Editing Umar (section)

== Caliphate ==
=== Initial challenges ===
Even though almost all of the Muslims had given their pledge of loyalty to Umar, he was feared more than loved. According to [[Muhammad Husayn Haykal]], the first challenge for Umar was to win over his subjects and the members of Majlis al Shura.<ref>Haykal, 1944, Chapter 5, p. 119.</ref>

Umar was a gifted orator, and he used his ability to improve his reputation among the people.<ref>''Modern Islamic political thought'', Hamid Enayat, p. 6.</ref>

Muhammad Husayn Haykal wrote that Umar's stress was on the well-being of the poor and underprivileged.<ref>Haykal, 1944, Chapter 5, p. 130.</ref> In addition to this, Umar, in order to improve his reputation and relation with the [[Banu Hashim]], the tribe of [[Ali]], delivered to the latter his disputed estates in Khayber. He followed Abu Bakr's decision over the disputed land of Fidak, continuing to treat it as state property.

In the Ridda wars, thousands of prisoners from rebel and apostate tribes were taken away as slaves during the expeditions. Umar ordered a general amnesty for the prisoners and their immediate emancipation.<ref>Haykal, 1944, Chapter 5, p. 135.</ref> This made Umar quite popular among the [[Bedouin people|Bedouin tribes]]. With the necessary public support on his side, Umar took the bold decision of recalling Khalid ibn Walid from supreme command on the [[Byzantine|Roman]] front.<ref>Haykal, 1944, Chapter 5, p. 140.</ref>

=== Political and civil administration ===
The government of Umar was a [[Unitary state|unitary government]], where the sovereign political authority was the caliph.{{Citation needed|date= December 2017}} The empire of Umar was divided into provinces and some [[autonomous]] territories, e.g., [[Azerbaijan]] and [[Armenia]], that had accepted the suzerainty of the caliphate.{{Citation needed|date=December 2017}} The provinces were administered by the provincial governors or ''[[Wali]]'', personally and fastidiously selected by Umar. Provinces were further divided into about 100 districts. Each district or main city was under the charge of a junior governor or Amir, usually appointed by Umar himself, but occasionally also appointed by the provincial governor. Other officers at the provincial level were:

# ''Katib'', the Chief Secretary;
# ''Katib-ud-Diwan'', the Military Secretary;
# ''Sahib-ul-Kharaj'', the Revenue Collector;
# ''Sahib-ul-Ahdath'', the [[Police chief]];
# ''Sahib-Bait-ul-Mal'', the [[Treasury]] Officer;
# ''Qadi'', the Chief Judge.

In some districts there were separate military officers, though the ''Wali'' was, in most cases, the Commander-in-chief of the army quartered in the province.{{Citation needed|date=December 2017}}

Every appointment was made in writing. At the time of appointment an instrument of instructions was issued with a view to regulating the ''Wali's'' conduct. On assuming office, the ''Wali'' was required to assemble the people in the main [[mosque]], and read the instrument of instructions before them.<ref>''The Cambridge History of Islam'', ed. P.M. Holt, Ann K.S. Lambton, and Bernard Lewis, Cambridge, 1970</ref>

Umar's general instructions to his officers were:

{{blockquote|Remember, I have not appointed you as commanders and tyrants over the people. I have sent you as leaders instead, so that the people may follow your example. Give the Muslims their rights and do not beat them lest they become abused. Do not praise them unduly, lest they fall into the error of conceit. Do not keep your doors shut in their faces, lest the more powerful of them eat up the weaker ones. And do not behave as if you were superior to them, for that is tyranny over them.{{Citation needed|date=December 2017}}}}

Various other strict codes of conduct were to be obeyed by the governors and state officials. The principal officers were required to travel to Mecca on the occasion of the Hajj, during which people were free to present any complaint against them. In order to minimize the chances of corruption, Umar made it a point to pay high salaries to the staff.{{Citation needed|date=December 2014}} Provincial governors received as much as five to seven thousand dirham annually besides their shares of the spoils of war (if they were also the commander in chief of the army of their sector).{{Citation needed|date=December 2014}}

Under Umar, the empire was divided into the following provinces:
# Mecca (Arabia)
# Medina (Arabia)
# [[Basra]] (Iraq)
# [[Kufa]] (Iraq)
# [[Al-Jazira, Mesopotamia|Jazira]], in the upper reaches of the [[Tigris]] and [[Euphrates]]
# Syria
# [[Aelia Capitolina|Iliyā' (إلياء)]] ([[Palestine (region)|Palestine]])
# [[Ramlah]] (Palestine)
# [[Upper Egypt]]
# [[Lower Egypt]]
# [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]] (Persia)
# Azerbaijan (Persia)
# [[Fars province|Fars]] (Persia)

Umar was first to establish a special department for the investigation of complaints against the officers of the State. This department acted as the [[Administrative court]], where the legal proceedings were personally led by Umar.<ref>''Commanding right and forbidding wrong in Islamic thought'', M. A. Cook, p. 79</ref>

The department was under the charge of [[Muhammad ibn Maslamah]], one of Umar's most trusted men. In important cases, Muhammad ibn Maslamah was deputed by Umar to proceed to the spot, investigate the charge and take action. Sometimes an Inquiry Commission was constituted to investigate the charge. On occasion, the officers against whom complaints were received were summoned to Medina and charged in Umar's administrative court.

Umar was known for this intelligence service through which he made his officials accountable.<ref>{{cite book |last=Al-Buraey |first=Muhammad |title=Administrative Development - An Islamic Perspective |date=2002 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-7103-0333-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HJE9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA249 |pages=248–249}}</ref> This service was also said to have inspired fear in his subjects.<ref>{{cite book |last=Essid |first=Yassine |title=A Critique of the Origins of Islamic Economic Thought |date=1995 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |isbn=978-90-04-10079-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ij86T6DAwzgC&pg=PA67 |pages=24, 67}}</ref>

Umar was a pioneer in some affairs:
# Umar was the first to introduce the public ministry system, where the records of officials and soldiers were kept. He also kept a record system for messages he sent to Governors and heads of state;
# He was the first to appoint police forces to keep civil order;
# He was the first to discipline the people when they became disordered.<ref>"The Precious Pearls" by Muhammad Ayub Sipra, Darussalam publishers and distributors, 2002, p. 57.</ref>

Another important aspect of Umar's rule was that he forbade any of his governors and agents from engaging in any sort of business dealings whilst in a position of power. An agent of Umar by the name of Al Harith ibn K'ab ibn Wahb was once found to have extra money beyond his salary and Umar enquired about his wealth. Al Harith replied that he had some money and he engaged in trade with it. Umar said: ''By Allah, we did not send you to engage in trade!'' and he took from him the profits he had made.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://archive.org/stream/UmarIbnAl-KhattabHisLifeAndTimesVolume2/100713541-Umar-Ibn-Al-Khattab-Vol-2#page/n47/mode/2up |title=Umar Ibn Al-Khattab - His Life and Times, Volume 2}}</ref>

=== Canals ===
Since Medina, with a rapidly growing population, was at risk of recurring famines when crops were lacking, Umar sought to facilitate the import of grain. He ordered the building of a canal connecting the Nile to the Red Sea and an improvement of port infrastructure on the Arabian coast. When Basra was established during Umar's rule, he started building a nine-mile canal from the Tigris to the new city for irrigation and drinking water.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mqbcAwAAQBAJ&q=umar+canal+medina&pg=PA78 |title=Early Islam and the Birth of Capitalism |last=Koehler |first=Benedikt |date=17 June 2014 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Lexington Books]] |isbn=9780739188835 |page=78 |language=en}}</ref> Al-Tabari reports that Utba ibn Ghazwan built the first canal from the Tigris River to the site of Basra when the city was in the planning stage.{{Citation needed|date=December 2014}} After the city was built, Umar appointed [[Abu Musa Ashaari]] (17-29/638 – 650) as its first governor.{{Citation needed|date=December 2014}} He began building two important canals, the [[al-Ubulla]] and the Ma'qil, linking Basra with the Tigris River. These two canals were the basis for the agricultural development for the whole Basra region and used for drinking water. Umar also adopted a policy of assigning barren lands to those who undertook to cultivate them. This policy continued during the Umayyad period and resulted in the cultivation of large areas of barren lands through the construction of irrigation canals by the state and by individuals.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.history-science-technology.com/articles/articles%2012.htm |title=History of Science And Technology in Islam |publisher=History-science-technology.com |access-date=29 January 2019}}</ref>

=== Reforms ===
{{Main|Reforms of Umar's era|Covenant of Umar I}}

Under Umar's leadership, the empire expanded; accordingly, he began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast territory. He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy, establishing an advanced administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories. During his rule, the garrison cities (''[[amsar]]'') of Basra and Kufa were founded or expanded. In 638, he extended and renovated the [[Masjid al-Haram]] (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and [[al-Masjid al-Nabawi]] (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina.{{Citation needed |date=September 2023}}

Umar also ordered the expulsion to Syria and Iraq of the Christian and Jewish communities of [[Najran]] and [[Khaybar]]. He also permitted Jewish families to resettle in Jerusalem, which had previously been barred from all Jews.<ref name="Simha Assaf 1946, pp. 20-21">Simha Assaf, ''Meqorot u-Meḥqarim be-Toldot Yisrael'', Jerusalem 1946, pp. 20–21 (Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic)</ref> He issued orders that these Christians and Jews should be treated well and allotted them the equivalent amount of land in their new settlements. Umar also forbade non-Muslims from residing in the [[Hejaz]] for longer than three days.<ref>[[Giorgio Levi Della Vida]] and [[Michael Bonner]], ''Encyclopaedia of Islam''.</ref>{{Page needed|date=September 2023}}{{sfnp|Madelung|1997|p=74}} He was first to establish the army as a state department.

Umar was founder of [[Fiqh]], or Islamic [[jurisprudence]].<ref>''The origins of Islamic jurisprudence'', Harald Motzki, Marion</ref> He is regarded by [[Sunni Muslim]]s as one of the greatest [[Faqih]], and, as such, he started the process of codifying [[Sharia|Islamic Law]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2014}}

In 641, he established [[Bayt al-mal]], a financial institution and started annual allowances for the Muslims. As a leader, Umar was known for his simple, austere lifestyle. Rather than adopt the pomp and display affected by the rulers of the time, he continued to live much as he had when Muslims were poor and persecuted.{{citation needed|date=July 2017}} In 638, his fourth year as caliph and the seventeenth year since the [[Hijra year|Hijra]], he decreed that the [[Islamic calendar]] should be counted from the year of the Hijra of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina.

=== Visit to Jerusalem in 637 ===
Umar's visit to [[Jerusalem]] is documented in several sources. A recently discovered Judeo-Arabic text has disclosed the following anecdote:<ref name="Simha Assaf 1946, pp. 20-21"/>

"Umar ordered Gentiles and a group of Jews to sweep the area of the Temple Mount. Umar oversaw the work. The Jews who had come sent letters to the rest of the Jews in Palestine and informed them that Umar had permitted resettlement of Jerusalem by Jews. Umar, after some consultation, permitted seventy Jewish households to return. They returned to live in the southern part of the city, i.e., the Market of the Jews. (Their aim was to be near the water of ''[[Siloam|Silwan]]'' and the [[Temple Mount]] and its gates). Then the Commander Umar granted them this request. The seventy families moved to Jerusalem from Tiberias and the area around it with their wives and children".

It is also reported in the name of the [[Eutychius of Alexandria|Alexandrian Bishop Eutychius]] (932–940) that the rock known as the Temple Mount had been a place of ruins as far back as the time of the [[Helena (empress)|Empress Helena]], mother of Constantine the Great, who built churches in Jerusalem. "The Byzantines" he said, "had deliberately left the ancient site of the Temple as it was and had even thrown rubbish on it so that a great heap of rubble formed". It was only when Umar marched into Jerusalem with an army that he asked [[Ka'ab al-Ahbar]], who was Jewish before he converted to Islam, "Where do you advise me to build a place of worship?" Ka'ab indicated the Temple Rock, now a gigantic heap of ruins from the temple of Jupiter.<ref>''The History of al-Tabari'', vol. XII, Albany, [[SUNY Press|State University of New York Press]], 2007, pp. 194–195</ref> The Jews, Ka'ab explained, had briefly won back their old capital a quarter of a century before (when Persians overran Syria and Palestine), but they had not had time to clear the site of the Temple, for the ''Rums'' (Byzantines) had recaptured the city. It was then that Umar ordered the rubbish on the ''Ṣakhra'' (rock) to be removed by the Nabataeans, and after three showers of heavy rain had cleansed the Rock, he instituted prayers there. To this day, the place is known as ''ḳubbat es ṣakhra'', the [[Dome of the Rock]].

According to lexicographer [[David ben Abraham al-Fasi]] (died before 1026), the Muslim conquest of [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] brought relief to the country's Jewish citizens, who had previously been barred by the Byzantines from praying on the [[Temple Mount]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Al-Fasi |first=D. |author-link=David ben Abraham al-Fasi |title=The Hebrew-Arabic Dictionary of the Bible, Known as 'Kitāb Jāmiʿ al-Alfāẓ' (Agron) |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |editor=Solomon L. Skoss |volume=1 |page=xxxix – xl (Introduction) |date=1936 |language=he |oclc=745093227}}</ref>

=== Military expansion ===
{{Main|Military conquests of Umar's era}}
{{Campaignbox Wars of Caliph Umar}}

The military conquests were partially terminated between 638 and 639 during the years of great famine in Arabia and plague in the [[Levant]]. During his reign the Levant, Egypt, [[Cyrenaica]], [[Tripolitania]], [[Fezzan]], Eastern [[Anatolia]], almost the whole of the [[Sassanid Empire|Sassanid Persian Empire]] including [[Bactria]], Persia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, [[Caucasus]] and [[Makran]] were annexed to the Rashidun Caliphate. According to one estimate more than 4,050 cities were captured during these military conquests.<ref>''Medieval Islamic Civilization'', Josef W. Meri, Jere L. Bacharach, p. 844</ref> Prior to his death in 644, Umar had ceased all military expeditions apparently to consolidate his rule in recently conquered [[Egypt (Roman province)|Roman Egypt]] and the newly conquered Sassanid Empire (642–644). At his death in November 644, his rule extended from present day [[Libya]] in the west to the [[Indus river]] in the east and the [[Oxus river]] in the north.

=== Great famine ===
In 638, Arabia fell into severe drought followed by a famine. Soon after, the reserves of food at Medina began to run out. Umar ordered caravans of supplies from Syria and Iraq and personally supervised their distribution. His actions saved countless lives throughout Arabia.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3HYQ3vETMgcC&q=umar+saved+famine&pg=PA44 |title=Umar - Makers of Islamic Civilization |last1=Numani |first1=Shibli |last2=Numani |first2=Muhammad Shibli |date=6 November 2004 |publisher=[[I.B. Tauris]] |isbn=9781850436706 |pages=44–45 |language=en}}</ref> The first governor to respond was Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, the governor of Syria and supreme commander of the [[Rashidun army]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Life and Works of 2nd Caliph Umar Al Khattab |url=http://www.lscollege.ac.in/sites/default/files/e-content/2nd%20Caliph%20Umar%20al%20Khattab.pdf |website=[[Langat Singh College]], India}}</ref>

Later, Abu Ubaidah paid a personal visit to Medina and acted as an officer of [[disaster management]], which was headed personally by Umar. For internally displaced people, Umar hosted a dinner every night at Medina, which according to one estimate, had attendance of more than a hundred thousand people.<ref>Haykal, 1944, Chapter 22.</ref>

=== Great plague ===
While famine was ending in Arabia, many districts in Syria and Palestine were devastated by [[First plague pandemic|plague]]. While Umar was on his way to visit Syria, at [[Elat]], he was received by [[Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah]], governor of Syria, who informed him about the plague and its intensity and suggested that Umar go back to Medina. Umar tried to persuade Abu Ubayda to come with him to Medina, but he declined to leave his troops in that critical situation. Abu Ubayda died in 639 of the plague, which also cost the lives of 25,000 Muslims in Syria. After the plague had weakened, in late 639, Umar visited Syria for political and administrative re-organization, as most of the veteran commanders and governors had died of the plague.<ref>Haykal, 1944, Chapter 21.</ref>

=== Welfare state ===
To be close to the poor, Umar lived in a simple mud hut without doors and walked the streets every evening. After consulting with the poor, Umar established the first welfare state, [[Bayt al-mal]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kWp8aeuqKaYC&q=umar+walked+the+streets+every+evening&pg=PT44 |title=Umar bin Al Khattab – The Second Caliph of Islam |first=Abdul Basit |last=Ahmad |date=6 September 2017 |publisher=[[Darussalam Publishers]] |isbn=9789960861081}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T-uN7tDGSZMC&q=umar+lived+in+a+mud+hut&pg=PA20 |title=Men Around the Messenger |first=Khālid Muḥammad |last=Khālid |date=1 February 2005 |publisher=The Other Press |isbn=9789839154733}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RQxYnAykK6sC&q=umar+lived+in+a+mud+hut&pg=PT132 |title=The Living Thoughts of the Prophet Muhammad |isbn=9781934271223 |last1=Ali |first1=Maulana Muhammad |date=16 April 2015 |publisher=Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam Lahore USA}}</ref> The Bayt al-mal aided the Muslim and non-Muslim poor, needy, elderly, orphans, widows, and the disabled. The Bayt al-mal ran for hundreds of years, from the Rashidun Caliphate in the 7th century through the Umayyad period (661–750) and well into the Abbasid era. Umar also introduced a child benefit and pensions for the children and the elderly.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HJE9AAAAIAAJ&q=umar+welfare+state&pg=PA254 |title=Administrative Development - An Islamic Perspective |first=Muhammad |last=Al-Buraey |date=6 September 1985 |publisher=KPI |isbn=9780710303332}}</ref><ref>The challenge of Islamic renaissance By Syed Abdul Quddus</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lT8OAAAAQAAJ&q=umar+Bayt+al-mal&pg=PA252 |title=Administrative Development - An Islamic Perspective |first=Muhammad |last=Al-Buraey |date=6 September 1985 |publisher=KPI |isbn=9780710300591}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EnT_zhqEe5cC&q=umar+Bayt+al-mal&pg=PA539 |title=Ottoman History |isbn=9789090261089 |last1=Akgündüz |first1=Ahmed |last2=Öztürk |first2=Said |date=2011}}</ref>

=== Free trade ===
Local populations of Jews and Christians, persecuted as religious minorities and taxed heavily to finance the [[Byzantine–Sassanid Wars]], often aided Muslims to take over their lands from the Byzantines and Persians, resulting in exceptionally speedy conquests.{{sfnp|Esposito|2010|p=38}}{{sfnp|Hofmann|2007|p=86}} As new areas were attached to the Caliphate, they also benefited from free trade, while trading with other areas in the Caliphate (to encourage commerce, in Islam trade is not taxed, but wealth is subject to the [[zakat]]).<ref>Islam - An Illustrated History By Greville Stewart Parker Freeman-Grenville, Stuart Christopher Munro-Hay, p. 40</ref> Since the [[Constitution of Medina]], drafted by Muhammad, the Jews and the Christians continued to use their own laws in the Caliphate and had their own judges.<ref>R. B. Serjeant, "Sunnah Jami'ah, pacts with the Yathrib Jews, and the Tahrim of Yathrib: analysis and translation of the documents comprised in the so-called "Constitution of Medina"", Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (1978), 41: 1–42, [[Cambridge University Press]].</ref><ref>Watt. Muhammad at Medina and R. B. Serjeant "The Constitution of Medina", Islamic Quarterly 8 (1964), p. 4.</ref><ref name="Constitution of Medina">{{cite web |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/15118390/Madinah-Peace-Treaty |title=Madinah Peace Treaty |via=Scribd}}</ref>