Biography of caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab part 5
Biography of caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab part 5
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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 5 We continue to tell a stage of the life of the Rashidun Caliph, Umar ibn Al-Khattab
00:37We continue to tell a stage of the life of the Rashidun Caliph, Umar ibn Al-Khattab
00:43His motivation for the assassination is not clear,
00:46but medieval sources attribute it to a tax dispute with his Arab master al-Mughirah ibn Shuba.
00:52According to some historical accounts, Abu Lu'aw was a Zoroastrian from Nahavand, Iran,
00:58though other reports describe him as a Christian.
01:01A highly skilled joiner and blacksmith, Abu Lu'aw was probably taken captive by his master al-Mughirah
01:07in the Battle of Nahavand 642 and subsequently brought to Arabia,
01:12where he may also have converted to Islam.
01:15Other historical sources report that he was rather taken captive by al-Mughirah
01:19in the Battle of Al-Qadisha 636, or that he was sold to al-Mughirah by Hermuzan,
01:25an ex-Sassanid military officer who had been working for Umar as an advisor
01:29after his own capture by the Muslims.
01:32Although Medina was generally off-limits to the Ajam non-Arabs under Umar's reign,
01:37Abu Lu'aw was exceptionally allowed to enter the capital of the early caliphate,
01:41being sent there by al-Mughirah to serve the caliph.
01:45When al-Mughirah forced Abu Lu'aw to pay a Kharij tax of two dirhams a day,
01:50Abu Lu'aw turned to Umar to protest this tax.
01:54However, Umar refused to lift the tax, thus provoking Abu Lu'aw's rage.
02:00Although this is the reason given by most historical accounts for Abu Lu'aw's assassination of Umar,
02:06Umar's biased policies against non-Arab captives may also have played a prominent role.
02:12One day when Umar was leading the congregational prayer in the Mosque of Medina,
02:16Abu Lu'aw stabbed him with a double-bladed dagger.
02:20There are different versions of how this happened.
02:23According to one version, he also killed Kulaib ibn al-Bukhar al-Laythi who was behind Umar,
02:28while in another version he stabbed 13 people who tried to restrain him.
02:33According to some accounts, the caliph died on the day of the stabbing
02:38of the Islamic year 23, or the 3rd of November 644 according to the Julian calendar,
02:44or the 6th of November 644 according to the Gregorian calendar,
02:48while other accounts maintain that he survived three more days.
02:52Some historical sources report that Abu Lu'aw was taken prisoner and executed for his assassination of Umar,
02:59while other sources claim that he committed suicide.
03:02After Abu Lulu's death, his daughter was killed by Ubaid Allah ibn Umar, one of Umar's sons.
03:09Acting upon the claim of one man, either Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf or Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr
03:16that they had been seen conspiring with Abu Lu'aw while he was holding the double-bladed dagger,
03:21Ubaid Allah also killed Hermuzin Umar's Persian military advisor,
03:25and Jufayna, a Christian man from Al-Hira, Iraq who had been taken to Medina
03:29to serve as a private tutor to a family in Medina.
03:33After Ubaid Allah was detained for these murders,
03:36he threatened to kill all foreign captives residing in Medina, as well as some others.
03:41Although Ubaid Allah may have been encouraged by his sister Hafsa bint Umar to avenge their father's death,
03:47his murder of Hermuzin and Jufayna was likely the result of a mental breakdown rather than of a true conspiracy.
03:54It was regarded by his peers as a crime rather than as a legitimate act of retaliation.
03:59In early 20th century scholarship it was sometimes supposed that Abu Lu'aw had really been an instrument in the hands of a conspiracy,
04:07though not a conspiracy led by Hermuzin, but rather one led by Ali al-Zubayr ibn al-Awam and Talha ibn Ubaid Allah.
04:15These men, who according to the historical sources were appointed by Umar himself as members of the council who would elect the next caliph,
04:23were thought by scholars to have conspired to overthrow Umar's reign and to put Ali in his place.
04:29This hypothesis, however, is rejected by more recent scholars.
04:34Nevertheless, while Ubaid Allah was subsequently acquitted of his crimes by Umar's successor Uthman r. 644-656,
04:43who considered the execution of Ubaid Allah an excessive measure in view of his father's recent assassination,
04:49Ali, among others, did protest against this and vowed to apply the regular punishment for murder if he were ever to be caliph.
04:56Umar was buried at the Green Dome in al-Masjid al-Nabawi alongside Muhammad and the caliph Abu Bakr,
05:03by the permission of Aisha given to his son Abdullah ibn Umar on Umar's request.
05:08I stop at this point today. Until next time, stay curious, stay informed, and keep exploring the world's incredible stories.
05:18Soon we will publish.
05:20Part 6. Thank you for watching.