CHAPTER 1: ‘UMAR IBN ‘ABD AL-’AZIZ

Following the demise of the Rashidun Caliphate, the early Islamic Character of the Caliphate and its Caliphs were slowly lost. A revival was needed and this came through the ascension of ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-Aziz to the office of the Caliph. The summary of this chapter will be split into three sections:

1.  Muslim World before his ascension

2.  His lineage and early life

3.  His reign and his revival of the Islamic Spirit

Mu’awiyah (Allah be pleased with him) assumed the office of the Caliph in 661 CE. For a more detailed account of how this happened, reading Firas Al Khateeb’s ‘Lost Islamic History’ is recommended. In short, following the collapse of the Rashidun Caliphate, the caliphate fell to Mu’awiyah (RA), who was the only man with enough support and power to save the Muslim world from collapse (Lost Islamic History p53). However, the asceticism of the four rightly guided caliphs was slowly being lost as Mu’awiyah (RA) began to transform the Caliphate into a monarchy gradually. The Umayyad era was “more Arab than Islamic in character” (p35) as pre-Islamic ideas such as Arab statesmanship, racial pride, tribal favouritism and more began to rear their ugly heads. The Caliphs even began to regard the Bayt Al-Mal (State Treasury) as their personal property. With the Islamic world in such a state, “it appeared as if pre-Islamic ignorance had returned with a vengeance to settle its account with the previous forty years of Islamic civilisation (p36). However, the return of moral depravity and loss of asceticism was largely confined to the higher echelons of society and not the general population. This was primarily due to the efforts of scholars outside the Umayyad government such as Hasan al-Muthanna, ‘Abdullah al-Mahd, Salim ibn ‘Abdillah ibn ‘Umar, Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, Sa’id ibn al-Musayyab, and ‘Urwa ibn al-Zubayr. However, the significance of the scholars reduced over time and Sh. Abul Hasan mentions in another one of his works ‘Islam and The World’ that Muslim scholars quietly withdrew into religious establishments. It was now apparent that a large-scale revival was needed in the Muslim World. In fact, due to their military might, the Ummayds were too powerful to even challenge.” It seemed as if only a miracle could now save the Muslim World from falling into utter moral depravity which came in the form of ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-Aziz’s (RA) ascension to the office of the Caliph.

‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-Aziz (RA) was born in 681CE and was a descendant of the second Caliph of Islam ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA). In ‘The History of Islam: Volume 2’, it speaks about how ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab once said “There will come a descendant of mine with a scar on his face. He will fill the earth with justice and righteousness”. He was once kicked in the face by a horse and his father said “If you are the one spoken about with the scar, you are fortunate. (p194 The History of Islam volume 2. Early in his political career, he was posted as the governor of Madinah and led a very lavish lifestyle before becoming the Caliph. There is not a great deal mentioned about his early life but there is more detail in ‘The History of Islam: Volume 2’. He showed great interest in the sacred sciences even before becoming the Caliph and was known as a righteous man. He opposed a plot to remove Sulayman Ibn ‘Abd Al-Malik from the succession, for which he spent three years of his life in prison. In 717 CE, as Caliph Sulayman lay on his deathbed, unable to appoint any of his sons as his successor due to their young age, he appointed ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-Aziz (RA) to take the Caliphate after him.

‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-Aziz’s (RA) succession to the office of Caliph was exactly what the Muslim World needed. He immediately set about reforming the Caliphate, starting with himself. He gave up the lavish lifestyle he had led before and deposited all his ascension gifts and even his wife’s jewellery to the state treasury. A large number of slaves in the royal household were also freed. He never spent more than two dirhams on a meal and was sometimes late for the Friday prayers as his only piece of clothing had not dried yet from the washing. He did not even have enough money to go for Hajj despite his burning desire to do so. His care for the state’s property was such that if someone came to him for a private conversation that was not regarding state affairs, he would use his own candle to light the room instead of the statee provided candle.

The same aestheticism he presented was demanded from his ministers and governors too. One of his governors once requested more paper for official work to be sent but ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-Aziz (RA) instead replied “Make the point of your pen finer, write closely and concisely; for Muslims do not require such detailed reports that are unnecessarily a burden on the state treasury”. Governors who were cruel and unjust were relieved of their duties. Those who remained saw cuts in their wages and they were only given what they needed. Taxes were also reduced and ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-Aziz (RA) said on this that “Muhammad (PBUH) was sent as a Prophet and not as a tax collector” (p41, Abu Yusuf, Kitab al-Kharaj, 75.). This did not reduce the government’s revenues as people became better off due to less taxes. On many occasions, zakat money was re-deposited back into the state treasury as people could not be found to give to. In letters to his military commanders, he instructed them to not neglect their religious duties saying “, if we match our enemies in misdeed and transgression, they would undoubtedly gain victory over us by virtue of their numerical superiority and strength.” (p47, Ibid., 84-87).

Further to all this, he exerted great effort in preserving Islam. Being interested in Hadith himself, he wrote to his governors and scholars around the Muslim world to begin compiling Hadiths. He also invited non-Muslims in his lands and beyond to Islam who, upon hearing about his virtues and by the mention of his name, accepted Islam. The revival was so successful that common people would discuss Islam when they met as opposed to worldly matters during the reigns of Walid and Sulayman. The Umayyads suffered greatly from this and no longer able to tolerate this, the Umayyads conspired with a slave in the service of the royal household to poison him. He died in 101AH/720CE.

  To conclude, ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-Aziz reigned for only 2 years. Despite the short time, it is undoubtedly clear that he successfully revived the Islamic Spirit in the Muslim World. Although successive rulers were not able to continue his work, his efforts swayed the trajectory of the Muslim World and delayed its fall into moral depravity. For his efforts in preserving the religion of Islam, he has been given the honorific titles of ‘The 5th Rightly Guided Caliph’ and ‘Khalifah Al-Salih’ meaning the Righteous Caliph.