Читать книгу The Muslim 100 - Muhammad Mojlum Khan - Страница 29

THE ERA OF the first four Caliphs of Islam is widely considered to be the Golden Age of Islam. Caliphs Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali were not only close companions of the Prophet, they were also exceptionally loyal and gifted Muslims. During their reigns, the four Caliphs conducted their affairs strictly in accordance with the teachings of Islam; that is to say, they tried to discharge their duties and obligations to all the citizens of the Islamic State with equity, justice and fairness. Following in the footsteps of the Prophet, they served their people in an exemplary way. Wealth, luxuries and the possessions of this world failed to distract them from their main purpose and mission in life, namely to see Islam gain ascendancy in all spheres of human life. However, after the period of the first four Caliphs, the Muslim world entered a long phase of dynastic rule. Founded by Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan, the Umayyads became the first dynasty in Islamic history and went onto rule the Muslim world for nearly a century. During the rule of this dynasty, a hugely inspirational Muslim leader emerged who became known as the ‘fifth rightly-guided’ Caliph. The Prophet and his first four successors aside, Muslims have revered this ruler probably more than any other in the annals of Islam. His name was Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz.

Abu Hafs Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan ibn Hakam was born in Madinah into an aristocratic family of the Umayyad dynasty. A direct descendant of Caliph Umar, through his son Asim, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz was brought up and educated in Madinah. He completed his early education in Arabic and also memorised the Qur’an and hadith (Prophetic traditions) under the supervision of Salih ibn Kaisan and several other companions (sahabah) of the Prophet, and their successors (tabiun), such as Abdullah ibn Utbah ibn Mas’ud. He then received advanced training in Arabic grammar, literature, poetry and hadith. Young Umar became so proficient in Arabic literature and Islamic sciences that some of the leading scholars of the time tested his knowledge of the intricacies of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) and Prophetic traditions, but he passed their tests with flying colours. Not surprisingly, prominent Islamic scholars and writers like Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi considered Umar to be a competent scholar of tafsir (Qur’anic exegesis), hadith and fiqh. By virtue of his scholarly achievements, he became known throughout Madinah as one of the most learned of the Umayyad princes.

After completing his formal education, he moved to Egypt where his father, Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan, served as governor. As a prominent member of the ruling Umayyad clan, his father was a close confidant of the Caliph and this no doubt enabled Umar to become a member of the Umayyad family’s inner circle. Being an Umayyad prince and a prominent member of the royal family, he had a privileged upbringing, surrounded by much wealth, luxury and material extravagance. Like the other Umayyad princes of the time, he was offered a high-ranking post within the Umayyad administration which enabled him to lead a life of comfort and indulgence. And although all the other Umayyad princes wore expensive clothes, applied the best perfume and walked through the streets of Damascus with their heads held high, young Umar always went out of his way to impress everyone around him. Of fair complexion, refined manners and always immaculately dressed, he was constantly surrounded by servants who were happy to comply with his every whim and desire. Not surprisingly, he came to symbolise the pomp, pride and material extravagance of the ruling Umayyad family. After the death of his father Abd al-Aziz, the reigning Caliph Abd al-Malik offered the hand of his daughter, Fatimah bint Abd al-Malik, to him; Umar not only accepted the marriage proposal, he also thanked the Caliph for his kindness and generosity.

As an intelligent and gifted scholar, he could have occupied one of the Muslim world’s highest seats of learning at the time but, thanks to his strong family connection with the Umayyads, he decided to pursue a political career instead. Appointed governor of the province of Khanasarah by Caliph Abd al-Malik, his father-in-law, Umar took charge of this region and became very popular with the locals for his sense of justice, fairness and equality. After the death of Caliph Abd al-Malik, his son al-Walid ascended the Umayyad throne and he promoted Umar to the governorship of Madinah. Although this was a tremendous honour for him, he made it clear to the new Caliph that he had no desire to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors and behave ruthlessly towards the people of Madinah. Al-Walid agreed with him and he set out for Madinah, the city of the Prophet, where he had spent his early years studying under the great scholars of the city. Though only twenty-five years old, he discharged his duties as governor with loyalty, dedication and understanding. Soon after becoming governor, he invited all the leading scholars and citizens of Madinah to dinner and established a consultative (shura) council. Consisting of religious scholars, civil servants and prominent local people, the remit of this council was to discuss and debate important policy issues of the day and offer advice to the governor. Since Umar’s jurisdiction also encompassed Makkah and Taif, his willingness to listen to the people and address their concerns quickly won him the support of the locals, who pledged to co-operate with him fully.

Then, to his dismay, Umar noticed how the masjid al-nabi (the ‘Prophet’s mosque’) had been neglected by his predecessors. The mosque was so small that it overflowed with worshippers; it had not been renovated since Marwan ibn Hakam carried out some repairs during his tenure as governor. He therefore wrote to Caliph al-Walid for his permission to expand the mosque. The last time the mosque had been expanded significantly was during the Caliphate of Uthman, and it required urgent attention. When Caliph al-Walid gave the go-ahead, Umar summoned all the prominent scholars of Madinah (including al-Qasim, Salim and Abu Bakr ibn Abd al-Rahman) to seek their advice on the matter. Following the consultation, the old mosque was demolished and a new one was built, thus creating a mosque which could accommodate more worshippers. According to the historians, Caliph al-Walid even wrote to the Byzantine Emperor requesting him to make a contribution towards the cost of building the mosque. The Emperor obliged by sending a large quantity of gold and precious mosaic tiles, along with one hundred craftsmen to assist with the construction. This mammoth project took nearly two years to complete, and Caliph al-Walid came to inspect it during the hajj (pilgrimage) season in 709. The Caliph was so impressed with the new mosque that he publicly praised Umar for his remarkable achievement. When it was pointed out to the Caliph that Umar had also constructed a fountain near the Prophet’s mosque to supply free, fresh water to the worshippers, he acknowledged Umar’s superior qualities and attributes.

Umar remained governor of Madinah for six years before he was removed from his post in 711. The historians have provided conflicting accounts for his removal from the governorship. According to al-Tabari, the Caliph removed him from his post on the advice of Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, who was an iron-fisted military general, because he considered him to be too lenient towards their adversaries. However, according to Abd al-Rahman ibn Ali ibn al-Jawzi, he was not removed from his post; rather he resigned after discovering that he had punished an innocent man on the orders of the Caliph and as a result the victim had died. When Umar was informed of the man’s death, he apparently jumped up from his seat and exclaimed, ‘From Allah we come and to Him we will return.’ and fainted. This incident stung his conscience and he resigned his post as governor. However, after al-Walid’s death in 715, his brother Sulaiman became the Caliph and the latter, being very fond of Umar on account of his loyalty, principles and honesty, appointed him special advisor and thus he became a key figure within the Umayyad administration again. And although Caliph Sulaiman’s reign lasted barely two years, before his death he had anonymously nominated Umar as his successor and this proved to be one of the best decisions he made during his short reign.

With his accession to the Umayyad throne in 717, Umar became one of the most powerful rulers of his time. If ‘power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely’ as Lord Acton put it, then Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz was an exception to this rule. As a strict adherent of the Prophetic sunnah and the way of the al-khulafa al-rashidun (the first four ‘rightly-guided Caliphs’), he refused to let power go to his head; rather his assumption of political responsibilities made him more humble and sagacious. So much so that he insisted on conducting his official inauguration ceremony riding his own horse, flatly refusing to mount the royal ceremonial horses which were prepared for him with great care and attention. The pomp and pageantry, pride and prestige associated with Umayyad power failed to impress Umar. Indeed, he developed a profound dislike of such lavish and extravagant displays of wealth and power. Being once a hugely wealthy and pampered Umayyad prince himself, his accession to power transformed him for good. Thus, despite being one of the most powerful rulers of his time, he preferred to live like a hermit rather than a King. The Prophet and the first four Caliphs of Islam aside, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz is the closest one can get to a saintly King.

According to Umayyad custom, the new Caliph was expected to collect all his predecessor’s belongings and distribute them among their children. Umar deliberately broke this custom by emptying his predecessor’s wardrobe and dispatching all its contents to the public treasury (bait al-mal), notwithstanding fierce opposition from the entire royal family. He then refused to move into the plush Caliphal Palace; instead he erected a tent for himself. As he sat inside the tent agonising about the huge political responsibility which had been placed on his shoulders, a servant appeared in front of him and remarked, ‘You look very worried, Sir.’ He replied, ‘It is a great worry that in the East and the West there is no follower of Prophet Muhammad’s ummah (global community) who does not have a right upon me which it is my duty to fulfil without demand or notice.’ The thought of being responsible for all the citizens of the vast Islamic State concerned Umar so much that he went straight to the local mosque – and following in the footsteps of the first four Caliphs of Islam – announced: ‘O people, the burden of Caliphate has been put on me without obtaining my opinion, without me desiring it, and without consulting the Muslims at large. I remove the collar of allegiance to me that has been put round your necks. You are now free to choose whoever you like as your Caliph.’ The people in the mosque responded, ‘We choose you as our Caliph and agree to your Caliphate.’ After pausing for a moment, Umar then proclaimed, ‘O people, it is incumbent upon you to obey one who obeys God. It is not incumbent upon you to obey one who disobeys God. As long as I obey God, obey me. As soon as I disobey Him, you cease to owe me any obedience.’ With this historic announcement, Caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz restored the democratic right of the people to choose and elect their ruler, a precedent originally set by the Prophet himself, within the Islamic polity, almost a century earlier.

With the full backing of the people, Umar focused his full attention on the affairs of the vast Umayyad Empire. Aware of the oppressive and dictatorial policies and practices of his predecessors, he began to redress the injustices and wrongs perpetrated by the Umayyads in the past. Known for their political notoriety and wilful misappropriation of public wealth and property for the royal family’s benefit, none of the Umayyad rulers were popular with the masses except Umar, who dramatically reversed the policies of his predecessors and returned to the people their stolen goods, properties and lands. He pursued this policy so ruthlessly that every member of the Umayyad family, including his own wife Fatimah, was asked to return to the public all the goods that had been taken from them unlawfully. His wife complied with his order and returned to the public treasury all the precious jewellery given to her by her father, Caliph Abd al-Malik. Although Umar’s policy angered all the members of the royal family, he did not relent or back down until all the confiscated goods, properties and lands were returned to their rightful owners. So much so, that soon all the members of the Umayyad family found themselves on the verge of poverty and destitution. Even though this remarkable and unprecedented act of restorative justice made him very unpopular with the leading members of the ruling Umayyad clan, no one dared to oppose him directly. In desperation, Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, who was a leading member of the royal family, pleaded with Umar not to return anymore of the Umayyad wealth to the public. Characteristic of Umar, he retorted that he would continue to render justice until all known injustice had been corrected, ‘For fear of punishment on the Day of Judgement prevents me from disobeying God.’ During his short reign of two years, Caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz succeeded in restoring justice, fairness and equality across the vast Umayyad Empire. Unlike his predecessors, he was not keen on pursuing military expeditions abroad when social injustice, economic inequality and political oppression reigned supreme at home.

Thus it was his habit to send regular communications to all his governors to remind them to fear God, to observe justice and treat all their subjects well, whether they happened to be Muslims or non-Muslims. He also reminded all his provincial governors that it was incumbent upon them to restore to the people all the lands, properties and goods which had been wrongfully confiscated from them in the past. If any of his governors failed to comply with his instructions, he immediately removed them from their post. As expected, Umar’s sound principles and impeccable sense of justice and fair play soon made him very popular with the masses. Conversely, his refusal to give up his policy of restorative justice began to create much resentment within the Umayyad family; indeed, some of them even began to secretly conspire against the Caliph. But unable to topple him, they reportedly poisoned him instead. According to some of his biographers, after twenty day’s illness, Caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz passed away at the age of around thirty-seven. He died reciting, ‘We make this last home for those who neither seek superiority on earth nor make trouble, and peace is only for the God-fearing.’

His death shocked and horrified everyone within the Islamic world and all the people, young and old, men and women, Muslims and non-Muslims, shed tears for him. Influential Islamic scholars and sages like Hasan al-Basri not only prayed for him, they also fondly remembered him as an exemplary ruler. When the news of Umar’s death was relayed to the Byzantine Emperor, he also paid him one of the most glowing tributes, saying, ‘If there was any man after Jesus who could have brought the dead back to life, it was Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz. I do not marvel at the monk who renounces the world, shuts himself up and devotes himself entirely to prayer. I marvel at the man who had the world at his feet and who, trampling upon it, took to a monk’s life.’

That was the greatness of the man who came to symbolise true Islamic qualities and attributes, both as a citizen and ruler of one of the Muslim world’s greatest empires. That is why Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, the great Saint-King of Islam, continues to inspire Muslims to this day. His love for Islam and Muslims, coupled with his desire to promote peace, justice and fair play throughout his vast dominion, turned him into a powerful symbol of justice, goodness and rectitude. Today, across the Muslim world, people are crying out for a leader like Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz to emerge and guide them through the unpredictable and tumultuous waves of history.