What does it mean to be a leader? What does it mean to be a great leader? How rare are
they? We only know of four great leaders after the Prophet. Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali.
What if I told you there’s a fifth great leader? What if there existed a leader,
who in just two years would eradicate poverty
and corruption in the entire Muslim world. So who was this leader? Well, let’s find out…
In order to talk about this great leader,
we need to mention a famous incident which happened to Umar Ibn Al Khattab.
One night, he was patrolling the streets of Medina. He happened to overhear a mother tell her
daughter to mix water with the milk. The daughter mentioned how Umar outlawed this practice.
The mother said that Umar isn’t watching, so just do it anyway. The daughter responded in a way which astonished Umar, she said
that ‘I cannot obey Allah in public and disobey him in private.’ Umar was so amazed with this girl
that he told his sons that one of them should marry this girl. So his son Asim married
that girl… But why is this story relevant to that great leader that we mentioned earlier?
Well Asim had a daughter named Layla who married Abdel Aziz, the governor of Egypt.
Their son would become that great leader… his name is Umar Ibn Abdel Aziz
or Umar II. Like his father and great grandfather, Umar II stood for justice and feared
accountability on the Day of Judgement. Umar was a shining beacon of light in a vast sea of darkness.
Born in 63 AH, Umar II was drowned in royalty during Umayyad dynasty rule.
Being the son of the governor of Egypt, Umar could have whatever he imagined.
He had the best clothing, perfume and education. But this didn’t stop his father from instilling
Islamic and Prophetic values in his son. Abdel Aziz wanted his son Umar to have a
strong religious background. So he sent Umar to Medina to learn at the hands of Scholars.
It was there where he learned at the hands of the Prophet’s companion Anas Ibn Malik. Anas
Ibn Malik praised Umar by saying: ‘‘I have never been led in prayer by someone whose performance
is closest to that of God’s Messenger other than that lad.’ I.e. Umar. He also learned
from one of the seven Jurists of Medina Sheikh Ubaidallah Ibn Abdullah Ibn Utbah Ibn Mas’ud.
By the time Umar had entered his early twenties, he had accumulated so much praise from some of the
greatest scholars and Imams. And by the time he was 25, Caliph Al Walid appointed him as governor
of Medina. That’s right he was just 25 years old. Umar Ibn Abdel Aziz gained a reputation
for his justice and his observance of Shariah. Muslims who were suffering from persecution
from Al Hajjaj in Iraq fled to Medina because of his reputation. Al Hajjaj became so jealous
of Umar Ibn Abdel Aziz that he persuaded the Caliph to remove Umar II from power in Medina.
After Al Walid removed Umar from power, Umar left for Syria to join the battle against the
Byzantines. Once Al Walid and Al Hajjaj had passed away, his brother Suleiman had assumed power.
Suleiman regarded Umar as a loyal, trustworthy advisor
and together they removed all of Al Hajjaj’s men from power and expelled them. Suleimen
trusted Umar so much that he entrusted him with running the affairs of the subjects of Syria.
Upon Suliemans deathbed, he wrote a sealed will infront of all the Umayyad notables
telling them to obey his orders in the letter. They all agreed. So after he passed away,
they were all shocked to find out that Umar Ibn Abdel Aziz would be chosen for the Caliphate.
Even Umar was unsatisfied with this result so he went to the mosque and
called for the people. He relieved himself of all the burdens of the Caliphate and told
the public to choose a new Caliph. The people shouted that they wanted Umar Ibn Abdel Aziz.
Knowing that the people are satisfied with him, Umar accepts this pledge and delivers a speech.
He says: ‘I’ve been appointed as your ruler though I’m not the best among you; you’re not obliged to
obey me unless it involves obedience to Allah. So if I disobey Him, you are not to obey me.’
Umar Ibn Abdel Aziz accepted the responsibility of Caliph at the age of 37
even though he never sought it and never liked it. This is what sets Umar apart from other leaders.
But it is what he did during his rule that would make Umar II so legendary.
Upon assuming power, Umar’s life would change forever. He would
drop all privileges, all luxuries and any resemblance of royalty for himself
and his family. In just one year Umar would lose any excess fat on his body to the extent
where people could see his rib bones showing. Even when Umar had seen his wife wearing jewelry
her father gave her. He gave her a choice between her jewelry and him. She can have one, not both.
His wife, being a patient woman as she was, agreed to return all her jewelry to the public treasury.
Umar’s sense of accountability and fear of the Day of Judgement is unparalleled.This is why,
instantaneously, Umar returned all of the unjustly seized property to the public treasury,
beginning with himself by returning all the gifts given to him by his father-in-law,
Abdul Malik ibn Marwan. After that he focused on the usurped property of nobles of the Umayyads.
He didn’t just stop there, Umar wanted to remove as much corruption and oppression in the Islamic
state as he could. Umar would famously announce during Hajj that whoever would go to Damascus
and bring with them a complaint about being oppressed or wronged, then for them is 300 Dinar.
Whereas other rulers took from the public treasury for their own pleasure,
he was extremely wary and cautious of abusing the people’s money. He removed unjust taxes
implemented by his predecessors, standardised weights and measurements, freed slaves of the
royal household and removed extravagances from the royal court. His financial reforms were so
successful that it became too difficult to find poor people to distribute the zakaat.
One critical moment of Umar’s reign was when he changed the way Friday sermons
are delivered forever. During the early years of Umayyad rule, it was customary to publicly curse Ali.
Umar abolished this practise and replaced it with the verse: ‘Verily God enjoins justice,
righteousness and good treatment of kith and kin, and forbids abomination,
evil, and transgression. He admonishes you so
that you may be mindful” [Q. 16:90]. And until this day, we continue to recite this verse in our Friday Khutbahs.
Umar Ibn Abel Aziz always maintained a good relationship with scholars and religious advisors.
He deeply cared about Dawah and the spread of Islam. Under his rule,
there were unprecedented levels of conversion rates to Islam. This resulted in dwindling income from
the non-Muslim protection tax. He disregarded the money and said: “I would be too glad
if all the non-Muslims embrace Islam and we have to take up cultivation for earning our living.”
All this change and reform attracted so much attention, some of it good
and some of it not so good. Some powerful people became very uncomfortable with the reforms Umar
made during his reign. So they poisoned Umar. When Umar found out that it was a young slave boy who
poisoned him, he asked the slave why he did such a thing. The slave told Umar that they promised him
1000 Dinars and his freedom. Umar then emancipated the boy for God’s sake soon before he passed away.
Umar’s Caliphate only lasted two years and five months, yet it was characterized by felicity,
justice and magnificence. His enthusiasm for justice resembled that of his great grandfather,
Umar Ibn al Khattab. His love for Islam resembled that of the great scholar Hassan
Al Basri. In fact, according to a dream
that he mentioned to his wife. He saw the Prophet and his four rightly guided companions
enter a palace. When Umar Ibn Abdel aziz was called to enter the palace, he found the Prophet
and his companions sitting down. The Prophet told Umar to sit down next to his grandfather
and so he sat. The Prophet then said to Umar: 'Remain steadfast in what you are doing, Remain
steadfast in what you are doing.’ From this dream, scholars have interpreted that Umar Ibn Abdel Aziz
is the fifth rightly guided Caliph. May Allah reward Umar for his piety and just rule. Ameen.