Umar

Umar ibn al-Khattab was the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, ruling from 634 until his murder in 644. In just ten years Arab Muslim armies under his direction took Syria, Egypt, Iraq and much of Iran, and he laid down many of the institutions of the early Islamic state. Sunni Muslims honour him as a model of justice and piety, while in Twelver Shia tradition he is viewed as one of those who unjustly denied the caliphate to Ali.

Umar was born in Mecca around 584 into the Banu Adi, one of the lesser clans of Quraysh. The traditional accounts describe a hard upbringing herding his father's camels, a rare ability to read and write, and a reputation as a strong wrestler with a fierce temper. When Muhammad began preaching, Umar was a determined opponent. According to the early Islamic sources, he set out to kill Muhammad but learned that his own sister had converted; after striking her, he read a passage of the Quran in her house and accepted Islam, around 616. He then prayed openly at the Kaaba, which strengthened the small Muslim community in Mecca.

Umar moved to Medina in 622 and, according to tradition, fought at Badr, Uhud, the Trench and Hunayn, and was present at the Treaty of Hudaybiyya and the taking of Mecca. Muhammad is said to have given him the title al-Faruq, "the distinguisher", for his sound judgement. When Muhammad died in June 632, the sources report that Umar at first refused to believe it.

At the gathering of the Medinan Ansar at the Saqifa, Umar played the decisive part in having Abu Bakr accepted as leader. Shia sources add that Umar then led an armed group to the house of Ali and Fatima to force Ali's allegiance, and attribute Fatima's miscarriage and death to this; Sunni scholars reject those accounts, and modern historians differ on how much force was used. Under Abu Bakr, Umar was the caliph's chief adviser, and after the battle of Yamama he urged that the Quran be collected into a single volume.

Shortly before his death in 634, Abu Bakr designated Umar to follow him. Umar took the title Amir al-Mu'minin, "Commander of the Faithful". His generals defeated the Sasanian Empire at al-Qadisiyyah and Nahavand, and the Byzantine Empire at the Yarmuk, opening Syria and Palestine. In 637 Jerusalem surrendered on condition that the caliph come in person; the traditional accounts say Umar left the city's Christians and churches unharmed and allowed Jews to live and worship there again. Amr ibn al-As led the conquest of Egypt. Umar replaced the celebrated general Khalid ibn al-Walid, which some sources explain as a wish to show that victory came from God rather than from one man.

Umar set up a treasury and registers to pay soldiers and pensions, appointed governors for short terms and sent investigators to check complaints against them, and settled Arab troops in new garrison towns such as Basra, Kufa and Fustat rather than among conquered populations. In 638 he made the Hijra, the Prophet's migration to Medina, the starting point of the Islamic calendar. He organised relief during a drought and the plague that struck Syria around 638–639.

In 644 Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz, an enslaved Persian craftsman, stabbed Umar while he led prayers in the mosque of Medina. Medieval writers link the attack to a tax dispute with the slave's master; the assassin's religion and fate are reported differently. Before dying, Umar named a council of six senior companions, including Ali and Uthman, to choose his successor. Umar died on 6 November 644; his grave lies beside those of Muhammad and Abu Bakr. The council chose Uthman.

Our 600 map shows the Sasanian and Byzantine empires before the Arab conquests that Umar directed, and our 700 map shows the far larger Islamic state that grew from them.