Umar ibn Khattab Biography

Umar bin Khattab Biography. Umar (Arabic: عمر بن الخطاب; Transliteration: `Umar ibn al-Khattāb, c. 586–590  – 644) c. 2 Nov. (Dhu al-Hijjah 26, 23 Hijri) , was a leading companion and adviser to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and became the second Muslim Khalifa after Muhammad's death and ruled for 10 years.

 

Converting to Islam in the 6th year after Muhammad's first revelation, he spent 18 years in companionship of Muhammad. He succeeded Caliph Abu Bakr on 23 August 634 as the second Caliph, and played a significant role in Islam. Under Umar the Islamic empire expanded at an unprecedented rate ruling the whole Sassanid Persian Empire and more than two thirds of the Eastern Roman Empire. His legislative abilities, his firm political and administrative control over a rapidly expanding empire and his brilliantly coordinated multi-prong attacks against the Sassanid Persian Empire that resulted in the conquest of the Persian empire in less than two years, marked his reputation as a great political and military leader.  He was killed by a Persian captive.

Muslims view him as the Second Rashidun and know him as Farooq the great and Hero of Islam.

Umar was born in Mecca to the Banu Adi clan, which was responsible for arbitrations among the tribes. His father was Khattab ibn Nufayl and his mother was Hantammah daughter of Khattab, from the tribe of Banu Makhzum. He is said to have belonged to a middle class family. In his youth he used to tend to his father’s camels in the plains near Mecca. His father was famed for his intelligence among his tribe. He was a middle class merchant and is believed to be a ruthless man and emotional polytheist who often treated Umar badly. As obvious from Umar's own statement regarding his father during his later political rule, Umar said, "My father Al-Khittab was a ruthless man. He used to make me work hard; if I didn't work he used to beat me and he used to work me to exhaustion."

Despite literacy being uncommon in pre-Islamic Arabia, Umar learned to read and write in his youth. Though not a poet himself, he developed a love for poetry and literature. According to the tradition of Quraish, while still in his teenage years, Umar learned martial arts, horse riding and wrestling. He was tall and physically powerful and was soon to became a renowned wrestler. Umar was also a gifted orator, and due to his intelligence and overwhelming personality, he succeeded his father as an arbitrator of conflicts among the tribes.

In addition, Umar followed the traditional profession of Quraish. He became a merchant and had several journeys to Rome and Persia, where he is said to have met the various scholars and analyzed the Roman and Persian societies closely. However, as a merchant he is believed to have never been successful.

Family

Umar married a total of nine women in his lifetime and had fourteen children, ten sons and four daughters.

The details are as follow:

Wife: Zaynab bint Mazh'un (at the time of Jahiliyyah [Days of Ignorance])

Son: Abdullah ibn Umar

Son: Abdulrahman ibn 'Umar (The Older)

Son: Abdulrahman ibn 'Umar

Daughter: Hafsa bint Umar

Wife: Umm Kulthum bint Jarwila Khuzima (divorced)

Son: Ubaidullah ibn Umar

Son: Zayd ibn 'Umar

Wife: Quraybah bint Abi Umayyah al-Makhzumi (divorced, married by Abdulrehman ibn Abu Bakr)

Wife: Umm Hakim bint al-Harith ibn Hisham (after her husband, a former ally of 'Umar and a companion Ikrimah ibn Abi-Jahl was killed in Battle of Yarmouk, later divorced but al-Madaini says he did not divorce her)

Daughter: Fatima bint 'Umar

Wife: Jamilah bint Ashim ibn Thabit ibn Abi al-Aqlah (from the tribe of Aws)

Son: Asim ibn Umar

Wife: Atikah bint Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nifayl (cousin of Umar and former wife of Abdullah ibn Abu Bakr married 'Umar in the year twelve AH and after 'Umar was murdered, she married az-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam)

Son: Iyaad ibn 'Umar

Wife: Luhyah (a woman from Yemen (Yaman) who's marital status with 'Umar is disputed, al-Waqidi said that she was Umm Walad, meaning a slave woman)

Son: Abdulrahman ibn 'Umar (the youngest Abdulrehman while some say the middle Abdulrehman from Luhyah)

Wife: Fukayhah (as Umm Walad)

Daughter: Zaynab bint 'Umar (the smallest child of 'Umar from Fukayhah)

Wife: Umm Kulthum bint Ali bin Abut Talib (daughter of the fourth Caliph, Ali bin Abu Talib)

Son: Zayd bin Umar (aka Zayd al Akbar, aka Ibn al-Khalifatayn (Son of the Two Caliphs, i.e. `Umar and `Ali)

Another son is, az-Zubayr ibn Bakkar, called Abu Shahmah, though from which wife is unknown.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umar

Posted in: Umar ibn Khattab