The Islamic Bulletin Volume X X No. 26 Page 21 treasury was not meant for the walls but the people, so why should they not be given?” · Instead of taxes, he requested all the governors to encourage the citizens to practice agriculture. · He dictated that if anybody had a piece of land which he/she did not cultivate for three years, the land was to be taken and given to somebody else who would cultivate, hence discouraging laziness. · State officials were excluded from entering into any business. · Unpaid labor was made illegal. · Pasture lands and game reserves (which had been previously reserved for families of high ranks) were evenly distributed among the poor for the purpose of cultivation. · He urged all officials to listen to the complaints of their citizens. In addition, he used to announce that if any subject had seen an officer maltreating the people, the officer should be reported to the leader and that subject would be given a reward ranging from 100 - 300 dirhams. · He wrote to his prison guards not to handcuff any jailed person for it prevented him from performing Prayer. He also wrote to them: “If your power over people were to lead you to treat the prisoners unjustly, then remember the Power of Allah over you.” Khalifa Omar’s fruitful achievements led to the well-being of his society. When the time for the annual obligatory charity came, no one accepted it. Instead, it was sent to neighboring towns to raise other’s standards of living. Everybody was able to assist his family without begging. This brought about jubilance among the people and loyalty towards their leader. Omar also gave away all of his wealth for the betterment of society. In his possession, Omar owned only one thobe. His people realized this, when they noticed that he was always late for Friday prayers as a result of waiting for his one thobe to dry after washing it. Another example of this remarkable leader was shown in how careful he was in using state-owned supplies. In Omar’s office he had two candles. If he wanted to write state affairs, he would the candle that belonged to the state. However, if he wanted to write his own personal letters, he would use the candle which had been bought from his own money. Following the example of the Prophet (S), Omar bin Abdul-Aziz sent out emissaries to China and Tibet, inviting their rulers to accept Islam. It was during the time of Omar bin Abdul Aziz that Islam took roots and was accepted by a large segment of the population of Persia and Egypt. Omar bin Abdul-Aziz was the first Khalifa to commission a translation of the Qur’an from Arabic into another language. Upon the request of the Raja (king) of Sindh (which the country is now called Pakistan), He had the Qur’an translated into the ancient Sindhi language and had it sent to the Raja (718 CE). During Omar’s leadership, faith flourished, as it had during the period of Umar ibn al Khattab (R). It is for these reasons that historians sometimes refer to Omar bin Abdul Aziz as Omar II. Omar bin Abdul Aziz was also the first Khalifa to attempt a serious reconciliation of political and religious differences among Muslims. Omar started in the Jumha Khutabs (Friday sermons) the following passage from the Quran to be read instead: “God commands you to practice justice, enjoins you to help and assist your kin and He forbids obscenity, evil or oppression, so that you may remember Him.” (Quran 16:90) Khalifa Omar Bin Abdul Aziz delivered his last khutbah (sermon): “O people. You were not created in vain, nor will you be left to yourselves. Rather, you will return to a place in which Allah, Subhannah wa Ta’ala, will descend in order to judge among you and distinguish between you. and distinguish betw Destitute and lost are those who forsake the allencompassing mercy of Allah Ta’ala, and they will be excluded from Jannah, the borders of which are as wide as the heavens and the earth. Don’t you know that protection, tomorrow, will be limited to those who feared Allah (today), and to those who sold something ephemeral for something permanent, something small for something great, and fear for protection? Don’t you realize that you are the descendants of those who have perished, that those who remain will take their place after you, and that this will continue until you are all returned to Allah Ta’ala? Every day you dispatch to Allah Ta’ala, at all times of the day, someone who has died, his term having come to an end; you bury him in a crack in the earth and then leave him without a pillow or a bed. He has parted from his loved ones, severed his connections with the living, and taken up residence in the earth, whereupon he comes face to face with the accounting. His is mortgaged to his deeds. He needs his accomplishments, but not the material things he left on earth. Therefore, fear Allah before death descends and its appointed times expire. I swear by Allah that I say those words to you knowing that I myself have committed more sins tted more sins than any of you; I therefore ask Allah Subhannah wa Ta’ala for forgiveness and I repent. Whenever we learn that one of you needs something, I try to satisfy his need to the extent that I am able. Whenever I can provide satisfaction to one of you out of my possessions, I ion to one of you out of my possessions, I seek to treat him as my equal and my relative, so that my life and his life are of equal value. I swear by Allah that I had wanted something else, namely, affluence, then it would have been easy for me to utter the word, aware as I am of the means for obtaining this. er But Allah Ta’aala has issued in an eloquent Book and a just example (The Sunnah) by means of which He guides us to obedience.” He (Omar Ibn Abdul Aziz) lifted up the edge of his robe and began to sob, causing the people around him to break into tears. Then he stepped down and never stepped again on the stand till he passed away. Omar’s leadership cannot be compared to any other person’s - it was so unique. Different leaders reigned before and after him but none could break his record of the magnificent changed he made. He died in the year 719 CE, after ruling for only two years and five months. His subjects mourned in great pain, saying that they would never have a leader like Omar bin Abdul-Aziz. “God commands you to practice justice, enjoins you to help and assist your kin and He forbids obscenity, evil or oppression, so that you may remember Him.” (Quran 16:90)
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