Biography of caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab part 4
Biography of caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab part 4
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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,
00:31part 4 we continue to tell a stage of the life of the Rashidun Caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab.
00:37The Jews, Kab explained, had briefly won back their old capital a quarter of a century before
00:42when Persians overran Syria and Palestine,
00:45but they had not had time to clear the site of the temple,
00:48for the Rums Byzantines had recaptured the city.
00:51It was then that Umar ordered the rubbish on the Saqra, rock, to be removed by the Nabataeans,
00:57and after three showers of heavy rain had cleansed the rock, he instituted prayers there.
01:02To this day, the place is known as Qubbat-es-Saqra, the Dome of the Rock.
01:07According to lexicographer David ben Abraham al-Fassi, died before 1026 CE,
01:14the Muslim conquest of Palestine brought relief to the country's Jewish citizens,
01:18who had previously been barred by the Byzantines from praying on the Temple Mount.
01:22The military conquests were partially terminated between 638 and 639
01:28during the years of Great Famine in Arabia and Plague in the Levant.
01:32During his reign the Levant, Egypt, Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, Fezzan, Eastern Anatolia,
01:39almost the whole of the Sassanid Persian Empire including Bactria, Persia, Azerbaijan,
01:45Armenia, Caucasus and Makran were annexed to the Rashidun Caliphate.
01:50According to one estimate more than 4050 cities were captured during these military conquests.
01:56Prior to his death in 644, Umar had ceased all military expeditions
02:02apparently to consolidate his rule in recently conquered Roman Egypt
02:06and the newly conquered Sassanid Empire, 642-644.
02:12At his death in November 644, his rule extended from present-day Libya in the west
02:17to the Indus River in the east and the Oxus River in the north.
02:21In 638 CE, Arabia fell into severe drought followed by a famine.
02:26Soon after, the reserves of food at Medina began to run out.
02:31Umar ordered caravans of supplies from Syria and Iraq
02:35and personally supervised their distribution.
02:39His actions saved countless lives throughout Arabia.
02:42The first governor to respond was Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah,
02:46the governor of Syria and supreme commander of the Rashidun army.
02:50Later, Abu Ubaidah paid a personal visit to Medina
02:54and acted as an officer of disaster management, which was headed personally by Umar.
02:59For internally displaced people, Umar hosted a dinner every night at Medina,
03:04which, according to one estimate, had attendance of more than 100,000 people.
03:08While famine was ending in Arabia,
03:11many districts in Syria and Palestine were devastated by plague.
03:15While Umar was on his way to visit Syria, at Elit,
03:19he was received by Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, governor of Syria,
03:23who informed him about the plague and its intensity
03:26and suggested that Umar go back to Medina.
03:29Umar tried to persuade Abu Ubaidah to come with him to Medina,
03:33but he declined to leave his troops in that critical situation.
03:36Abu Ubaidah died in 639 of the plague,
03:40which also cost the lives of 25,000 Muslims in Syria.
03:44After the plague had weakened, in late 639,
03:48Umar visited Syria for political and administrative reorganization,
03:52as most of the veteran commanders and governors had died of the plague.
03:56To be close to the poor,
03:58Umar lived in a simple mud hut with outdoors and walked the streets every evening.
04:03After consulting with the poor,
04:05Umar established the first welfare state, Bait al-Mal.
04:09The Bait al-Mal aided the Muslim and non-Muslim poor,
04:13needy, elderly, orphans, widows, and the disabled.
04:17The Bait al-Mal ran for hundreds of years,
04:20from the Rashidun Caliphate in the 7th century through the Umayyad period
04:24661 to 750, and well into the Abbasid era.
04:29Umar also introduced a child benefit and pensions for the children and the elderly.
04:34Ocal populations of Jews and Christians,
04:37persecuted as religious minorities and taxed heavily to finance the Byzantine-Sassanid wars,
04:42often aided Muslims to take over their lands from the Byzantines and Persians,
04:47resulting in exceptionally speedy conquests.
04:50As new areas were attached to the Caliphate,
04:53they also benefited from free trade,
04:55while trading with other areas in the Caliphate to encourage commerce.
04:59In Islam trade is not taxed, but wealth is subject to the Zakat.
05:03Since the constitution of Medina, drafted by Muhammad,
05:07the Jews and the Christians continued to use their own laws in the Caliphate and had their own judges.
05:12In 644, Umar was assassinated by a Persian slave named Abu Luwafiruz.
05:19I stop at this point today.
05:21Until next time, stay curious, stay informed,
05:24and keep exploring the world's incredible stories.
05:28Soon we will publish part 5.