Biography of caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab part 2
Biography of caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab part 2
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00:00The Rashidun Caliph, Umar Ibn Al-Khattab, his qualities and morals since the beginning
00:06of the Islamic message and its spread to the world part 2, we continue to tell a stage
00:10of the life of the Rashidun Caliph, Umar Ibn Al-Khattab.
00:15When Muhammad died on the 8th of June 632, Umar initially disbelieved that he was dead.
00:21It is said that Umar promised to strike the head of any man who would say that Muhammad
00:25died.
00:27Umar said he has not died but rather he has gone to his lord just as Moses went, remaining
00:32absent from his people for 40 nights after which he has returned to them.
00:37By Allah, the messenger of Allah will indeed return just as Moses returned to his people
00:41and he will cut off the hands and legs of those men who claimed he has died.
00:46Abu Bakr then publicly spoke to the community in the mosque, saying, whoever worshipped
00:51Muhammad, let them know that Muhammad has died, and whoever worshipped Allah, let them
00:56know that Allah is alive and never dies.
00:59Abu Bakr then recited these verses from the Quran 3-144, Muhammad is but a messenger,
01:07messengers the like of whom have passed away before him.
01:09If, then, he dies or is killed, will you turn back on your heel?
01:15Hearing this, Umar fell on his knees in sorrow and acceptance.
01:19Sunni Muslims say that this denial of Muhammad's death was occasioned by his deep love for
01:24him.
01:26Umar's political capacity first manifested as the architect of the caliphate after Muhammad
01:30died on the 8th of June 632.
01:34While the funeral of Muhammad was being arranged a group of Muhammad's followers who were
01:38natives of Medina, the Ansar helpers, organized a meeting on the outskirts of the city, effectively
01:43locking out those companions known as Muhajirs the immigrants including Umar.
01:49Umar found out about this meeting at Saqifah Bani Sada, and, taking with him two other
01:54Muhajirs, Abu Bakr and Abu Ubaidah ibn Al-Jarrah, proceeded to the meeting, presumably to head
02:00off the Ansar's plans for political separation.
02:04Arriving at the meeting, Umar was faced with a unified community of tribes from the Ansar
02:08who refused to accept the leadership of the Muhajirs.
02:12However, Umar was undeterred in his belief the caliphate should be under the control
02:16of the Muhajirs.
02:19Though the Khazraj were in disagreement, Umar, after strained negotiations lasting
02:23one or two days, brilliantly divided the Ansar into their old warring factions of Oz and
02:28Khazraj tribes.
02:31Umar resolved the divisions by placing his hand on that of Abu Bakr as a unity candidate
02:36for those gathered in the Saqifah.
02:39Others at the Saqifah followed suit, with the exception of the Khazraj tribe and their
02:43leader, Sa'd ibn Ubadah, who were ostracized as a result.
02:48The Khazraj tribe is said to have posed no significant threat as there were sufficient
02:52men of war from the Medinan tribes such as the Banu Oz to immediately organize them into
02:57a military bodyguard for Abu Bakr.
03:00Wilford Maddling summarizes Umar's contribution.
03:03Umar judged the outcome of the Saqifah assembly to be a fal'ta translated by Maddling as
03:08"'a precipitate and ill-considered deal' because of the absence of most of the prominent
03:12Muhajiru, including the prophet's own family and clan, whose participation he considered
03:17vital for any legitimate consultation shura, mishwara."
03:20It was, he warned the community, to be no precedent for the future.
03:26Yet he also defended the outcome, claiming that the Muslims were longing for Abu Bakr
03:31as for no one else.
03:33He apologized, moreover, that the Muhajirun present were forced to press for an immediate
03:38oath of allegiance since the Ansar could not have been trusted to wait for a legitimate
03:42consultation and might have proceeded to elect one of their own after the departure of the
03:46Meccans.
03:48Another reason for Umar to censure the Saqifah meeting as a fal'ta was no doubt its turbulent
03:52and undignified end, as he and his followers jumped upon the Sikh Khazraji leader Sa'd
03:57bin Ubadah in order to teach him a lesson, if not to kill him, for daring to challenge
04:02the sole right of Quraysh to rule.
04:05This violent breakup of the meeting indicates, moreover, that the Ansar cannot all have been
04:10swayed by the wisdom and eloquence of Abu Bakr's speech and have accepted him as the
04:14best choice for the succession, as suggested by Qaitani.
04:18There would have been no sense in beating up the Khazraji chief if everybody had come
04:22around to swearing allegiance to Umar's candidate.
04:26A substantial number of the Ansar, presumably of Khazraj in particular, must have refused
04:31to follow the lead of the Muhajirun.
04:34According to various Twelver Shia sources and maddling, Umar and Abu Bakr had in effect
04:39mounted a political coup against Ali at the Saqifah.
04:43According to one version of narrations in primary sources, Umar and Abu Bakr are also
04:48said to have used force to try to secure the allegiance from Ali and his party.
04:54It has been reported in mainly Persian historical sources written 300 years later, such as in
04:59the history of Al-Tabari, that after Ali's refusal to pay homage, Abu Bakr sent Umar
05:05with an armed contingent to Fatimah's house where Ali and his supporters are said to have
05:10gathered.
05:11Umar is reported to have warned those in the house that unless Ali succumbed to Abu
05:14Bakr, he would set the house on firepage needed and under these circumstances Ali was forced
05:19to capitulate.
05:21This version of events, fully accepted by Shia scholars, is generally rejected by Sunni
05:26scholars who, in view of other reports in their literature, believe that Ali gave an
05:31oath of alliance to Abu Bakr without any grievance.
05:35But then other Sunni and Shia sources say that Ali did not swear allegiance to Abu Bakr
05:39after his election but six months later after the death of his wife Fatimah putting into
05:44question Al-Tabari's account.
05:46Either way the Sunni and the Shia accounts both accept that Ali felt that Abu Bakr should
05:51have informed him before going into the meeting with the Ansar and that Ali did swear allegiance
05:55to Abu Bakr.
05:57Western scholars tend to agree that Ali believed he had a clear mandate to succeed Muhammad
06:02but offer differing views as to the extent of use of force by Umar in an attempt to intimidate
06:07Ali and his supporters.
06:10For instance, Madaling discounts the possibility of the use of force and argues that, isolated
06:15reports of use of force against Ali and Banu Hashim who unanimously refused to swear allegiance
06:20for six months are probably to be discounted.
06:24Abu Bakr no doubt was wise enough to restrain Umar from any violence against them, well
06:29realizing that this would inevitably provoke the sense of solidarity of the majority of
06:33Abdul Manif whose acquiescence he needed.
06:36His policy was rather not isolating Banu Hashim as far as possible.
06:41According to Tom Holland, Umar's historicity is beyond dispute.
06:46An Armenian bishop writing a decade or so after Qadishiyya describes Umar as a mighty
06:51potentate coordinating the advance of the sons of Ismail from the depths of the desert.
06:56Tom Holland writes what added incomparably to his prestige was that his earth-shaking
07:01qualities as a generalissimo were combined with the most distinctive cast of virtues.
07:06Rather than ape the manner of a Caesar, as the Ghassanid kings had done, he drew on the
07:11example of a quite different kind of Christian.
07:15Umar's threadbare robes, his diet of bread, salt and water, and his rejection of worldly
07:20riches would have reminded anyone from the desert reaches beyond Palestine of a very
07:24particular kind of person.
07:27Those out in the Judean desert had long been casting themselves as warriors of God.
07:32The achievement of Umar was to take such language to a literal and previously unimaginable extreme.
07:38Due to the delicate political situation in Arabia, vague, Umar initially opposed military
07:44operations against the rebel tribes there, hoping to gain their support in the event
07:48of an invasion by the Romans or the Persians.
07:51Later, however, he came to agree with Abu Bakr's strategy to crush the rebellion by
07:57force.
07:58By late 632 CE, Khalid ibn Walid had successfully united Arabia after consecutive victories
08:05against the rebels.
08:07During his own reign later, Umar would mostly adopt the policy of avoiding wars and consolidating
08:12his power in the incorporated lands rather than expanding his empire through continuous
08:17warfare.
08:18Umar advised Abu Bakr to compile the Quran in the form of a book after 300 Huffaz memorizers
08:24of the Quran died in the Battle of Yamama.
08:27Abu Bakr appointed Umar as his successor before dying in 634 CE.
08:34Due to his strict and autocratic nature, Umar was not a very popular figure among the notables
08:39of Medina and members of Majlis al-Shura.
08:41Accordingly, high-ranking companions of Abu Bakr attempted to discourage him from naming
08:46Umar.
08:47Nevertheless, Abu Bakr decided to make Umar his successor.
08:53Umar was well known for his extraordinary willpower, intelligence, political astuteness,
08:58impartiality, justice, and care for the poor.
09:02Abu Bakr is reported to have said to the high-ranking advisors,
09:06His, Umar's, strictness was there because of my softness when the weight of caliphate
09:10will be over his shoulders he will remain no longer strict.
09:14If I will be asked by God to whom I have appointed my successor, I will tell him that I have
09:19appointed the best man among your men.
09:22Abu Bakr was aware of Umar's power and ability to succeed him.
09:27His was perhaps one of the smoothest transitions of power from one authority to another in
09:31the Muslim lands.
09:33Before his death, Abu Bakr called Uthman to write his will in which he declared Umar his
09:38successor.
09:40In his will he instructed Umar to continue the conquests on Iraqi and Syrian fronts.
09:46Even though almost all of the Muslims had given their pledge of loyalty to Umar, he
09:50was feared more than loved.
09:53According to Muhammad Hussain Haikal, the first challenge for Umar was to win over his
09:57subjects and the members of Majlis al-Shura.
10:01Umar was a gifted orator, and he used his ability to improve his reputation among the
10:06people.
10:07Muhammad Hussain Haikal wrote that Umar's stress was on the well-being of the poor and
10:11underprivileged.
10:13In addition to this, Umar, in order to improve his reputation in relation with the Banu Hashim,
10:19the tribe of Ali, delivered to the latter his disputed estates in Khyber.
10:24He followed Abu Bakr's decision over the disputed land of Fadak, continuing to treat
10:29it as state property.
10:31In the Ridda Wars, thousands of prisoners from rebel and apostate tribes were taken
10:35away as slaves during the expeditions.
10:39Umar ordered a general amnesty for the prisoners and their immediate emancipation.
10:44This made Umar quite popular among the Bedouin tribes.
10:48With the necessary public support on his side, Umar took the bold decision of recalling
10:53Khalid ibn Walid from supreme command on the Roman front.
10:57The government of Umar was a unitary government where the sovereign political authority was
11:02the caliph.
11:03The empire of Umar was divided into provinces and some autonomous territories, e.g., Azerbaijan
11:09and Armenia, that had accepted the suzerainty of the caliphate.
11:14The provinces were administered by the provincial governors or wali, personally and fastidiously
11:19selected by Umar.
11:22Provinces were further divided into about 100 districts.
11:25Each district or main city was under the charge of a junior governor or emir, usually appointed
11:30by Umar himself, but occasionally also appointed by the provincial governor.
11:36Other officers at the provincial level were Khatib, the chief secretary.
11:41Khatib-ud-Diwan, the military secretary.
11:44I stop at this point today until next time, stay curious, stay informed, and keep exploring
11:50the world's incredible stories.
11:53Soon we will publish part 3.
12:11Transcription by ESO. Translation by —