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Biography of caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab  part 7

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00:00Some characteristics and features of Caliph Umar bin Al-Khattab

00:05He was tall, physically powerful and a renowned wrestler.

00:08He was also a gifted orator who succeeded his father as an arbitrator among the tribes.

00:14Umar became a merchant and made several journeys to Rome and Persia,

00:18where he is said to have met various scholars and analyzed Roman and Persian societies.

00:23The Rashidun Caliph, Umar ibn Al-Khattab,

00:26his qualities and morals since the beginning of the Islamic message and its spread to the world.

00:30Part 7

00:32We continue to tell a stage of the life of the Rashidun Caliph, Umar ibn Al-Khattab.

00:37From first-hand accounts of his physical appearance,

00:40Umar is said to be vigorous, robust and a very tall man.

00:44In markets he would tower above the people.

00:47The front part of his head was bald.

00:49Always Asir-e-Yusrin working with two hands.

00:52Both his eyes were black, with yellow skin.

00:55However, Ibn Sa'ad in his book stated that he never knew that Umar had yellow skin,

01:00except for a certain part of Umar's life where his color changed due to his frequent consumption of oil.

01:06Moreover, it is also narrated that he was initially white

01:09but his color turned dark during the year of Ashes 18a.h

01:13where a famine caused him to exert considerable effort in running the caliphate

01:17whilst there was a widespread lack of food.

01:20It is also narrated by Abu Nu'aym Al-Isfahani that he had reddish-white skin.

01:25His teeth were Ashnable Asnan, very white shining.

01:29He would always color his beard and take care of his hair using a type of plant.

01:34The early Muslim historians Ibn Sa'ad and Al-Hakim mentioned that Abu Miriam Zir,

01:39a native of Kufa, described Umar as being advanced in years,

01:43bald, of a tawny color, a left-handed man, tall and towering above the people.

01:49Umar's eldest son Abdullah described his father as a man of fair complexion,

01:54a ruddy tint prevailing, tall, bald and gray.

01:57Historian Salimah bin al-Akwaz said that Umar was ambidextrous,

02:02he could use both his hands equally well.

02:05On the authority of Abu Raja al-Yutairidi,

02:08Ibn Asakir records that Umar was a man tall, stout, very bald,

02:13very ruddy with scanty hair on the cheeks,

02:15his mustache is large, and the ends thereof reddish.

02:19In addition, on the authority of Amir bin Rabi'ah,

02:22Ibn Sa'ad records that I saw Umar a white man, pale,

02:26prevailing ruddiness, tall and bald.

02:29Umar was the first caliph to adopt the title Amir al-Mu'minin.

02:34Umar was one of Muhammad's chief advisors.

02:37After Muhammad's passing,

02:39it was Umar who reconciled the Medinan Muslims

02:42to accept Abu Bakr, a Meccan, as the caliph.

02:46During Abu Bakr's era,

02:48he actively participated as his secretary and main advisor.

02:52After succeeding Abu Bakr as caliph,

02:55Umar won over the hearts of Bedouin tribes

02:57by emancipating all their prisoners and slaves taken during the Ridda Wars.

03:02He built up an efficient administrative structure

03:04that held together his vast realm.

03:07He organized an effective intelligence network,

03:10one of the reasons for his strong grip on his bureaucracy.

03:14Umar never appointed governors for more than two years,

03:17for they might amass too much local power.

03:20He dismissed his most successful general, Khalid ibn Walid,

03:24because he wanted people to know that it is Allah who grants victory,

03:27and to counter the cult of personality that had built up around Khalid,

03:31for the sake of the Muslim faith.

03:33He would patrol the streets of Medina with a whip in his hand,

03:36ready to punish any offenders he might come across.

03:40It is said that Umar's whip was feared more than the sword of another man.

03:44But with all of this, he was also known for being kind-hearted,

03:48answering the needs of the fatherless and widows.

03:51Umar's swift imposition of justice against his governors for misdeeds

03:55made even powerful governors such as Muawiyah scared of him.

03:59Ali ibn Abu Talib, during the later rule of Uthman ibn Affan,

04:04wanted Uthman to be more strict with his governors, saying,

04:07I adjure you by God, do you know that Muawiyah was more afraid of Umar

04:11than was Umar's own servant Yarfa?

04:14Under Umar's rule, in order to promote strict discipline,

04:17Arab soldiers were settled outside of cities,

04:20between the desert and cultivated lands in special garrison towns known as Amsr.

04:25Known examples of such settlements are Basra and Kufa, in Iraq,

04:29and Fustat south of what would later become Cairo.

04:33His soldiers were forbidden to own land outside of Arabia.

04:37There were restrictions on their right to seize buildings

04:40and other immovable things usually thought of as prizes of war.

04:44Movable spoils were shared with the people of the Ummah,

04:47regardless of their social stratum.

04:49A modern researcher writes about this he used to monitor public policy very closely

04:54and had kept the needs of the public central to his leadership approach.

04:58As second caliph of Islam, he refused to chop off the hands of thieves

05:02because he felt he had fallen short of his responsibility

05:05to provide meaningful employment to all his subjects.

05:09As a ruler of a vast kingdom,

05:11his vision was to ensure that everyone in his kingdom should sleep on a full stomach.

05:16If a dog dies hungry on the banks of the river Euphrates,

05:19Umar will be responsible for dereliction of duty.

05:23Umar he also knew that just having a vision is not enough

05:26unless it is supported by effective strategies.

05:29He didn't only have a vision,

05:31he truly transformed his vision into actions.

05:34For example, to ensure that nobody sleeps hungry in his empire,

05:38he used to walk through the streets almost every night

05:40to see if there is anyone needy or ill.

05:43In The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,

05:46Gibbon refers to Umar in the following terms

05:48yet the abstinence and humility of Umar were not inferior to the virtues of a boobicker.

05:53His food consisted of barley bread or dates.

05:56His drink was water.

05:58He preached in a gown that was torn or tattered in 12 places.

06:01And a Persian satrap who paid his homage to the conqueror

06:04found him asleep among the beggars on the steps of the Mosque of Medina.

06:09His rule was one of the few moments in the history of Islam

06:12where Muslims were united as a single community.

06:15Abdullah ibn Nasud would often weep whenever the subject of Umar was brought up.

06:20He said Umar was a fortress of Islam.

06:23People would enter Islam and not leave.

06:26When he died, the fortress was breached and now people are going out of Islam.

06:31Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah before Umar died famously said,

06:35If Umar dies, Islam would be weakened.

06:39People asked him why and his reply was,

06:41You will see what I am speaking about if you survive.

06:45His greatest achievement from a religious perspective was the compilation of the Quran.

06:50This had not been done during the time of Muhammad.

06:53However, during the Battle of Yamama,

06:55a great number of the memorizers of the Quran perished in the battle.

06:59On the advice of Umar, Abu Bakr tasked Zayd ibn Thabit

07:03with the momentous task of compiling the Quran into a single book.

07:07The Faruqi dynasty which ruled the Khandesh region in north of Maharashtra, India,

07:12from 14th century until 16th century,

07:15has claimed their descent from Umar lineage.

07:19Along with Khalid ibn Walid, Umar was influential in the Ridda Wars.

07:24One strategic success was his sundering of the Byzantine-Sassanid alliance in 636

07:30when Emperor Heraclius and Emperor Yazdegerd III allied against their common enemy.

07:35He was lucky in that the Persian Emperor Yazdegerd III

07:39couldn't synchronize with Heraclius as planned.

07:42Umar fully availed himself of the opportunity by inducing the Byzantines to act prematurely.

07:48This was contrary to the orders of Emperor Heraclius

07:51who presumably wanted a coordinated attack along with the Persians.

07:55Umar did this by sending reinforcements to the Roman front in the Battle of Yarmouk

08:00with instructions that they should appear in the form of small bands,

08:03one after the other,

08:05giving the impression of a continuous stream of reinforcements

08:08that finally lured the Byzantines to an untimely battle.

08:11On the other hand, Yazdegerd III was engaged in negotiations

08:15that further gave Umar time to transfer his troops from Syria to Iraq.

08:19These troops proved decisive in the Battle of Qadisha.

08:23His strategy resulted in a Muslim victory at the Second Battle of Emesa in 638

08:29where the pro-Byzantine Christian Arabs of Jazira, aided by the Byzantine Emperor,

08:33made an unexpected flanking movement and laid siege to Emesa Homs.

08:38Umar issued an order to invade the very homeland of the Christian Arab forces

08:42besieging Emesa, the Jazira.

08:45A three-pronged attack against Jazira was launched from Iraq.

08:49To further pressure the Christian Arab armies,

08:52Umar instructed Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, commander of Muslim forces in Iraq,

08:57to send reinforcements to Emesa.

08:59Umar himself led reinforcements there from Medina.

09:03Under this unprecedented pressure,

09:05the Christian Arabs retreated from Emesa before Muslim reinforcements could arrive.

09:10The Muslims annexed Mesopotamia and parts of Byzantine Armenia.

09:14After the Battle of Nahavand,

09:16Umar launched a full-scale invasion of the Sassanid Persian Empire.

09:21The invasion was a series of well-coordinated multi-pronged attacks

09:25designed to isolate and destroy their targets.

09:28Umar launched the invasion by attacking the very heart of Persia,

09:32aiming to isolate Azerbaijan and eastern Persia.

09:36This was immediately followed by simultaneous attacks on Azerbaijan and Fars.

09:41Next, Sistan and Kerman were captured,

09:44thus isolating the stronghold of Persia, the Khorasan.

09:48The final expedition was launched against Khorasan,

09:51where, after the Battle of Oxus River,

09:54the Persian Empire ceased to exist,

09:56and Yazdegerd III fled to Central Asia.

09:59Umar is remembered by Sunnis as a rigid Muslim

10:02of a sound and just disposition in matters of religion,

10:05a man they title Farooq.

10:07I stop at this point today.

10:09Until next time, stay curious.

10:12Stay informed, and keep exploring the world's incredible stories.

10:18Soon we will publish.

10:20Part. 8

10:23Thank you. For watching.

10:29Part. 8

Biography of caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab part 7

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