عمر بن الخطاب رضي الله عنه .. كتاب المائة الأوائل

Omar bin Al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him

UMAR IBN AL - KHATTAB

586-644 AD

Omar Ibn Al-Khattab was the second and perhaps the greatest caliph of the Muslim caliphs, and he was a contemporary of the Prophet (PBUH) and younger than him. He was born in Mecca and is not known. The year of his birth, but it may have been in 586 AD.

Omar was. First one of Muhammad's staunch opponents, then suddenly Umar converted to Islam and became one of his strong supporters and faithful advisors to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and remained so throughout the life of Muhammad (PBUH).

And in the year 632, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) died without knowing it. Immediately, Umar supported Abu Bakr's candidacy for this position. Abu Bakr was one of the faithful companions of the Prophet and the father of the Prophet's wife (pbuh). Abu Bakr was a successful leader, but he died after only two years. Before his death, Omar named his successor, thus avoiding the conflict between Muslims for power. Omar became caliph in the year 634, and he retained power until the year 644 AD when he was assassinated in Medina by a Persian slave, and on his deathbed Omar chose six people to choose from among them a caliph, so the group chose Othman bin Affan (may God be pleased with him), who is the third caliph who ruled from the year 656644 M . The most important Arab conquests occurred during the caliphate of Omar (may God be pleased with him). The Arab armies invaded Syria and Palestine at the beginning of his rule, and Syria at that time was part of the Byzantine Empire. Damascus fell in the same year and Jerusalem surrendered after two years, and in the year 641 the Arabs had seized all of Syria and Palestine and were advancing towards what is now called Turkey. In the year 639, the Arab armies invaded Egypt, which also belonged to the Byzantine Empire, and within three years, the Arabs took over Egypt.

The Arab attack on Iraq began and it was part of the Sassanian Persian Empire even before Omar assumed the caliphate. The Battle of Al-Qadisiyah, the decisive battle, took place during Omar’s rule, and it did not come in the year 641 AD until all of Iraq became under the rule of the Arabs, and that was not the end. Rather, the Arab armies invaded Persia In the same battle of Nahawand, they defeated the Persian forces in 643. Upon Omar's death, all of western Iran had been defeated. The Arab momentum did not recede as soon as Omar (may God be pleased with him) died. Rather, the Arabs completed the conquest of Iran after his death, while in the West they completed their rush to North Africa.

And the importance of Omar's conquests is in its permanence. But Iran, although its population converted to Islam, regained its independence later, but Syria, Iraq and Egypt remained Arab and are still Arab to this day.

Omar (may God be pleased with him) had to devise a method of political rule in the lands conquered by his armies, so he decided that the Arabs should retain the privilege of being the military warrior class in the areas they occupied, and that they should live in cities far from the indigenous population, and the peoples dependent on them had to pay Tribute to the Arab conquerors, however. Ensuring the safety of these peoples, and they should not be forced to convert to Islam. From the foregoing, it is clear that the Arab conquests were more of a national and national war than a religious war, although the religious manifestations were not lacking in that war (in the author's opinion).

However, the exploits of Omar (may God be pleased with him) are really impressive, as he was the main figure in the spread of Islam after Muhammad. Without his rapid conquests, it is doubtful that Islam would have spread in the way it is now. In addition, most of the lands that were conquered in his time remained Arab since that era until now, and it is clear that Muhammad (pbuh) has the greatest merit in this regard. It is a grave mistake to ignore the role of Omar (may God be pleased with him). It was going to happen, but it was not going to happen with the huge breadth with which it was done under Omar's conscious and brilliant leadership. It seems strange that Omar, a personality unknown to the West (according to the author), should be placed in a higher position than some Western celebrities such as Charlemagne and Julius. Of those carried out by Julius Caesar and Charlemagne.