Umar ibn Abdul Aziz: A Righteous Reviver of Islam
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious the Most Merciful
Revivers of Islam exist in every age. For every oppressor, there is a righteous ruler who restores the ummah back to the path of the Quran and Sunnah. Umar ibn Abdul Aziz رَحِمَهُ اللهُ was one of those revivers. In two years he removed the corruption of the Ummayid caliphate, becoming the most just leader after the four rightly guided caliphs. This article explores the remarkable life and lessons of Caliph Umar ibn Abdul Aziz.
Lineage
His great-great grandfather was Umar Ibn Al-Khatab رضي الله عنه the second caliph of Islam. One day during his night patrols he passed a house where a mother and daughter quarrelled. The mother wanted to add water to milk to increase the quantity. This couldn’t be done since the caliph outlawed the mixing of water into milk in order to cheat people. When the mother replied the caliph isn’t around the daughter responded that the Lord of Umar is around.
Umar Ibn Al Khatab was listening and marked the house. He later asked his son Asim to marry the girl, hoping she would give birth to a righteous leader who’d rule over Arabia. His supplication was answered through Umar ibn Abdul Aziz.
Upbringing and Early Life
Umar ibn Abdul Aziz رَحِمَهُ اللهُ was born in Madinah in 682 A.D (61 AH). He grew up wealthy in the Ummayid caliphate which came into power in 616 AD. By this point, the Ummayids had abandoned the Quran and Sunnah. Corruption, theft, neglect of the poor, lying and drinking were routine for the caliphs. Rulers confiscated the wealth of their subjects without right and killed those who rebelled. They abused the Treasury of the Muslims for their own enjoyment.
Umar ibn Abdul Aziz’s father, Abdul Aziz, was governor of Egypt and his uncle, Abdul Malik was the current caliph. One day the caliph summoned Umar ibn Abdul Aziz to Damascus where he married him to his daughter, Fatima.
After the passing of Abdul Malik, his son Al-Walid I took over as caliph and Umar was sent to be governor of Madinah in 87AH and Taif later on.
In Madinah he set up a Shurah council to solve problems. He was so effective that complaints to the main capital in Damascus ceased. Eventually al-Hajjaj, an oppressive ruler in Iraq complained to the Caliph that people would flee to Madinah to escape his rule. This led to Umar’s removal and return to Damascus.
He became close to Caliph Al Walid and pushed for reforms in the administration. He successfully lobbied for death sentences to be ratified by a court. At every opportunity he strived to establish justice.
Appointment as Caliph
During the reign of his cousin Caliph Sulayman ibn Abdal al Malik, Umar ibn Abdul Aziz acted as his close advisor. He convinced him to remove corrupt governors appointed by al-Hajjaj. Umar رَحِمَهُ اللهُ also ordered prayers to be performed during their fixed times, reversing a previous policy. He was described during this period as a ‘truthful minister.’
When Caliph Sulayman was on his death bed he made Banu Ummayah pledge to agree to his next successor - later revealed to be Umar ibn Abdul Aziz. By this point he’d served as the governor of Egypt and Madinah for more than 22 years.
After the announcement Umar ibn Abdul Aziz gave a famous address in the Masjid, returning to Shura (consultation), by asking the people to decide.
The audience shouted out with one voice that they wanted him. Therefore the Caliph accepted. He told them: “If I do the right thing follow me, if I don’t then guide me to the right path.” It was similar to the words of Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه during his inaugural speech.
After Caliph Umar II was appointed, he was provided with the finest riding animals—horses, steeds, and mules—for official use. The caliph responded with: ‘My animal is more suitable for me.’ And he remained on his own smaller mule. When he was shown his new palace he refused, and decided to stay in a small house near the masjid.
Frugality and Aestheticism
After becoming caliph, Umar ibn Abdul Aziz lived a simple lifestyle. He became very frugal and embraced aestheticism, which was a rejection of any luxuries. He even sold his belongings and used the money to support the Muslims.
Ali ibn Muhammad said: ‘I heard when Umar ibn Abdul Aziz was appointed he looked at the slaves, clothes, perfumes and superfluous things he had and sold everything which he could do without. That went for 23,000 dinars which he spent in the way of Allah.’
(Ibn Saʿd, 2000, pg 211-5)
He once confiscated the jewellery and gold of his wife Fatimah bint Abdul Malik gifted to her by her caliph father. He informed her that he’d decided to live a life of hardship, putting others above himself.
He told her: “Either return your jewellery to Baytul al-Mal or allow me to separate from you.’ She responded: “I choose you, O Amir al Mu’minin, over that and I would happily give away more of it.”
Similarly, when he heard one of his sons bought an expensive ring, he wrote to him saying: ‘I was told you have bought a ring that costs a thousand dirham. So when you receive this letter, sell the ring and fill a thousand hungry stomachs.’ (Al-Qahtani, 1997, 106)
He did not even have enough money to go for Hajj. He would sometimes be late for Friday prayer waiting for his only shirt to dry. He never abused the Treasury of the Muslims. He had a state lantern which he used to discuss any work matters. If anyone wished to discuss private affairs, he would replace it with his own.
Once, he received apples as a gift from a foreign ministry. He put them in a bag and handed them out to poor families. When the caliph was distributing them, his young son took an apple. Caliph Umar grabbed it and returned it to the pile.
When he returned home he saw his son with another apple and asked his wife Fatima where it came from. She said she’d bought it at the market because the baby was crying. Caliph Umar ibn Abdul Aziz said:
“I swear to Allah that when I snatched the apple from my son’s mouth I felt like I was snatching my own heart. But how could I have pilfered (steal) from the assets of the rightful.” (Abdul Hai, 2010, 56)
His justice was so strong he couldn’t let down the wealth of the Muslims, as it didn’t belong to him. This was the purity of his character.
Social Reforms
Umar ibn Abdul Aziz instilled piety, steadfastness and Islamic ethics into the general population by abolishing drinking, eliminating mixed bathrooms and overseeing the fair transferring of money given in charity. He outlawed corruption by banning gifts to governors.
He also abolished the corrupt practice of forcing new Muslims to pay jizyah in Cyprus. This had been done by unjust rulers who complained their revenue had declined due to the rate of Islamic conversions.
Caliph Umar used his position to protect the rights and responsibilities of his subjects according to the Quran and Sunnah. He freed the slaves of the royal household and removed extravagances from the royal court. Properties which were taken unlawfully were returned, he cancelled oppressive taxes and made taxes equal between Arab and non-Arab.
He reinstated stipends for all citizens, including non-Muslims. He would give out charity and it would come back untouched because he made everyone rich. There was so much wealth from his justice it would fund marriages and even provide food for the birds.
Knowledge and Piety
Caliph Umar loved knowledge. He appointed learned men into positions of authority and dismissed unjust ones. He funded scholars to teach Islam to the youth. On Fridays he would sit and read Quran with his own children. He instructed his children’s teachers to keep them away from music and close to the Quran.
He surrounded himself with great scholars like Muhammad ibn Ka’b and Maimun ibn Mehran. He would always be sat in the company of scholars seeking their advice.
He advised people to seek knowledge through any means, telling them:
He used to gather seven scholars in his council. He never wanted to hear gossip - only the Quran and Sunnah. They met everyday after Isha and talked about death. This would remind them to fear Allah.
The Prophet ﷺ said the wisest believer is: ’The one who remembers death the most and is best in preparing for it. Those are the wisest.’
When the caliph remembered death, his limbs would tremble. He used to cry until he passed out. It used to be said that Umar ibn Abdul Aziz was among the men who greatly feared death.
In one meeting they gathered to discuss the Hereafter. A person got up to give a speech, when he recited the verse about the Hellfire: "And when they are thrown into a narrow place therein, bound together" [Al-Furqan: 13] Caliph Umar wept bitterly. This led to the talk being cancelled and the people dispersed.
His wife testified that at night, when most would be resting or spending time with their spouses, he would stand in prayer and cry in his du’as to Allah.
Umar ibn Abdul Aziz used to stay up from Isha to Fajr crying over one verse of the Quran. Once he woke up weeping because he remembered the Muslims under the control of the kufar. He used to stress over the widows and orphans in his land.
The Rescue of a Blind Muslim Prisoner
Umar ibn Abdul Aziz once sent an emissary to the head of Byzantium. As he was leaving he overheard a voice reciting the Quran. The emissary was surprised to know there was a Muslim in the land of the Romans. When he investigated, he found a blind man milling wheat.
He gave him salam, but the blind man didn’t reply. The emissary greeted him three or four times until he said: ‘How weak is the greeting of Salam in this land!’
The emissary then explained he worked for Umar ibn Abdul Aziz and asked: ‘What is the matter with you?”
The blind man explained he was a Muslim captive taken by the Christians and transferred to Byzantine lands. He was told to renounce Islam and he refused, to which the Byzantine emperor threatened to gouge out his eyes.
The man said: “I chose my religion over my eye sight and consequently he gouged out my eyes and put me in this position whereby he sends wheat for me to mill daily and a loaf of bread for me to eat.”
The emissary immediately returned to the Caliph and told him about the man. He described:
‘I had not finished telling Umar about the man but tears from his eyes had wet his front.’
Caliph Umar ordered the following message to be sent to the Emperor of Byzantium:
‘I have been informed about so-and so (and he described him) I swear by Allah, if you do not send him to me, I will dispatch army upon army against you until the first detachment is at your end and the last is at mine.’
The threat terrified the Byzantines, who then dispatched the blind man back to the lands of the Muslims. (Ibn Abd al-Hakam, 1984, 383).
Death
During Umar ibn Abdul Aziz’s rule, corruption among the Umayyad family was challenged, and he even stood up against the wrongdoing of his own relatives.
He cancelled grants which they took from the treasury. He also confiscated land which rulers had repossessed from others.
His family complained about this to his aunt who went to him and said:
“Your relatives are complaining about you and claiming that you have taken away the blessings bestowed by others.’
Caliph Umar replied: “I have not denied them any right or anything that is theirs, nor have I taken from them any right or anything which is theirs.’
She said; “I see them talking together and I fear that one day they will attack you in a group.’ He replied, “Any day I fear is less than than the Day of Rising.”
(Ibn Saʿd, 2000, p. 232)
Caliph Umar Ibn Abdul Aziz was poisoned by his slave who was paid by his own family. He forgave his killer and told him to run because Bani Ummayah would kill him.
He ruled for 2 years and 5 months which is the same duration as the caliphate of Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه . He died in 720 (101 A.H) near Aleppo, Syria. He was 38 years old.
Sufyan al-Thawri, himself a great scholar, said that, ‘The caliphs were five; Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali and Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz.’ (Tarikh al-Khulafa, p. 176).
At his death bed he asked to see the widows and orphans before his own children. He left 17 children behind. He was asked to leave a will, but Umar Ibn Abdul Aziz refused, saying if they’re righteous Allah will provide for them.
After he died, his children became the wealthiest. The relatives who protested the loss of their grants, became beggars on the streets.
The Christians and Jews cried when he died. The Roman emperor described him as a righteous man. This was the legacy of Umar ibn Abdul Aziz, a just and rightly guided caliph.
Situation Today
When Umar ibn Abdul Aziz came to power, he took control of a corrupt government, where unjust killing, stealing public funds and harming innocent people was widespread. Today, we are experiencing a heightened version of this. We are led by corrupt governments who serve billionaires and corporations. Global genocides are raging in Sudan and Gaza. Social welfare is being dismantled to fuel rising poverty while the vulnerable have their stipends cut. The destitute and homeless flood the streets while an un-affordability crisis sweeps the world.
As an ummah we must re-establish justice in the world. We need to build intellectual institutions to train God-centred Muslims to apply the Quran and Sunnah to the present day. We need thinkers, inventors, educators, politicians and activists to revive Islamic civilisation.
We have to free every prisoner sitting in jails, protect the activists who have been silenced and support the orphans and widows. We have to boycott companies who fund genocides and war crimes. We must protest our corrupt governments and refuse to be complicit in the face of oppression.
May the Muslims be inspired by the legacy of Umar ibn Abdul Aziz to bring justice to the world, re-establish the Quran and Sunnah and strive to eliminate oppression in the path of Allah. Ameen.
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Jazakallah khair for reading. Please benefit the ummah by sharing this knowledge and downloading a transcript below. Feel free to use it for your own research or personal study.
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