Umar ibn al-Khattab

Umar ibn al-Khattab (may God be pleased with him) was the second of the Rightly Guided Caliphs (634–644 CE). In his ten years, the first community conquered Syria, Egypt, and most of the Sasanian Empire. In the memory of the Sunna, he came to represent the model of a just Islamic government.

Umar was a merchant from the Banu Adi in Quraysh. At first he was a fierce opponent of the new call. Then he became Muslim around 616 CE, in a conversion that the tradition describes as a strengthening of the community. ⁵ He emigrated during the Hijra and witnessed the first battles. His daughter Hafsa was one of the wives of the Prophet ﷺ.

Abu Bakr chose him as caliph when he died. During his rule, Syria, Egypt and Iraq were conquered, and the emerging state was organized: the diwan and the stipends, the garrison cities, the calendar, and the judges and officials. ⁶ In November 644 CE, a Persian captive named Abu Lu'lu'a stabbed him, and he died a few days later in Medina. ⁵

The first form of the Islamic state, in how the caliph rules, how stipends are given, and how the judge decides, bears his imprint more than that of any other founder. The dispute over his succession at the Saqifa still divides memory.

The Sheikh says Umar wept when he heard the Qur'an from the Prophet (needs_source). ⁷ He says Umar feared being asked about a mule that stumbled on a road in Iraq for which no road had been prepared (needs_source). ⁸ He says that Umar put justice first: he took a watermelon from the hand of his grandson and gave it to a poor man (needs_source). ⁹ He says Umar made the six men who would choose the leader not leave until they had chosen one, with his son standing at the door (needs_source). ^{10 11} He says Umar felt responsibility for the community of Muhammad (his view). ¹¹ He tells of a question Umar asked about the meaning of a word for father, and was told that it is in the Qur'an (needs_source). ¹²

He relates that Umar used to pray to God for martyrdom and for death in the city of God's Messenger, which surprised the Companions; he uses the story to show how closely they clung to the Prophet ¹³.

He mentions that Umar used to ask whoever brought him a matter whether it concerned Muslims in general or himself; if it was personal, he would put out the lamp that the state paid for (needs_source: anecdote-unsourced) ¹⁴. He tells that Umar put out the lamp when the man who sat with him died, because the oil had become the right of the heirs (needs_source: anecdote-unsourced) ¹⁵, and that he took from his grandson a coin from the treasury (needs_source: figure-coin-value; anecdote-unsourced) ¹⁶. He also mentions that Umar ordered the keeper of the treasury to exempt an elderly man among the protected people from the jizya ¹⁷.

He attributes to Umar the saying that God honoured Muslims with Islam after they had been in weakness, and that seeking honour in anything else would humble them (needs_source: athar-attribution-uncited) ¹⁸.

He relates that Umar addressed the people when the earth quaked and said to the earth, "be still" (needs_source: athar-umar-unverified) ¹⁹. He reads Umar's stance as meaning that the earth shakes because of the deeds of those who forgot God, and lists examples of sins ²⁰. He recounts a report that earlier nations had inspired persons (muhaddathun), and then a story of Umar and a man who claimed descent from the Harra of Waqim, whom Umar sent back to his family (needs_source: anecdote-umar) ²¹.

He recounts that a young Copt won a race against the son of Amr ibn al-As (may God be pleased with him) and was struck by him; the young man complained to Umar, who summoned Amr and his son, ordered the Copt to strike Amr's son, and spoke his well-known words that people were created free (needs_source: anecdote-unsourced) ^{22 23}.

He says that Umar once suggested killing in a certain situation, and the Prophet explained that God softens the hearts of some and hardens the hearts of others; he likened Abu Bakr to Abraham and Jesus, and Umar to Noah and Moses Qur'an 14:36 Qur'an 5:118 Qur'an 71:26 ^{24 25}.

He relates that Umar slept after a Persian man told him he was just and so he felt safe, and says that the eye sleeps while the heart stays awake with God ²⁶.

He tells of a young man who drank wine away from the road; when he returned home with a bottle of wine, he met Umar on the way (needs_source: anecdote-unattributed) ²⁷.

He tells of a man who complained to Umar that his wife raised her voice at him (needs_source: anecdote-garbled) ²⁸. He adds that the caliph likewise complained about his wife, describing her as one who washes clothes, cooks and raises the children, and says that patience with bad temper is a path by which Paradise is hoped for (needs_source: anecdote-garbled) ²⁹.

The Sheikh relates that Uthman saw a man walking in the heat behind two camels and thought he should have waited until the sun eased, so he called him and invited him to the shade and the water ³⁰. The man replied that he should go back to his shade and water, and Uthman recognized that it was Umar; Umar said the two camels were among the charity camels and that he feared they might perish or be lost and God would hold him to account on the Day of Resurrection for losing the Muslims' property, and the Sheikh sees in this that he made himself a watcher over himself ³¹.

The Sheikh says that the Prophet tied a stone to his belly on the day of the Trench because of hunger, and that Umar kept away from meat and the finest food for nine continuous months in the Year of Ashes, which was so named because the earth turned black like ash (needs_source) ³². He mentions that Umar would have his servant eat bread with oil, and when his stomach pained him he asked that the oil be boiled and cooled because it was heavy ³³. He recounts that Umar's stomach rumbled while he was on the pulpit and that he addressed it, saying it would not taste meat until the Muslims' children could have it, and the Sheikh urges that a person not let God's blessings become something familiar to him ³⁴.

The Sheikh relates that the Prophet asked his Companions to leave his companion to him, and that Umar said that after that he stopped arguing with Abu Bakr ³⁵. The Sheikh says that Umar, in the days of his leadership, longed for Bilal and sent for him, that the Companions gathered around Umar, and the Sheikh describes Umar as having a strong personality and a decisive resolve, so he said that Bilal should return to call the adhan for them ³⁶. He mentions that Umar told Bilal he had a request of him that must not be refused, and Bilal answered that his request was granted, O Commander of the Faithful, and Umar was relieved ³⁷.

The Sheikh says that the answer comes from God and not from this sheikh or that, and then recalls the strength of Umar's faith on the day of the Prophet's death, when the news was announced to the people and he could not bear it ³⁸. He recounts that Umar said he would strike off the head of anyone who said Muhammad had died, and that the Prophet had gone to meet his Lord as Musa did; the Sheikh then returns to Surat al-Naba' and describes it as the basic opening to the Hereafter ³⁹.

The Sheikh says that the Prophet's prayer was prayer and remembrance, then begins a story that Bilal waited for Umar at the dawn prayer and he did not come, so the Companions consulted one another and thought that the Commander of the Faithful had overslept ⁴⁰. He mentions that Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf (may God be pleased with him) led the people in prayer, then they knocked at the door of Umm Kulthum asking about the Commander of the Faithful and she said he had gone out during the night, so the Companions dispersed to look for him and found him fallen in one of the streets beside a wall, and they woke him ⁴¹. He relates that Umar prayed where he was after the sun had risen, and then told them that he had been walking during the night ⁴².

He says that Umar heard a woman reciting a verse about the punishment that is bound to come (Qur'an 52:7) and became certain that the punishment was falling on Umar's own head, and he knew nothing until they were lifting him; the Sheikh says the Companions lived with the Qur'an in this way ⁴³. The Sheikh relays a report from Ali that he arrived late and found the prayer already begun, and stayed waiting after the prayer while Umar sat glorifying God, then a little girl came in with a tray of fresh dates in her hand, and Umar sat upright and began distributing them among the Companions ⁴⁴. He mentions that Ali said Umar was giving each of the Companions a share and that he looked forward to Umar giving him something, and he swore that he found in the gift a sweetness like the sweetness of a dream ⁴⁵.

He relates that Ali hoped for more, and Umar looked at him and told him that if the Messenger had given him more, he too would have given him more ⁴⁶.

The Sheikh quotes a saying he attributes to Umar: that he does not carry the worry of trade but the worry of supplication (needs_source: attributed saying with no chain given in the lecture). ⁴⁷

The Sheikh narrates that Umar climbed over a wall after hearing a voice and found three men drinking wine; they answered him that they had disobeyed God in one matter while he had disobeyed in three (needs_source: narration with no source given in the lecture). ^{48 49}

Sheikh Omar Abdelkafy mentions Umar ibn al-Khattab in several episodes of this series. He recounts that Umar would rebuke men who drank in secret behind a closed door, reminding them that God sees them (needs_source: an account given by the sheikh without a source in this session) ⁵³, and that he warned people about delaying the prayer and the penalty for doing so ⁵⁴.

The sheikh recounts that the Prophet asked Umar and Abu Bakr what they had left to their children. Umar answered that he had left them the like of what he had, and Abu Bakr answered that he had left them God and His Messenger (needs_source: the exchange is garbled in the automatic transcript) ⁵⁵. He describes their conduct at the Saqifa, where each put the other's merit first in the pledge (needs_source: the narration as the sheikh tells it) ⁵⁶. He recounts Umar's love for Sa'd ibn Mu'adh, and asks where such love among believers comes from ⁵⁷.

The sheikh counts Umar among the Companions who spoke the truth. Among the fruits of Dar al-Arqam he lists "the speaker of truth, Umar ibn al-Khattab" ⁵⁸, and among the Companions' qualities he sets Abu Bakr's self-denial beside Umar's speaking of the truth ⁵⁹. He says Umar was among the strongest of the Companions in the religion of God ⁶⁰.

On the conquest of Egypt, the sheikh recounts that Umar wrote to Amr ibn al-As at al-Arish, telling him to wait until the order reached him (needs_source: the letter is given in paraphrase) ⁶¹. He says Umar sent four veterans of Badr as reinforcements, and he gives conflicting figures for their value in the army (needs_source: the figures have not been checked) ^{62 63}. Umar, in the sheikh's account, reckoned the army by its faith and not by its numbers ⁶⁴. He recounts that Umar wept for martyrs whom only God knows (needs_source) ⁶⁵. He recounts Umar's letter to Sa'd, which holds that victory comes through obedience to God and not through numbers (needs_source: the wording is paraphrased) ⁶⁶, and that Umar asked the Prophet for a clear ruling on wine ⁶⁷.

He also recounts Umar's letter to Amr rebuking him for sitting at ease in the seat of judgement, and urging him to be humble among the people (needs_source: the letter is given in paraphrase) ⁶⁸. He recounts that Salman al-Farisi (may God be pleased with him) challenged Umar from the minbar over a cloak that had been distributed from the public treasury (needs_source) ⁶⁹.

The sheikh recounts that Umar consulted the treasury official about the costs of his Hajj, and that he judged the sum of sixteen dinars to be too much (needs_source: the figure is the sheikh's) ^{70 71}. He recounts that Umar noticed a scent of perfume in his house and asked where it came from, and that he washed a veil with water and dust until the smell was gone (needs_source) ^{72 73}. He recounts that Umar ordered his son Abdullah's camels sent to the treasury, and that the son objected (needs_source) ⁷⁴, and that when Umar heard his son had drunk privately, the son was flogged by Amr ibn al-As (needs_source) ⁷⁵.

He recounts that Umar inquired into the charge against Abu Hurayra (may God be pleased with him), who was accused of trade while governor, and found that the trade was far from his office, and asked him to return (needs_source) ⁷⁶. He recounts Umar's method for testing a witness: do you know him, is he your neighbour, have you travelled with him, have you dealt with him over a dirham and a dinar (needs_source: the sheikh's presentation of the method) ^{77 78}.

On the year of famine, the sheikh says Umar gave up meat for nine months and ate only bread and oil, and that he took a melon from the hand of a child, saying he would not taste meat until the children of the Muslims were fed (needs_source) ^{79 80 81 82}. He recounts that Umar asked Amr ibn al-As for help in that year and that Amr sent a caravan (needs_source: the number of months is as the sheikh gives it) ^{83 84 85}.

He recounts that Umar objected to a clause of the Hudaybiyya treaty that returned Muslims who came to Quraysh, calling it unjust, and that the Prophet asked him to calm down (needs_source) ^{86 87}. He recounts Umar's suggestion that Suhayl ibn Amr's front tooth be removed so that he could not stand as an orator again, and Umar's remark that the Arabs need an eloquent speaker (needs_source) ^{88 89}.

The sheikh recounts that Umar asked himself each night what he would say to his Lord the next day ⁹⁰, that he met Abu Bakr at the dawn prayer every day and embraced him (needs_source) ⁹¹, and that he wept in the dawn prayer until the whole mosque wept with him (needs_source) ⁹². He recounts Umar's decision to enlarge the Sacred Mosque, which took in the house of Abbas, and the exchange in which Abbas asked for judgement by the judge Shurayh, Umar answering in a way the sheikh reads as judges coming to the people and not the reverse (needs_source: the exchange is garbled in the automatic transcript) ^{93 94 95}.

The sheikh recounts the story of Abu Lu'lu'a, who complained about the tax levied on him. Umar judged the tax fair for a craftsman who worked as a carpenter, blacksmith and mason, and Abu Lu'lu'a is said to have paid seven dirhams a day (needs_source: the figure is the sheikh's) ^{96 97}. Umar was then told of his threat to build a mill that the whole world would talk about ⁹⁸. He recounts that Umar dreamed a rooster pecked him three times, and that he was then stabbed three times while arranging the rows for the dawn prayer (needs_source) ^{99 100}. He recounts that Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf threw his cloak over the attacker, who then killed himself (needs_source) ¹⁰¹.

The sheikh recounts that Umar made the council a body of six: Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, Ali, Sa'd, Talha, al-Zubayr and Uthman, and that Abd al-Rahman was to choose among them (needs_source) ^{102 103}.

He recounts that Umar, when he fell silent on a question about witnesses, said that without Abu al-Hasan (Ali) they would have been destroyed (needs_source) ¹⁰⁴, and that he stopped the chatter during a Friday sermon from the minbar and then came down in humility (needs_source) ¹⁰⁵. He recounts that Umar, entering Mecca for the Hajj, saw people stopping at a tree and asked about it; he was told it was the tree of the pledge of Ridwan (needs_source) ¹⁰⁶. He recounts that Umar denied the Prophet's death for a moment, and that Abu Bakr recited a verse about the Prophet's humanity and messengership, after which Umar was calm and felt he was hearing it for the first time (needs_source: the account is garbled in the automatic transcript) ^{107 108}.

He recounts that the Prophet's bed was a mat, and that Umar said it was prophethood and not kingship, and that Persian and Byzantine kingdoms bring misery to their peoples (needs_source) ¹⁰⁹. He recounts the story of a woman whose hand had been cut off in Umar's caliphate, and says her hand had gone ahead to Paradise (needs_source) ¹¹⁰.

Sheikh Omar Abdelkafy holds that Umar and Abu Hurayra reached their standards because God planted a tree in their hearts, and that comparing their responses to office teaches responsibility (speaker's view, opinion) ^{111 51}. He holds that Umar broke his own habits, and that God then broke habits for him (speaker's view, opinion) ¹¹². He holds that religion covers every matter, and reads Umar's letter to Sa'd as expressing this principle (speaker's view, opinion) ⁵⁰. He recounts that Umar slept under a palm tree, safe and at ease, and presents this as a sign of trust in God (speaker's view, opinion) ¹¹³.

He recounts that Umar lengthened the recitation in the dawn prayer and says the community was ordered to lighten the prayer (needs_source) ¹¹⁴. He recounts a preacher invoking blessings on Umar as the first to remove the crosses from Jerusalem (needs_source) ¹¹⁵, and links the first warning he explains to Umar's entry into Jerusalem without battle (needs_source) ¹¹⁶. He quotes Umar that people are tested in their dealings with dirhams and dinars (needs_source) ¹¹⁷.

The sheikh quotes Umar that he would not show a wicked man a favour, lest he come to love him (needs_source: the quotation as the sheikh gives it) ¹¹⁸. He says Abu Bakr was thirty-eight and Umar twenty-six when they took up their roles (needs_source: the figures need checking) ¹¹⁹.

The Sheikh relays a saying attributed to Umar that he feared God would hold him to account for a mule that stumbled on the Euphrates (needs_source). ¹²¹

He recounts that Umar sent away a man who sought office, then later found him on all fours with his children on his back, and Umar said that one who is not merciful to his own family cannot be merciful to people (needs_source). ¹²²

He says that Umar set a cap on dowries, and a woman answered him with a Qur'anic verse about a large dowry (the surah is not named), and Umar admitted he was wrong (needs_source). ¹²³

He says that Umar, in Jerusalem, prayed the afternoon prayer on the steps of a church rather than inside it (needs_source). ¹²⁰

He says that Umar sometimes refrained from cold water, as a voluntary stage of scrupulousness, a personal discipline and not a rule he imposed on others (needs_source). ¹²⁴

He recounts that Ali asked Umar whether he had come about a matter of the Muslims or about his own affairs, and Umar was impressed by the question (needs_source). ¹²⁵

He recounts that Umar put out a lamp in a private meeting, because its oil had by then become the property of the heirs (needs_source). ¹²⁶

He mentions a supplication of Umar that he not be held to account in the grave for wealth enjoyed by his heirs, and says that an unjust will punishes its writer (needs_source). ¹²⁷

He says that Umar's anger was strong but not oppressive, and he relates Bilal's account that, had he been present at Umar's anger, he would have recited the Qur'an to calm him (needs_source). ¹²⁹

He cites a hadith on the reward for kindness to every living creature, and recounts that Umar did not let his anger take the rights of a Jewish man who said that he did not love Umar (needs_source). ¹³⁰

He recounts a narration of Umar testing his patience against fire, and of the Prophet speaking to Bilal (needs_source). ¹³¹

He says the biographies record that Ibn Abbas consoled Umar after he was stabbed, and he quotes a Qur'an line (the surah is not named) that patience and panic alike do not change what has been decreed (needs_source). ¹³²

He repeats the same account in another episode: Ibn Abbas and others comforted Umar after he was stabbed, saying that whether one feels dismay or patience, the outcome does not change (needs_source). ¹³³

He cites Umar's sayings on three kinds of wives: one who helps, one who is only a child-bearer and one who is a burden, and on the wife who magnifies faults and hides good (needs_source). ¹²⁸

He says that Umar set out to kill the Prophet and then his heart opened, and he uses this to show that God can open a heart that people regard as lost (needs_source). ¹³⁴

He recounts that when Umar was told that his sister and her husband Sa'id ibn Zayd had become Muslims, he went to them, then to the house of al-Arqam, where he converted (needs_source). ¹³⁵

He recounts that Umar announced his Islam, and that Jamil ibn Mamar spread the news that Umar was truthful in this, so a report that had been false became true (needs_source). ¹³⁶

He cites a hadith in which the Prophet asked who had fed a poor man that morning: Umar said he had been with the Prophet all morning, and Abu Bakr said he had been on his way to the mosque (needs_source). ¹³⁷

He recounts Abu Bakr's advice to Umar that God has duties by night and by day, each accepted only in its time (needs_source). ¹³⁸

He says that Umar, on his way to the Hajj, asked the Prophet not to forget him in his prayers, and that praying for an absent brother is a mercy from God (needs_source). ¹³⁹

He says that the Prophet smiled at his companions, and that Umar laughed heartily when something pleased him (needs_source). ¹⁴⁰

He recounts Umar's objection to the Prophet asking forgiveness for the hypocrites, and says that the Prophet's mercy is wide (needs_source). ¹⁴¹

He cites a hadith in which Umar wept at the marks of the Prophet's bed on his side, and the Prophet said that the time was the time of prophethood, not of kingship (needs_source). ¹⁴²

He says that Umar directed a questioner about inheritance to Mu'adh ibn Jabal, a questioner about recitation to Ubay ibn Ka'b, and sent others to Ibn Mas'ud and Ali, saying that he himself was only a distributor (needs_source). ¹⁴³

He recounts that a Bedouin asked Umar about a word in the Qur'an, Umar admitted he did not know it, and Ibn Abbas answered (needs_source). ¹⁴⁴

He cites a hadith on putting love of God and His Messenger above everything, and says that revelation seems to have confirmed Umar's opinions (needs_source). ¹⁴⁵

He says that earlier nations had inspired people who were not prophets, and that in this nation that person is Umar; he says that God demands the duties and the Prophet demands the sunna (needs_source). ¹⁴⁶

He quotes a supplication attributed to Umar, asking God for deeds that are sincere and right (needs_source). ¹⁴⁷