Ansar as observers but the khalifa must be one of you Muhajireen, and not any of them. They have no share in the khilafat. And your selection of the new khalifa must be made within three days.

Umar ordered his son, Abdullah, also to attend the meetings of the newly-formed electoral committee, though not as a candidate for caliphate, and said to him:. If there is a tie with three on each side, then you support the party of Abdur Rahman bin Auf.

Umar had prescribed a maximum of three days for their the electoral committee's deliberations. At the end of that period, they must willy-nilly unanimously choose a khalif. In the event of the decision not being unanimous, the majority candidate was to be adopted, the members of the minority being all immediately put to death. When Umar was satisfied that he had done his duty in the matter of his succession, he asked some of those men who were around him, whom out of the six nominees, they would like to see as their new khalifa.

One of them present named Zubayr. Walid bin Aqaba, a half-brother of Uthman, was also present in the assembly. Umar ordered Abu Talha Ansari to lead the Muslims in prayer during the interregnum, and also to watch the members of the electoral committee during their deliberations. He also gave him fifty armed men to enable him to carry out his duties. These men were to act, if necessary, as executioners Tarikh Kamil. You became khalifa and you managed it. Why can't we?

Talha is rude, greedy and conceited. Abdur Rahman is too much given to comfort and luxury; if he becomes khalifa, his wives will run the government. Zubayr is a believer when he is in a happy mood but is an unbeliever when he is angry. Ali is worthy of being the ruler of the Muslims in every respect but he is too ambitious.

It is as if I am seeing with my own eyes that the Quraysh have put this necklace khilafat around your neck, and you have foisted the Banu Umayya and the Banu Abi Muayt Uthman's family upon the Muslims, and have given them all the wealth of the umma. Then the wolves of the Arabs came, and slaughtered you.

By God, if they the Quraysh do, you will certainly do; and if you do, they the Arabs will certainly do. But was the Apostle pleased only with these six men? Was he displeased with the rest of the Muhajireen and the Ansar? If he was not, then why did Umar exclude all of them from his electoral committee?

He did not give the rest of the Muhajireen and Ansar the right even to express an opinion much less the right to select their ruler. Though Umar chose six Qurayshites as electors because as he said, the Apostle was pleased with them, he himself found nothing commendable in them. He found them arrogant, rude, greedy, conceited, henpecked, temperamental, venal and ambitious.

If, at the election of Abu Bakr, the principle was accepted that it is the right of the Muslim umma people to select or elect its own rulers, then how is it that the leading companions of the Prophet, and Ayesha, his widow, urged Umar to appoint his own successor? Didn't they know that a ruler was to be chosen by the umma?

But Umar, instead of denying or affirming this right of the umma , said that if he appointed someone as khalifa, he would be following the precedent of Abu Bakr; and if he did not, then he would be following the precedent of the Prophet himself. In practice, however, he followed neither the precedent of Abu Bakr nor the precedent of the Prophet. He named six men as members of an electoral committee, and made them responsible for selecting a khalifa out of themselves — regardless of the opinions and wishes of the Muslim umma.

It is true that Umar did not name anyone as his successor but his electoral committee was, in point of fact, a de facto designation. Its constitution guaranteed the selection only of Umar's own candidate. His first stipulation was that the candidate who gets most of the votes, would become khalifa.

There was no way for Ali to get most of the votes. Abdur Rahman bin Auf was the husband of the half-sister of Uthman. This lady was the daughter of the mother of Uthman and her second husband. Saad bin Abi Waqqas was the first cousin of Abdur Rahman, and was under his influence.

Talha belonged to the clan of Abu Bakr, and was married to one of his daughters the sister of Ayesha. Therefore, it was unthinkable that any of them would vote for Ali. Thus Ali had to count out four votes even before the beginning of the parleys. All he could do, was to hope that he might get Zubayr's vote. In any case, Abdur Rahman bin Auf — the self-appointed king-maker, had the casting vote.

As Umar's confidante, it was inevitable that he would give his vote and his support only to his Umar's favorite, and the brother of his own wife — Uthman. Now the minority in the electoral committee had one of the two choices open before it, viz.

Hudhaifa, a companion, reports that sometime before the attempt was made on his life, a few companions had asked Umar who would succeed him as khalifa, and he had told them, Uthman. Kanz-ul-Ummal and Tarikh-Ahmedi.

Umar desired nothing so much as to appoint Uthman as his successor but for some reason known only to him, he did not wish to do so openly. At the same time, he did not allow the Muslims to exercise their freewill in the matter of choosing their ruler.

Left to themselves, they would not have chosen his favorite, and he knew it. He, therefore, devised a new mode of giving the umma its leader. This new mode, spun out with intricate sophistication, guaranteed the election of Uthman.

Perhaps it would have served the interests of the umma better if Umar had openly appointed Uthman as his successor instead of framing a panel of electors for this purpose.

A direct and open appointment would have averted the civil wars in Islam. His panel of electors proved to be the catalyst of the battles of Basra, Siffin and Nehrwan. He achieved his aim at the moment but only at the expense of the integrity of Islam in the future. When he heard that Umar had given special powers to Abdur Rahman bin Auf in the panel of electors, he said to Ali:.

This man Umar wants Uthman to be the new khalifa. I know they will keep khilafat out of the house of Muhammad. I have no illusions in this matter.

Nevertheless, I shall attend the meeting s of the Shura electoral committee , and the Muslims will see with their own eyes the conflict between Umar's words and his deeds. By placing my name in his electoral committee, he has, at least, acknowledged my right to become caliph whereas in the past, he went around saying that prophethood and caliphate ought never to combine in the same house.

How did Abdullah ibn Abbas know that Umar wanted Uthman to become the khalifa? As noted before, it was obvious from the constitution of the electoral committee. One look at its terms of reference was enough to convince anyone that the outcome of its quest was predetermined. Those terms of reference declared, loudly and unmistakably, that khilafat was going to be the prize of Uthman and the Umayyads. Therefore, after the promulgation by Umar of the constitution of his electoral committee, if Ali had any interest still left in it, and in its professed purpose, it was purely academic and abstract, and as he himself said, his participation in its meetings would do nothing more than point up the contradictions inherent in it.

This is the age of democracy. The people choose their leaders. Elections are held from the lowest to the highest levels of public life; from the chairmen of school committees and fund-raising groups to the heads of governments and states.

But it has never so happened that those candidates for office who lose the election to their opponents, are put to death. The candidates who lose, become leaders of the opposition, and the existence of a healthy opposition is considered essential for the existence of democracy itself. If the opposition is liquidated, then democracy becomes a casualty, and the state becomes totalitarian.

Umar's order to kill the minority in his electoral committee has no parallel in the history of mankind. He ordered the execution of all those companions of Muhammad Mustafa, who as candidates for caliphate, would get fewer votes than their opposite numbers, even though he knew that it is the job of others to give or to withhold their votes.

Did he read that Book? Did he find sanction in that Book for his order to kill a candidate for a certain office because he scored lower than his opponent? Here it should be pointed out that no one out of the six Muhajireen had applied to Umar for membership in his electoral committee. His action in choosing them was totally arbitrary. He then imposed upon them the duty of electing a khalifa with the stipulation that if anyone of them disagreed with the majority, he would forfeit his life.

Umar, on his deathbed, had appointed six Muhajireen as members of a panel which was to choose one out of themselves as the future khalifa of the Muslims. Except Ali, all other members of the panel were capitalists, or rather, neo-capitalists. When they came from Makkah, they were penniless and homeless but within twelve years, i. Between these two dates, they had accumulated immense wealth, and had become the richest men of their times. Apart from the fact that Ali made his living as a gardener whereas his other five co-members lived on the revenues of their lands and estates, there was another gulf, even more unbridgeable, that separated him from them.

In character, personality, temperament, attitudes, philosophy and outlook on life, Ali and the rest of them were the antithesis of each other. There can be no doubt that economic power is a springboard of political power. This has been a consistent pattern throughout history.

President Abraham Lincoln had defined democracy as the government of the people, by the people, and for the people. In the American presidential elections of when President Ronald Reagan was reelected, the Russians quipped:. All the members of Umar's electoral committee, were millionaires — except Ali ibn Abi Talib! Following is a portrait left by historians of the members of Umar's Electoral Committee:. Othman, son of Affan, six years the Prophet's junior, was a cloth merchant; he also did some business as a money-lender, advancing sums for enterprises of which he was to enjoy half the profits Ibn Sa'd, iii, , and in money matters showed remarkable acuteness Wakidi W.

His sister was a milliner, married to a barber Isabah, i. He was no fighting man, as his subsequent history proved, for he shirked one battlefield, ran away from another, and was killed, priest-like, ostentatiously reading the Koran. He built himself a palace in Medina with marble and teakwood. He had slaves. In his youth, before the rise of Islam, Uthman had been very rich and gained much money from profitable usurious transactions.

Uthman's acquisitiveness and business talents gained full scope when he became caliph. He built himself a stone house in Medina with doors of precious wood and acquired much real estate in that city, including gardens and water sources. He had a large income from his fruit plantations in Wadi-ul-Qura, Hunain and other places, valued at , dinars, besides large herds of horses and camels on these estates. The day Uthman died his personal treasury was found to contain , dinars and one million dirhems.

Multiplying his riches at the expense of the Moslem treasury, Uthman also gave free use of the latter to some of the closest companions of Muhammad, attempting to justify his illegal actions by associating these most authoritative veteran Moslems with his own depredations. Zubair ibn al-Awwam, for example, one of the better known amongst them, built tenement houses in Kufa, Basra, Fustat and Alexandria. His property was estimated at 50, dinars, in addition to which he possessed horses and slaves.

Such acquisitiveness was widespread among the companions of the Prophet and Uthman's entourage. Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas built his house in Al-Aqiq. He made it high and spacious, and put balconies around the upper part.

Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib said that when Zayd ibn Thabit died, he left ingots of gold and silver that were broken up with axes, in addition to property and estates to the value of , dinars. Islam in History, New York, He gave Zubayr , dirhems in one day, and he gave Talha , dirhems in one day enabling them to buy lands, property and slaves in other countries.

Abdur Rahman bin Auf was a member of the inner circle of the friends of Uthman. About him Sir William Muir writes:. The love that Abdur Rahman bore his late master, Muhammad, was deeply moving. His wives and concubines prepared delicacies of many colors and tastes for him.

When he sat down to eat, recollection came to him of the Spartan times of the Apostle. Sir William Muir has done a great injustice, in the first place, in lumping the companions all together whereas there were two distinct categories of them. The first category which comprised the overwhelming majority, is the one he has correctly depicted in his book, but there also existed another, though very small, category, and he has taken no notice of it.

The acquisitiveness of the companions, or rather, the acquisitiveness of most of the companions of the Apostle, illustrates, not the spirit of Islam, but a reaction against that spirit. The obsession with materialism runs counter to the spirit and genius of Islam.

The orientalists will change their assessment of the spirit of Islam if they contemplate it in the austere, pure and sanctified lives of these latter companions. It may be noted that the members of the electoral committee were all men of Makkah.

There was no man of Medina among them. Umar had studiously kept them out. He told them that the khalifa had to be one of them, and that the men of Medina had no share in khilafat. Some companions pressed Umar to appoint his own successor. He named a number of people who were dead, and said that if any of them were alive, he would have appointed him as his successor.

Its right to rule rested on its propinquity to Muhammad. All authority was vested in the Quraysh. The Ansar were the advisers. Every Muslim has the right to offer advice. The Quraysh were to rule, and the Ansar and the other Muslims were to give advice but not to rule. If Khalid bin al-Walid were alive, I would have appointed him the amir of the Muslims. And if Salim, the client of Abu Hudhaifa, were living today, then I would have designated him as your ruler.

This Salim was a slave who came from Istakhar in Persia. He was well-known for his piety. Many Muslims deferred to him in matters of Faith even in the times of the Prophet. Sometimes he led the Muslims in prayer also. He was killed in the Ridda wars during the khilafat of Abu Bakr. He was a devout and God-fearing man. It was really unfortunate for the umma that Salim was dead or else Umar would have made him his successor, and he might have made an excellent khalifa.

Umar could consider a former slave who was not distinguished for anything except for his piety, for the most important position in Islam but he could not consider an Ansari for it, even if he had distinguished himself in war and peace. The Ansaris, in fact, could not fill even less important positions. In his book, Al-Farooq, M. Shibli, the Indian historian, has published a list of the names of the civil and military officers of his Umar's time.

With one solitary exception Uthman bin Hunaif , the entire list is made up of names of men who were noted for their animosity to Ali, to Banu Hashim, and to the Ansar. These Ansaris were the same people who had, at one time, given sanctuary to Umar in their city. They had given him food, clothing and shelter when he did not have any of these things.

Now he was repaying them! Umar's attitude toward the Ansar is in sharp contrast to the attitude toward them of Muhammad, the Messenger of God. The latter loved the Ansar. He appointed many of them as governors of Medina, and he made many of them commanders of various expeditions. On one occasion he said that he would rather be with them the Ansar than with any other people. He also considered them capable of and qualified to rule the Muhajireen.

Muhammad at Medina, Oxford, Sa'd was obviously capable of ruling the Quraysh, and why not? But the Ansar lost their capability of ruling the Quraysh as soon as Muhammad, their master, died. As he lay dying, Umar was anxious about the succession and he appointed a committee of six, all Qurayshites, whose duty it should be to choose one of their number as caliph.

The inhabitants of Medina no longer had any share in the election of the head of the state. Cambridge History of Islam, Cambridge, Far from having a share in the election of the head of the state, not to speak of themselves becoming the head of the state, the inhabitants of Medina, did not have a share in anything.

Few, if any, would challenge the general interpretation of this poignant fact that the most important and most indispensable single factor in the year 1 of Hijri, namely, the support of the Ansar, had become the most striking non-factor in the year 11 Hijri. The Cassandra utterances of Hubab ibn al-Mandhir in the bedlam of Saqifa proved only too true.

He had expressed the fear that the children of the Ansar would beg for food at the doors of the houses of the Muhajireen, and would not get any. Much worse was to come for them in the times of Yazid bin Muawiya. The Ansar fought in all the campaigns of Abu Bakr and Umar but only as other ranks and never as generals. The new wealth which came flooding into Medina after the conquest of Persia and the Fertile Crescent, also appears to have bypassed them with the exception of a few, who collaborated with the Saqifa government.

Among the latter were the two spies from the tribe of Aus who had squealed on the Khazraj to Umar and Abu Bakr. They had shown great zeal in taking the oath of loyalty to Abu Bakr in Saqifa.

Zayd bin Thabit was fanatically devoted to Uthman, and for this reason, he received many gifts and rewards from the treasury. He was the son of poor parents but during the caliphate of Uthman, became one of the richest men in Medina.

Two officers of the public treasury in Medina and in Kufa who had been appointed by Abu Bakr, had thrown the keys of the treasuries in their charge, before Uthman, in protest against the plunder of the public funds by himself and by one of his governors. Uthman gave both keys to Zayd bin Thabit. Zayd bin Thabit was one of the few Ansaris who shared the bonanza in the times of Umar and Uthman.

He was also one of the few Ansaris who did not take part in the campaigns of Ali in Basra, Siffin and Nehrwan. Most of the Ansaris fought on Ali's side against his enemies in these battles. It is not necessary for the khalifa of the Muslims to be a Qurayshi. Even an emancipated slave like Salim can become their khalifa. The incumbent khalifa can arbitrarily restrict the right and power to choose a new khalifa to five or six men without any reference to the Muslim umma.

The Muslim umma can be safely ignored. 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:. 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. All of these occurred before sunrise. He requested for a drink of milk. When he drank it, the whiteness of the milk could be seen oozing out from his wounds and it was clear for them that he would die. Then, his soul was taken.

He was sixty-three years old and his era extended for ten years. As per Umar's R. Sayings of Umar R. Think positively of your brother until you are certain that he is not like that. Do not swear a great deal lest Allah humiliate you.

There is no better reward for one who disobeys Allah concerning you that your obeying Allah concerning him. You should seek sincere friends and maintain good relations with them, for they are a pleasure at times of ease and a support at times of hardship.

Whenever Umar R. Then he would say when the standard of war is hoisted:. Adhere to truth and patience. Fight in the cause of Allah against those who disbelieve in Allah and do not disobey, for Allah does not like the disobedient. Do not be coward at the time of meeting the enemy and do not mutilate when you have the upper hand and do not be immoderate when you conquer.

Do not kill women, the aging, and the children. Avoid killing them when two enemies meet and in the heat of attack in front of your enemy. That is indeed the great success. Peace be upon Umar ibn Al-Khattab R. Managed by Kamal Ahmad. Translated by Manal Qutub. Promote your business in Germany. If you continue using our website, then you have agreed to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Search for a City or Zip to set your location.

Disclaimer All information on IslamicFinder. His Physical Appearance: With regard to his physical characteristics, he was white with a reddish complexion. His early Life in the Pre-Islamic Society: Umar spent half of his life in the pre-Islamic society Jahiliyah , and grew up like his peers of Quraish, except that he has an advantage over them in that he was one of those who had learned to read, of whom there were very few.

Therefore, when he entered Islam, he understood its beauty and true nature, and he recognized the great difference between guidance and misguidance, disbelief and faith, truth and falsehood, and he spoke his famous words: " The bonds of Islam will be undone one by one when there will be a generation brought up in Islam who do not know what ignorance is.

I said: Yes, for you have persecuted us and oppressed us, and by Allah we are going out in the land of Allah until Allah grants us a way out. And I saw kindness that I had never seen before. Tirmidhi: Umar became Muslim in AD, one year after the Migration to Abyssinia, when he was twenty-seven years old. When he became Muslim, he fought them until they sent us free. Then we prayed and circumambulated the Kaaba.

We could not pray or circumambulate the House until Umar became Muslim. When he became Muslim, he fought the unbelievers until they left us alone and let us pray. When he decided to migrate, he put on his sword, put his bow over his shoulder, picked up his arrows and carried his stick.