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._001.jpg) Omar Ibn Abdul Aziz became
known as a rightly guided Caliph of the Islamic nation because of his
similarity to the Rightly Guided Caliphs. The Rightly Guided Caliphs learned
their practice of Islam straight from Prophet Muhammad, may God praise him, and
kept strictly to the guidelines of the Quran and the authentic traditions of
Prophet Muhammad. However after their death the Caliphate became a dynasty, and
a more lax approach was taken to implement certain commandments. Omar Ibn Abdul
Aziz revived righteous Islamic principles and began to put jewels into the
crown of the Islamic Empire. One of his first acts was to replace corrupt and
tyrannical Umayyad administrators with honest and just people and another was
to restore to the rightful owners their properties that were confiscated from
them.
Within the first ten years of the conquest of Sindh (part
of modern day Pakistan), in 718 CE Omar became the first Caliph to commission a
translation of the Quran from Arabic into another language - Sindhi. This was
at the request of the Raja of Sindh. Sindh was yet another area of the Islamic State
conquered by the will of God and the impeccable Islamic morals and manners of
war, not known in other parts of the world at that time. At the same time
Omar’s armies waged a defensive war against the Turks who had ravaged Azerbaijan
and massacred thousands. Omar permitted his forces to wage war only under strictest
conditions, including that women, children or prisoners would not be executed,
and that a fleeing, defeated enemy would not be pursued.
Amongst many firsts, Omar bin Abdul Aziz was the first
Muslim ruler to turn his attention away from external conquest. He recalled the
Muslim armies from the borders of France, India and the outskirts of
Constantinople. It was during his Caliphate that internal uprisings and
disturbances ceased, and the true Islamic faith taught by Prophet Muhammad, may
God praise him, flourished once again. Greed however does not surrender to
faith without a battle, thus there were many disgruntled people, unhappy with
Omar’s rule.
Yet the reforms continued. Under Omar’s instructions the
viceroy in Spain, took a census of the diverse nationalities, races and creeds,
inhabiting that section of the Empire. A survey of the entire peninsula
including cities, rivers, seas and mountains was made. The nature of the soil
and varieties of mineral sources and agricultural produce was carefully counted
and recorded, bridges in southern Spain were constructed and repaired and a
large mosque was built at Saragossa in northern Spain.
In the time between the Rightly Guided Caliphs and Omar
Ibn Abdul Aziz the Public Treasury was freely used for private purposes by the
Umayyad Caliphs. Omar immediately put a stop to this practice but at the same
time made himself a number of dangerous enemies. Nevertheless he continued to
institute reforms and revivals that caused the poor, weak and righteous Muslims
to feel strong and protected as they once had under the early Caliphs. One of
the most important measures was his reform of taxation.
Omar Ibn Abdul Aziz, following in the footsteps of his
beloved prophet Muhammad was kind and just toward non-Muslims. Christians,
Jews and Zoroastrians were allowed to retain their churches, synagogues and
temples. In Damascus, where the Basilica of John the Baptist had been turned
into a mosque, Omar ordered it returned to the Christian church.
Omar’s administration of the Empire was impartially just
and went directly against the interests of the Umayyad dynasty, of which Omar
was a distant member but far from the line of succession. The influential
Umayyad’s could not tolerate their loss of power, prestige and finances. Omar’s
reforms were too much for them to tolerate. A slave was bribed to administer a
deadly poison. When the Caliph felt the effects of the poison and had come to
understand the plot he sent for the slave and asked him why? The slave replied
that he was given one thousand dinars so Omar then deposited that exact amount
into the Public Treasury and freed the slave. He advised him to leave immediately
in case Omar’s enemies killed him. Omar Ibn Abdul Aziz died after a rule that
lasted only two and a half years. He was thirty-nine years old at the time of
his death.
Post script
There is an unauthenticated but nonetheless beautiful
story about Omar Ibn Abdul Aziz’s lineage.
Omar Ibn Abdul Aziz is related to Omar Ibn al-Khattab because
of a famous event during the second Caliph's rule. During one of his frequent journeys
to survey the condition of his people, Omar overheard a milkmaid refusing to
obey her mother's orders to sell adulterated milk. The girl replied that
although Caliph Omar was not looking at them, God was always watching over
everyone. The next day Omar Ibn al Khattab sent an officer to purchase milk
from the girl and found the milk unadulterated. He then summoned the girl and
her mother to his court and told them what he had overheard. As a reward, he
offered to marry the girl to his son Asim. She accepted, and from this union
was born a girl named Layla who would in due course become the mother of Omar Ibn
Abdul Aziz.
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