Today’s delivery is supposed to be a short biography of Hazrat Umar al Faruq. However, there is nothing short about Hazrat Umar. Whenever we think about Islamic sciences like fiqh and history or virtues like imaan and taqwa, then Umar is the one who exemplifies these. Because there’s not enough time to cover all these, I want to cover a brief bio, a little on his appearance and more importantly his character. So when you hear about Umar in hadith, you can picture him, and when you face situations in life, you can be like Umar.

Biography

• Full name ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭtāb
• Born 582CE – 13 years younger than the Prophet. He was 27 when Prophethood was announced.
• He was a Qurayshi, but from a smaller clan called Adi. His Mums side were Makhzumi. The same as Abu Jahl. Abu Jahl was infact his maternal uncle.
• He had many children, but two notable ones are Hafsa, who later marries the Prophet and Abdullah bin Umar, the great faqih and hadith transmitter. Hafsa was his eldest, so they called him Abu Hafs.
• He was tall around 7ft, big, muscly, very strong, and had a deep voice. He had fair skin, was bald and always carried his sword with him.
• He was one of the few who could read and write and enjoyed poetry. But also had clear speech, with eloquence and authority.

In his youth, he would tend the camels of his father and the Makhzumi clan. In return they’d give him a few dates. So outside of work, he used to put his strength to use, he wrestled to make some money. And he always won. He also used to write poetry and enter poetry slams to make a bit more money.

The lesson here is, although Hazrat Umar had a meek lifestyle where his father beat him and was paid nothing except dates, he used what he had to his advantage, his strength and his poetry.

Over time, the Makkans saw his abilities, and made him their ambassador, Umar would defend the Makkans across Arabia. Internally, he would settle disputes and get people to become friends. He soon became very prestigious. He commanded authority and people relied on his wise judgement. He ultimate role in society became to keep the people united. 

His conversion

Hadhrat Umar relates, “One day I came out of my house with a view to causing trouble to the Prophet, but he had entered the Haram before me. When I arrived, I found that he was reciting surah Al-Haaqqah in the Prayer. I stood behind him and listened. As he recited the Qur’an I wondered at its literary charm and beauty. Then suddenly an idea came to my mind that he must be a poet as the Quraish alleged. Just at that moment he recited the words: “This is the Word of an honourable Messenger: it is not the word of a poet.” I said to myself: Then, he must be a soothsayer, if not a poet. Thereupon be recited the words: “Nor is it the word of a soothsayer: little it is that you reflect. It is a Revelation from the Lord and Sustainer of the worlds. On hearing this Islam entered deep into my heart.”

However, Hadhrat Umar was still conflicted. As time passed on, more people converted to Islam and some migrated to Abyssinia. This affected Umar severely and enraged him. He sought to end this once and for all, by murdering the Prophet. On his way, Umar met his friend Nuaim bin Abdullah, who had secretly converted to Islam. He saw Umars enrage, and sword so asked what is going on. When Umar told him of his intentions, he tried to deter him, so much so, Umar said ‘You’re not a Muslim are you!?’ Nuaim said ofcourse not out of fear. He then told him, before going to Muhammad, why not sort your own household out first? They’ve become Muslim. Umar was even more enraged, so he marched to his sister Fatimas house.

She and her husband, Saeed bin Zaid were learning the Quran from Khabbab. When Umar arrived, he heard some humming and knocked. They could hear the anger, so Khabbab hid and Umar confronted his sister and brother in law. Eventually he started fighting with Saeed, severely beating him up. Fatima tried to stop him, and as a reflect, he lashed her face. She started to bleed and cry. She said we are Muslims and will die as Muslims. Seeing his sister like this, he felt moved and calmed down. He then saw the parchments of verses and asked to recite. She told him, ‘You are unclean, and no unclean person can touch the Scripture.” So Umar made wudu and recited the verses of Taha. This is when imaan entered his heart. He went from hater of rasul to aashiq of rasul. 

Then Umar went to the house of Arkam, when they saw he was outside, they all feared Umars wrath except Hamza and the Prophet. Up until this point, the Prophet used to make the dua, “O Allah, strengthen Islam with one of two Umars, Amr bin Hisham or Umar ibn al-Khattab.”

When Umar entered with his sword round his neck, the Prophet stood and hugged him tightly, and said, ‘O Umar, when will you accept Islam!?’ Umar broke down and in humility said he was blinded but now sees the truth. Umar accepted Islam at the hands of the Prophet.

Now Islam was strengthened by Hamza and Umar. The Muslims started to preach openly.

Umar was around 30 when he became Muslim and is the 39^th Muslim. When he became Muslim, the Prophet also called him al-Farooq. He was the differentiator between truth and falsehood. 

• Protected the Muslims
• Openly migrated to Madina
• Became one of the chief advisors of the Prophet
• Participated in major battles
• Gave his daughter Hafsa in marriage to the Prophet
• He was 50 years old when the Prophet died
• Then was the key advisor of Abu Bakr

As a Khalifa

• Became Caliph for 10 years
• He called himself Ameer ul Mu’mineen – In service of the Muslims believers 
• He expanded Islam into the two large empires, took 2/3 of roman empire and whole of Persian empire. He liberated Jerusalem.
• He allowed Christians and Jews to worship in Al Aqsa.
• He took care of women, Children, the elderly and even animals. He felt accountable for all. 
• He was a man of shura, he used to discuss with his companions. Not make isolated decisions. Even with the youth.
• He married the daughter of Ali Umm Kulthoom to have closer connection to the Ahlul Bayt

He was so righteous that, the Prophet said, “If there was a nabi to come after me, it would have been ‘Umar.”

Umar was so close to being a Prophet, that even the scripture of the Christians mentioned him. 

Fighting his Nafs

One thing that made him worthy as a leader was that he never thought he was worthy. He used to remember his days of having no money and working as a shepherd getting beating.

When he was a Khalifa, one day he told the muezzin to give the Azan. Now outside of salah if Azan was called them it was important. Either a major announcement or time for jihad. So the people gathered , he climbed the mimbar and he told them, “I used to be called umayr, which is a little umar and I used to be a shepherd, barefooted. In return they would give me a few dates.” And then he got down from the mimbar. 

A companion said to him, did you really call people for this. He said I noticed something in myself, my nafs said look at you self made, you are ameer ul mumineem, you have all this empire. So I wanted to teach my nafs a lesson. Umar always guarded his heart and had taqwa. Engraved on his ring was: “Death is sufficient as an admonition, O’ Umar.”

Likewise, someone brought us to these mehfils, we were nothing without guidance. 

Love the Prophet

We also see the example of our love to the Prophet in the example of Umar. One day, Umar said to the Prophet, ‘O Allah’s Messenger, you are dearer to me than all else except for myself.’ The Prophet said to him: ‘No, by the One in whose hand my soul, you are not a true believer till I am dearer to you than even yourself.’ Umar then had a think about this, he came round and then said: ‘By Allah, O Prophet, you are dearer to me than my own self.’ The Prophet said: ‘Now, O Umar your imaan is complete. 

In this we see that out of everything we love, the love of Rasul comes first. Another thing the scholars point out is, Umar was a man of conviction. He didn’t do lip service. So the reason he had to think about who he loves more is, he wanted to ask himself, do I really love the Prophet, would I protect him with my life. When he realised he would, then he confirmed. Umar was a man that when he said something he meant it. We have to think about when we say we love ar-Rasul, what do we actually mean. Are we following his sunnah? 

His death

• He was assassinated during salah and died from wounds three days later on 1^st Muharram.
• As it was done behind his back, he asked “Who killed me?” His companions replied, “Abu Lulu, the Magian.” Then Umar was delighted and said: “Praise be to Allah who Has not afflicted me from the hands of a Muslim.”
• Appointed a six-man council that selected ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān as his successor.
• As per Umar’s (R.A.) will, he was buried, with the permission of Aishah (R.A.), alongside Prophet Mohammad (S.A.W.) and caliph Abu Bakr (R.A.) in Masjid Al-Nabawi.

A point of reference for things Umar established:

• Social security which included pensions, child support and widow support
• Created Islamic courts and policing.
• Gave the Muslims the Islamic Hijri calendar.
• Gave the Muslims a working civil and public service.
• He prevented governors/officials from engaging in trade or any sort of business dealings whilst being in a position of power to avoid corruption.
• He even set up a complaints board against the Ameer and the officials to make sure everyone was under scrutiny.

Many of these endeavours now exist in the modern world, all spanning from Hazrat Umar’s initiatives.