Hazrat Umar ibn al-Khattab:

In Ahadith, we find that the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) prayed to Allah saying,

“O ALLAH, STRENGTHEN ISLAM WITH ONE OF TWO MEN WHOM

YOU LOVE MORE: AMR IBN HISHAM [ABU JAHL] OR UMAR IBN
AL-KHATTAB.” (SUNAN AL-TIRMIDHI).
Hazrat Umar (R.A.) was one of the most powerful and influential Muslim caliphs in history. He
was a senior companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He succeeded Abu Bakr (632–634)
as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate on 23 August 634. He was an expert
Muslim jurist known for his pious and just nature, which earned him the epithet Al-Farooq (the
one who distinguishes (between right and wrong).

After the death of Hazrat Abu Bakar (R.A), Hazrat Umar (R.A) took the responsibility and
became the second Caliph. He fully followed the footsteps of Muhammad (SAW). It was Hazrat
Umar under whose rule Islam became an international power and the mighty empires of Persia
and Byzantine collapse before the army of Islam.

Within ten years of his glorious rule, the whole of the Persian Empire, Syria, Palestine, Egypt
and a part of Turkey came under the banner of Islam and the nations entered the layer of Islam.
He was not only a defeated but also an excellent administrator who originated an efficient system
of administration, Hence he was the real founder of a political system of Islam.

Principal Events in the time of the Caliphate of Umar

 He appointed Abu Obaida bin al-Jarrah as the supreme commander of the Muslim forces
in Syria.
 His generals conquered Iraq, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kirman, Seistan, Khurasan, Syria, Jordan,
Palestine and Egypt, and incorporated them into the empire of the Muslims. All of these
were permanent conquests. The Romans lost Syria, Palestine and Egypt for ever; and in
Persia, the Sassani empire ceased to exist.
 Among other events of the caliphate of Umar, were the first outbreak of plague in Syria
in 18 A.H., and a famine in Hijaz in the same year. Between them, the plague and the
famine killed more than 25,000 people (Suyuti and Abul Fida).

Civil and Military Administration and Policy

 Since the empire had grown enormously in all directions, Umar had to establish an
administrative system.

 He appointed Uthman bin Hunaif as the First Financial Commissioner of land

development in Iraq.
  When Syria, Jordan and Palestine were conquered, Hazrat Umar appointed Yazid bin
Abu Sufyan the governor of Syria; Shurahbil bin Hasana governor of Jordan, and
Amr bin Aas the governor of Palestine. Abu Obaida bin al-Jarrah was appointed
governor of the city of Damascus. When Amr bin Aas conquered Egypt, Hazrat Umar
made him its governor.

 Hazrat Umar's generals had conquered Persia, Syria and Egypt. His successors in the
Umayyad dynasty pushed those conquests as far as southern France in the west, and the
western frontiers of China and the Indus valley in the east.

Infrastructure

 Since Medina, with a rapidly growing population, was at risk of recurring famines when
crops were lacking, Hazrat Umar sought to facilitate the import of grain.

 He ordered the building of a canal connecting the Nile to the Red Sea and an
improvement of port infrastructure on the Arabian coast.

 When Basra was established during Hazrat Umar's rule, he started building a nine-mile
canal from the Tigris to the new city for irrigation and drinking water. Al-Tabari reports
that 'Utba ibn Ghazwan built the first canal from the Tigris River to the site of Basra
when the city was in the planning stage.

 Hazrat Umar also adopted a policy of assigning barren lands to those who undertook to
cultivate them. This policy continued during the Umayyad period and resulted in the
cultivation of large areas of barren lands through the construction of irrigation canals by
the state and by individuals

Conclusion
Throughout this remarkable expansion, Hazrat Umar closely controlled general policy and laid
down the principles for administering the conquered lands. The structure of the later Islamic
empire, including legal practice, is largely due to him.
Hazrat Umar established the diwan (a register of warriors’ pensions that over time evolved into a
powerful governmental body), inaugurated the Islamic Hijri calendar, and created the office of
the qadi (judge). He also established the garrison cities of Al-Fusṭaṭ in Egypt
and Basra and Kufah in Iraq.

In 644 Hazrat Umar was attacked by a Persian Christian slave named Abū Luʾluʾah and died
from his wounds three days later. While he lay dying, Hazrat Umar appointed a six-man council
that eventually selected Hazrat Uthman ibn Affan as his successor.