Umar
2nd Rashidun caliph from 634 to 644 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Umar ibn al-Khattab (Arabic: عُمَر بْن ٱلْخَطَّاب, romanized: ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb; c. 583 – November 644) was the second caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in November 644. A prominent companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Umar succeeded Abu Bakr (r. 632–634) as the second caliph.
Umar عُمَر | |
---|---|
2nd Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate | |
Reign | 23 August 634 – 3 November 644 |
Predecessor | Abu Bakr |
Successor | Uthman |
Born | c. 583 Mecca, Hejaz, Arabia (present-day Saudi Arabia) |
Died | November 644 (aged 60–61) Medina, Hejaz, Rashidun Caliphate (present-day Saudi Arabia) |
Burial | Prophet's Mosque, Medina |
Spouse | |
Issue | |
Tribe | Quraysh (Banu Adi) |
Father | Al-Khattab ibn Nufayl |
Mother | Hantamah bint Hisham |
Religion | Islam |
Signature | |
Arabic name | |
Personal (Ism) | ʿUmar |
Patronymic (Nasab) | ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ibn Nufayl ibn ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā ibn Rāz ibn ʿAdiyy ibn Kaʿab ibn Luʿayy ibn Ghālib ibn Fihr ibn Mālik |
Teknonymic (Kunya) | Abul Hafs |
Epithet (Laqab) | Al-Fārūq ("the distinguisher (between right and wrong)") |
Born into the Banu Adi, Umar initially opposed Muhammad, his distant Qurayshite kinsman and later son-in-law. Following his conversion to Islam in 616, he became the first Muslim to openly pray at the Kaaba. Umar participated in almost all battles and expeditions under Muhammad, who supposedly bestowed the title al-Fārūq upon him, for his judgements. After Muhammad's death in June 632, Umar pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr (r. 632–634) as the first caliph and served as the closest adviser to the latter until August 634, when the dying Abu Bakr nominated Umar as his successor.
Under Umar, the caliphate expanded at an unprecedented rate, conquering the Sasanian Empire and more than two-thirds of the Byzantine Empire. His attacks against the Sasanian Empire resulted in the conquest of Persia in less than two years (642–644). According to Jewish tradition, Umar set aside the Christian ban on Jews and allowed them into Jerusalem and to worship. Umar was assassinated by the Persian slave Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz in 644.
Umar is generally viewed by historians to be one of the most powerful and influential Muslim caliphs in history. Shia tradition views Umar as an enemy of the ahl al-bayt who attacked Muhammad's daughter Fatima and helped stealing the caliphate from the rightful successor Ali. In contrast, Umar is revered by Sunni Muslims as the second of the rashidun (rightly-guided) caliphs, a paragon of Islamic virtues and the second greatest companion after Abu Bakr.