Ibn Jarīr said: In this year, that is, the twenty-third year of the Hijra, ʿUmar made the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) perform the pilgrimage. This was his last pilgrimage. He died in this year. I have detailed these matters concerning him in the final part of my work "Sīrat ʿUmar." I wish to summarize them here as follows:
The genealogy of ʿUmar is as follows: ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ibn Nufayl ibn ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā ibn Riyāḥ ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn Qurṭ ibn Razāḥ ibn ʿAdī ibn Kaʿb ibn Luʾayy ibn Ghālib ibn Fihr ibn Mālik ibn al-Naḍr ibn Kināna ibn Khuzayma ibn Mudrika ibn Ilyās ibn Muḍar ibn Nizār ibn Maʿadd ibn ʿAdnān al-Qurashī Abū Ḥafṣ al-ʿAdawī. ʿUmar,
was given the epithet al-Fārūq. It is said that the People of the Book gave him this epithet. His mother’s name was Ḥantama bint Hishām. Ḥantama was the sister of Abū Jahl ibn Hishām.
ʿUmar became Muslim at the age of twenty-seven. He participated with the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) in Badr, Uḥud, and other expeditions. He also went on several detachments and expeditions, some of which he commanded. He was the first to be given the title Amīr al-Muʾminīn (Commander of the Faithful), the first to record history, the one who united people in consensus for the tarāwīḥ prayer, the first to patrol Medina at night, to discipline people with a whip, the first to administer eighty lashes to a drinker of wine, to carry out conquests, to found cities, to organize armies, to impose land tax (kharāj), to organize the dīwān (registers), to pay stipends, to appoint judges; he established cities such as Sawād, Ahwāz, Jibāl, Fāris, conquered all of Syria, annexed al-Jazīra, Mosul, Mayyāfāriqīn (Silvan), ʿAmid (Diyarbakır), Armenia, Egypt, and Alexandria to the lands of Islam, and died while his armies were in the lands of Rayy.
In the region of Syria, he conquered Yarmūk, Basra, Damascus, Jordan, Baysān, Tiberias, Jābiya, Palestine, Ramla, ʿAsqalān, Gaza, the coastal cities, and Jerusalem. He also conquered Egypt, Alexandria, Tripoli, Gharb, and Barqa. Of the Syrian cities, he conquered Baalbek, Ḥimṣ, Kinnasrīn, Aleppo, and Antioch. He conquered al-Jazīra, Ḥarrān, Urfa, Raqqa, Nusaybin, Raʾs al-ʿAyn, Samsat, Gülpınarı (ʿAyn al-Warda), Diyarbakır, Diyar Rabīʿa, Mosul, and all of Armenia. In Iraq, he conquered Qādisiyya, Ḥīra, Nahr Sīr, Sabāṭ, Madāʾin, the cities along the Euphrates and Tigris, Abla, Basra, Ahwāz, Fāris, Nihāwand, Hamadān, Rayy, Qūmis, Khurāsān, Istakhr, Isfahan, Sūs, Merv, Nishapur, Jurjān, Azerbaijan, and other lands. His armies crossed the river many times.
He was extremely humble for the sake of Allah. He lived an ascetic life and was content with little. He was uncompromising regarding the religion of Allah. He would patch his clothes with leather. Despite his imposing presence, he would carry a water-skin on his shoulder. He rode a donkey without a saddle. The camel he rode had a bridle made of fiber. He laughed very little and never joked with anyone. On his ring was inscribed: "O ʿUmar, death is sufficient as a preacher." About him, the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The most severe of my community regarding the religion of Allah is ʿUmar." It is narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
"I have two ministers from among the inhabitants of the heavens and two from among the inhabitants of the earth. My ministers from the heavens are Jibrīl and Mīkāʾīl. My ministers from the earth are Abū Bakr and ʿUmar. They are my seeing eyes and my hearing ears." It is narrated from ʿĀʾisha that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
"Indeed, Satan flees from ʿUmar out of fear."
"The best of my community is Abū Bakr. The most severe regarding the religion of Allah is ʿUmar."
ʿUmar was told: "You are a judge." He replied: "Praise be to Allah who filled my heart with mercy for the Muslims and filled their hearts with awe of me."
ʿUmar used to say: "From the wealth of Allah, only two garments—one for winter and one for summer—are lawful for me. The provisions for my family are no more than those of a man of Quraysh who is not among the wealthiest. After all, I am but one of the Muslims."
When ʿUmar appointed a governor, he would write him a covenant and have a group of the Muhājirūn bear witness against him, stipulating that he must not ride a horse, eat pure wheat bread, wear fine woven garments, or keep his door closed to those in need. If he did not abide by these conditions, he would punish him. It is said that if a man lied to ʿUmar by one or two words in conversation, ʿUmar would say: "Remove such and such words from your speech. Do not say them." The man would reply: "By Allah, every word I have said to you, except what you forbade, is true."
Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān said: "As for Abū Bakr, just as he did not desire the world, the world did not desire him. As for ʿUmar, the world desired him, but he did not desire the world. As for us, we have wallowed in the world, and the world has colored us."
To those who reproached him, saying: "Would it not be better for you to eat good and pleasant food, as it would give you more strength in upholding the truth?" ʿUmar replied: "I left my two companions (the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, and Abū Bakr) on a certain path. Even if I reach their path, I will never reach their homes."
While he was caliph, ʿUmar wore a woolen cloak patched with leather. He would walk through the streets and markets with his whip on his shoulder, punishing wrongdoers with it.
Anas said: Between ʿUmar’s two shoulders were four patches, one of which was patched with leather. When he delivered the sermon from the pulpit, his lower garment had twelve patches. When he performed the pilgrimage, he spent sixteen dinars on the needy and said to his son: "We have been extravagant." When he wished to rest in the shade, he would place his cloak over a tree and rest beneath it. He had neither a tent nor a pavilion. When he came to Syria to conquer Jerusalem, he was riding a weak camel. The sun shone on his bald head. He wore neither a cloak nor a turban. Lacking stirrups, his feet dangled on either side of his mount. His mat was a hide. When he dismounted, he would spread his mat on the ground and sleep on it. His saddlebag was lined with fiber. When he slept, he used it as a pillow. He had a cotton shirt that was old and had a torn collar. When he arrived in Syria, he dismounted and said: "Call the chief of this village for me." They called the chief. He said to him: "Wash my shirt, sew its torn parts, and lend me a shirt until mine is ready." They brought him a linen shirt.
He asked: "What is this?"
They said: "It is linen."
He asked: "What is linen?" They explained what linen was. He took off his shirt, they washed and mended it, and he put it back on. He was told: "You are the ruler of the Arabs. It is not fitting for you to ride a camel in these lands." After this was said, a horse was brought to him, with an unsaddled velvet cloth placed on it. He mounted the horse. When the horse began to move quickly, he said to those with him: "Stop this. I did not know that people ride devils. Bring me my camel." He then dismounted and rode his camel.
Anas said: I was with ʿUmar. He entered an orchard for some business. Only the orchard walls separated us. I heard him say: "O ʿUmar, son of al-Khaṭṭāb, well done, well done. By Allah, O son of al-Khaṭṭāb, either you fear Allah or He will surely punish you."
It is said that ʿUmar carried a water-skin on his shoulder. When asked why, he replied: "My nafs (the lower self) became proud, so I wanted to humble and abase it." After leading the congregation in the night prayer, ʿUmar would go home and pray continuously until dawn. He did not die until he fasted continuously. That is, at the time of his death, he was fasting without interruption. In the year of famine, he ate nothing but bread and olive oil, so much so that his skin turned dark. At that time, he used to say: "If I am full while people are hungry, what a bad ruler I am!" He wept so much that two black lines appeared on his face. When he heard a verse (āya) of the Qur'an recited, he would faint, and they would carry him home unconscious. People would visit him for days, but he had no illness except fear of Allah.
Ṭalḥa ibn ʿAbdullāh said: One night, after darkness had fallen, ʿUmar went out to patrol Medina. He entered a house. In the morning, I went to that house and found an old blind and crippled woman inside. I asked her:
– Why did that man (i.e., ʿUmar) come to you at night?
The old woman replied:
– That man has been coming for a long time, bringing me useful things, tending to my housework, and taking out my refuse.
Ṭalḥa said: I said to myself: "May your mother lose you, O Ṭalḥa! Are you trying to find faults in ʿUmar?"
ʿUmar’s freedman, Aslam, said: A trade caravan arrived in Medina and camped near the prayer place. ʿUmar said to ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf:
– Shall we guard this caravan tonight?
He replied:
– Yes. So they both went and guarded the caravan. During the night, they prayed there. At that time, ʿUmar heard a child crying. He went toward the sound and found the child’s mother. He said to her:
– Fear Allah and treat your child well. Then he returned to his post. Again, he heard the child crying, went to the mother, and said the same thing. He returned to his post. In the last part of the night, he heard the child still crying. He went to the mother and said:
– Woe to you! You are a bad mother. What is the matter with me that I see your child crying all night and not stopping?
– O servant of Allah! I am trying to wean him because I have nothing to feed him, but he will not stop crying.
– Why?
– Because ʿUmar has ordered that only weaned children be given food.
– How old is this child?
– So many months old.
– Do not rush to wean the child.
When ʿUmar led the congregation in the dawn prayer, he could not pronounce the words of the verse (āya) properly because of his weeping. After the prayer, he said:
"Woe to ʿUmar! Who knows how many Muslim children have died because of him?" Then he called his crier and ordered him to announce: "Do not rush to wean your children, for we have decreed that every child born upon the fitra of Islam is to be given food." ʿUmar sent this decision to other lands by letter.
Aslam said: One night, I went out of Medina with ʿUmar. We saw a light in a tent. We went there and found a woman in labor, crying. ʿUmar asked her about her situation. She replied:
– I am an Arab woman with nothing with me. Upon hearing this, ʿUmar began to weep and ran home. He asked his wife, Umm Kulthūm:
– Do you want a reward from Allah? He told her about the woman. She agreed, so ʿUmar carried flour and oil on his back, and Umm Kulthūm carried what was needed for childbirth. They went together to the tent. Umm Kulthūm entered, and ʿUmar sat with the woman’s husband, talking with him. The man did not recognize ʿUmar. Eventually, the woman gave birth to a boy. Umm Kulthūm said:
– O Commander of the Faithful, give your companion the good news of a son.
When the man heard Umm Kulthūm’s voice, he was embarrassed and began to apologize to ʿUmar for not recognizing him. ʿUmar said:
– No harm. He provided for them and met their needs, then returned home.
Again, Aslam said: One day, I went with ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb to a stony area outside Medina. When we reached a place called Sirār, we saw a fire burning in the distance. ʿUmar said: "Let us go there." We hurried toward it.
When we approached, we found an old woman with small children. A fire was burning, and a pot was boiling over it. The children were whining. ʿUmar said:
– Peace be upon you, O people of the light!
He preferred to say "people of the light" rather than "people of the fire."
The woman replied:
– And upon you be peace.
ʿUmar asked:
– May we approach? She replied:
– Approach in goodness, or leave.
So we approached. ʿUmar asked them:
– What is your situation? What are you doing here? The old woman replied:
– As you see, the night and cold have struck us.
ʿUmar asked:
– Why are these children crying? She replied:
– From hunger.
ʿUmar asked:
– What is boiling in this pot? She replied:
– I am distracting them with it until they fall asleep. I keep the fire going so they will be occupied. May Allah judge between us and ʿUmar.
ʿUmar said:
– Yes, may Allah be pleased with you. How could ʿUmar know your situation? She replied:
– He is our ruler; how can he be unaware of our condition?
Then ʿUmar whispered to me: "Let us go."
We left quickly, went to the public treasury, took a sack of flour and some oil. ʿUmar carried the sack on his back. Though I offered to carry it, he refused, saying: "Can you carry my sins for me on the Day of Judgment?" So we loaded the sack on ʿUmar’s back and hurried back. When we reached the woman, he set down the sack and said to her:
– Allow me to put flour in the pot and cook some soup, and let me stir it. He bent down and blew on the fire. ʿUmar had a long, thick beard. I watched as the smoke went in and out of his beard. When the food was ready, he set the pot down and asked the woman to bring a plate. She brought it, and ʿUmar poured the food into it. The woman fed her children. ʿUmar said: "Eat." The children ate until they were full. The woman, not knowing who he was, prayed for him. ʿUmar stayed with them until the children slept. He then provided for them and returned home. He said to me: "O Aslam, hunger kept the children awake and crying."
It is said that ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (may Allah be pleased with him) saw ʿUmar running outside Medina and asked him:
– Where are you going, O Commander of the Faithful?
– One of the zakāt camels has escaped, and I am searching for it.
– You are making it hard for those who will be caliph after you.
It is also said that when ʿUmar saw a slave girl bent over and weakened by hunger, he asked:
– Who is this?
ʿAbdullāh’s daughter replied:
– This is my daughter.
ʿUmar asked: – What is wrong with her? She replied:
– You do not give us from what you possess, so this is what happens to us.
– O servant of Allah, between me and you is the Book of Allah. By Allah, I give you only what Allah has made obligatory for you. Do you want me to give you what is not your right and thus become a traitor?
Al-Wāqidī narrated from Abū ʿAmr:
I asked ʿĀʾisha (may Allah be pleased with her):
– Who gave ʿUmar al-Fārūq the title Amīr al-Muʾminīn?
– The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "He is Amīr al-Muʾminīn." The first to greet and congratulate him with this title was Mugīra ibn Shuʿba.
According to others, the first to greet and congratulate him with this title was someone other than Mugīra. Allah knows best.
Ibn Jarīr narrated from the father of Umm ʿAmr bint Ḥassān al-Kūfī, who was over 130 years old, that:
"When ʿUmar became caliph, people addressed him: 'O successor of the successor of the Messenger of God.' ʿUmar said: 'This is a long title. You are believers, and I am your leader.' Thus, he was called Commander of the Faithful."
In summary, after performing the obligation of ḥajj in the twenty-third year of the Hijra and descending at the area of Abṭaḥ, ʿUmar supplicated to Allah, complaining of his old age, his waning strength, the growing and spreading of his people, and his inability to fulfill his duties as required. He asked Allah to take his soul. He also requested martyrdom in the city of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), Medina. As established in authentic reports, ʿUmar used to pray: "O Allah, I ask You for martyrdom in Your path and death in the city of Your Messenger."
Allah answered his prayer and granted him martyrdom in the city of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), Medina, in the path of Allah. This was indeed a great honor for him, a significant and momentous event not easily granted to all. But Allah bestows His grace upon whom He wills. Thus, a Magian named Abū Luʾluʾ Fīrūz killed him in the miḥrāb while he was leading the dawn prayer, four days before the end of Dhū al-Ḥijja in the twenty-third year of the Hijra, with a double-edged dagger. He struck him three times; some say six times. One blow was below his navel, tearing the membrane between his skin and intestines. Upon this blow, ʿUmar fell. He appointed ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf as his deputy. The assailant then struck everyone he met as he fled, wounding thirteen people, six of whom died. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf threw a cloak over him, and the wretch killed himself. ʿUmar was carried home wounded, blood flowing from his wound. He was struck before sunrise. He would regain and lose consciousness. When reminded of prayer, he would revive and say: "There is no share in Islam for one who abandons prayer," and would pray on time. After praying, he asked who had struck him. When told it was Abū Luʾluʾ, the slave of Mugīra ibn Shuʿba, he said: "Praise be to Allah that my death did not come at the hand of someone who claimed iman (faith) and had prostrated to Allah even once. May Allah curse him. We had commanded that he be treated well."
Mugīra ibn Shuʿba had ordered his slave Abū Luʾluʾ to bring him two dirhams daily, and then asked ʿUmar to increase his kharāj (tribute), for Abū Luʾluʾ was a blacksmith, carpenter, and engraver. ʿUmar raised his kharāj to one hundred dirhams per month and said to him:
– I hear you make excellent windmills.
– By Allah, I will make you a mill that people in the East and West will talk about.
This conversation between ʿUmar and Abū Luʾluʾ took place on a Saturday evening. Abū Luʾluʾ struck him on Wednesday morning, four days before the end of Dhū al-Ḥijja.
ʿUmar instructed that the selection of the next caliph be made by consultation (shūrā) among six people whom the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) was pleased with at his death: ʿUthmān, ʿAlī, Ṭalḥa, Zubayr, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf, and Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ. ʿUmar did not include Saʿīd ibn Zayd ibn ʿAmr ibn Nufayl al-ʿAdawī among the six, as he was from his own clan and feared he might be chosen after him. ʿUmar advised the next caliph to treat people well, considering their ranks and stations. He died three days after being struck. On the first Monday of Muḥarram in the twenty-fourth year of the Hijra, he was buried, with the permission of ʿĀʾisha, in the chamber of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), next to the grave of Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq. Thereafter, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān was chosen as caliph.
Al-Wāqidī said: ʿUmar was struck on Wednesday, four days before the end of Dhū al-Ḥijja in the twenty-third year of the Hijra. He was buried on the first Monday morning of Muḥarram in the twenty-fourth year. His caliphate lasted ten years, five months, and twenty-one days. On the third day of Muḥarram, a Monday, ʿUthmān was given the pledge of allegiance. I told this to ʿUthmān al-Aḥnas, who said to me:
"I see you have become weak and fearful. ʿUmar died four nights before the end of Dhū al-Ḥijja in the twenty-third year of the Hijra. That same night, ʿUthmān was given the pledge of allegiance. ʿUmar’s caliphate lasted ten years, six months, and four days. After his death, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān was given the pledge of allegiance."
Sayf ibn ʿUmar narrated from Khālid ibn Wafra and Mujāhid:
ʿUthmān was chosen as caliph in Muḥarram. He came out and led the people in the ʿaṣr prayer. ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Madāʾinī narrated from Zuhra: ʿUmar was struck on Wednesday, seven days before the end of Dhū al-Ḥijja. The first opinion is more well-known. Allah, free from all deficiencies, knows best.