them had not even made their faith known to the people. They could not say their prayers publicly. All this changed when Umar (RA) became a Muslim. Unlike other Muslims who migrated to Medina secretly, when Umar left he first went to the Kaaba, fully armed, to pray. After praying he shouted to the chiefs, “I am leaving for Medina. If anyone wants to stop me, let him meet me across the valley. His mother shall certainly have to weep for him in sorrow.“ Devoted to the Prophet (PBUH), Umar (RA) stood by him in all his battles and expeditions. No blood ties or friendships ever stood between his love for Allah and His Apostle from that day onwards. Upon the death of the Prophet (PBUH), Umar (RA) was in shock and threatened to behead anyone who said that the Messenger of Allah was dead. His grief was overwhelming and he feared for what would happen to Islam and the Muslims. Abu Bakr (RA) reminded him of the verse in the Qur’an and by reciting these verses Umar (RA) came to his senses again. “Muhammad is no more than a Messenger: many were the Messengers that passed away before him. If he died or were slain, will you then turn back on his heels? If any did turn back on his heels, not the least harm will he do to Allah.” (Quran 3:144) During his caliphate, Abu Bakr (RA) depended on Umar (RA) for advice because of the high opinion that the Holy Prophet (PBUH) had also had for Umar (RA) during his lifetime. Umar’s appointment as Abu Bakr’s successor When Abu Bakr knew that he was about to pass on he called the people together and asked them to help him appoint his successor. They put the matter in his hands and he decided that after much thought and prayer, he was appointing Umar as their new leader. Abu Baker asked the people to listen and obey Umar. Umar (RA) succeeded Abu Bakr as a second Caliph on August 23, 634 AD and became known for his justice toward all people, whether Muslim or non-Muslim and was the first Caliph to be nominated as “Prince of the Believers.” He was the second of the Rightly Guided Caliphs. During his reign, the Islamic Empire expanded across Iraq, Egypt, Libya, Persia, Khurassan, Eastern Anatolia, South Armenia and Sajistan. He brought Jerusalem (the third holiest city in Islam) under the Muslim Empire for the first time. Umar protected the unity of the state, even though it consisted of an increasing population of varied ethnicities through his political wisdom and administrative ability. Many beautiful stories have been written about Umar’s contribution to his fellow man. He lived an austere life and cared deeply for the community of believers. He could not abide the thought of people going hungry, which led him to scour the streets day and night to see if his people were in need. In all the years of his reign, he would walk around the city at night to help people with problems or give them advice. Accomplishments of Umar The Hijri calendar In 638 ce, six years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, Islam’s second caliph, ‘Umar, recognized the necessity of a calendar to govern the affairs of Muslims. This was first of all a practical matter. Correspondence with military and civilian officials in the newly conquered lands had to be dated. But Persia used a different calendar from Syria, where the caliphate was based; Egypt used yet another. Each of these calendars had a different starting point, or epoch. In pre-Islamic Arabia, various other systems of measuring time had been used. In South Arabia, some calendars apparently were lunar, while others were lunisolar, using months based on the phases of the moon but intercalating days outside the lunar cycle to synchronize the calendar with the seasons. On the eve of Islam, the Himyarites appear to have used a calendar based on the Julian form, but with an epoch of 110 bce. In central Arabia, the course of the year was chartered by the position of the stars relative to the horizon at sunset or sunrise, dividing the ecliptic into 28 equal parts corresponding to the location of the moon on each successive night of the month. The names of the months in that calendar have continued in the Islamic calendar to this day and would seem to indicate that, before Islam, some sort of lunisolar calendar was in use, though it is not known to have had an epoch other than memorable local events. There were two other reasons ‘Umar rejected existing solar calendars. The Qur’an, in Chapter 10, Verse 5, states that time should be reckoned by the moon. Not only that, calendars used by the Persians, Syrians and Egyptians were identified with other religions and
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