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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 discour-
aging 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 differ-
ences 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 between
Destitute and lost are those who forsake the all-
encompassing mercy of Allah Ta’ala, and they will be ex-
cluded 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, some-
thing 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
words to
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
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.
utter the word, aware as I am of the means for obtaining this.
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 com-
pared 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)