As we have been traveling through the history of our nation, we have read the biographies of the great men of the past, present, and the future.

Among them was a man of the Tabi‘een (followers of the companions), whose zuhd (asceticism) was incomparable.  He did not make a name in history as a king, but as an abstinent and just Khaleefah, whose throne was made of jute mat.  He put away the darkness of tyranny with the light of justice.  He never even dreamt that history will recall his life.  He was a great scholar and a politician, who was like a solid mountain whom the generations take the meanings of justice, honor, and sincerity from.  He was one ‘Umar from another ‘Umar: a lion amongst men, the great grandson of ‘Umar, the Lion of the Sahaba.

He is the Ameer of the Believers, the Mujtahid Imaam, the Fifth Just Khaleefah and the Mujaddid (reviver) of the first one hundred Hijri years;  ‘Umar, the son of ‘Abdul ‘Azeez the son of Marwaan the son of Al-Hakam the son of ‘Aas the son of ‘Abdul Shams.

He was born in Madinah, 60 years after the migration of the Prophet salAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, during the rule of Khaleefah Yazeed ibn Mu’awiyah.  His mother was Layla bint ‘Aasim ibn ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, and his father was ‘Abdul ‘Azeez, son of a Khaleefah, and a prince.

He was just a child when his father received an appointment to govern Egypt.  He asked Layla to come with him and she agreed, but she left little ‘Umar in the care of his great uncle and scholar of the Sahaba, ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar.

He would say: “O mother, I would like to be like my uncle.”  She would say back to him: “You will be like him and even better than him.”

And her words were not empty rhetoric — she made sure he received the best education in his deen.  He memorized the Qur’an at an early age, and began studying under Anas ibn Malik, Saalim ibn ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar, and ‘Ubaidullah ibn Mas’ood.  He would say that “being in a session with ‘Ubaidullah is more beloved to me than this world and what is in it.”

‘Umar later served as governor of Madinah, and later on the ruler of the Hijaz.  This experience set him up for what was to come: his appointment to Khaleefah.  He was able to combine scholarship with political power, something which has been done in history only a handful of times.  And this was why the scholars considered him to be the Fifth Rightly Guided Khaleefah.

How did he revive the Sunnah? He began by establishing the first committee to document the Sunnah of the Prophet, headed by the great scholar Imam Muhammad ibn Shihab az-Zuhri.  Al-Iraqee said in his Alfiyyah, “The first one to write down the ahadeeth was Ibn Shihab az-Zuhri at the turn of the first century by the order of ‘Umar Ibn ‘Abdil ‘Azeez.”

During his reign as Khaleefah, justice and peace was the norm in the Muslim lands.  He sought to fight corruption and correct the people.  When he became the Khaleefah, his son Abdul Malik told him, “Now you have to stop all the corruptions that your uncles (the Umayyad rulers) did.” ‘Umar then said, “Corruptions that have happened over years will not be changed over a few nights.   It is enough for me that I bring one Sunnah and take away one Bid’ah (innovation) every day.”

al-Imam Ahmad said about ‘Umar, “It has been narrated that in every hundred years, Allah sends one who will revive the religion of this Ummah. We have found ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdil ‘Azeez to be the one for the first century and we looked into the second hundred years and found it to be al-Imam Ash-Shaafi’ee.”

Sufyaan Ath-Thawree and Ash-Shafi’ee used to say, “The rightly-guided khulafaa’ were five: Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthmaan, ‘Alee, and ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdil ‘Azeez.”

Maymoon ibn Mahraan said about him, “He was the teacher of the scholars.”

Ath-Thawree reports from ‘Amr ibn Maymoon, who said, “The scholars who were with ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdil ‘Azeez were only students.”

The lessons from his life are innumerable — he had the knowledge in one hand, power in the other, and the resources of an empire at his disposal.  Yet, rather than be corrupted or use his power for his own gains, he spent his short time as Khaleefah establishing justice and reviving the teachings of the Prophet.

When he died, the people were sad all over the world.  Even the Roman King was on the floor crying when he heard of the death of ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdil ‘Azeez.  When he was asked why he was crying, he replied, “A righteous and just king has died today.  If there was anyone after Jesus that could raise the dead, it would have been ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdul ‘Azeez.  I was never amazed by the monks who isolated themselves and worshiped God because they were never exposed to the world.  What amazed me was how this man, who had the world at his hands, refused it and devoted himself to the worship of God.”

Come learn about ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdil ‘Azeez, as well as other great scholars, in the upcoming AlMaghrib seminar Torch Bearers: Scholars of Islam, taught by Shaykh Waleed Basyouni.  This double-weekend seminar is coming to New Jersey on March 12-14 & 20-21, 2010, at the NJIT Campus Center in Newark, NJ.

There is a special FREE session on Friday, March 12th, 7:30pm at the NJIT Campus Center.  Don’t miss out!  Seating is limited, and spots are going very fast, so Enroll Now!

All information is available here:
Torch Bearers — ENROLL NOW!
Torch Bearers seminar information
Power of 10 discount – Save $30 on seminar tuition!
Financial Aid and Loans information
Seminar Times, Accommodations, Transportation, Parking, Babysitting

Share It

Subscribe to Comments leave a comment or trackback