Transcript Ashuraa and Men of Valor

Omar (r)
Administration
A.S. Hashim, MD
From wikipedia.com
Sources of Reference
Al Farooq, Omar, Muhammad Husayn Haykal
al-Tabari, History of the Prophets and Kings
Tabqat ibn Sa'ad.
al-Suyuti, The History of Khalifahs
Madelung, Wilferd. The Succession to Muhammad.
K. Y. Blankinship, The History of al-Tabari
Early Khilaafah, Muhammad Ali, Muhammad Ya’qub
Khan
Modern Islamic political thought, Hahmid Enayat,
Encyclopedia Britannica
al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah by ibn Kathir
Armstrong,
In this Slide Show
Inaugural address
Omar and Majlis al-Shura
Omar and Fadak
The Government of Omar
Department for Investigation
Omar as a Pioneer
Reforms
Other Administrative Decisions
As a Leader
Inaugural address
In August 634 Khalifa Abu Bakr died.
The same day Omar assumed the office of Khilaafah.
After the assumption of office as the Khalifa,
Omar addressed the Muslims in his Inaugural Address as follows:
"O ye faithful! Abu Bakr is no more amongst us.
He has the satisfaction that he has successfully piloted the vessel of
the Muslim state to safety, after negotiating the stormy sea.
He successfully waged the apostasy wars, and thanks to him, Islam is
now supreme in Arabia.
Inaugural address, Continued
After Abu Bakr, the mantle of Khilaafah has fallen
on my shoulders.
I swear it before God that I never coveted this
office.
I wished that it would have devolved on some
other person more worthy than me.
But now that in national interest, the responsibility
for leading the Muslims has come to vest in me,
I assure you that I will not run away from my post,
and will make an earnest effort to discharge the onerous
duties of the office to the best of my capacity in
accordance with the injunctions of Islam.
Inaugural address, Continued
Allah has examined me from you and you from me,
In the performance of my duties, I will seek guidance from
the Holy Book, and will follow the examples set by the
Holy Prophet and Abu Bakr.
In this task I seek your assistance. If I follow the right path,
follow me. If I deviate from the right path, correct me so
that we are not led astray.
People listened, now that he is the new Khalifa, the one
about whom they had apprehension.
But will the apprehension be justified?
Or, will a new dawn in the page of Islam show up!
Omar and Majlis al-Shura
Omar was already not an endearing figure in Medina.
Although almost all of the Muslims had given pledge of
loyalty to him,
Nevertheless he was rather more feared than loved.
The first challenge for Omar was to win out his subjects
and members of Majlis al-Shura.
Majlis al-Shura was a consultative body by men of prominence
Ali was the highest figure among them.
Omar was a gifted orator, and he would use his ability to
get a soft corner in the hearts of people.
On Friday Prayer
On Friday prayer Omar addressed the people as follows:
Brethren, it has come to my notice
that the people are afraid of me ...
they say that Omar has become the Khalifa now, God
knows how hard he will be.
Whoever has said this is not wrong in his assessment ...
know ye brethren that you will feel a change in me.
For those who practice tyranny and deprive others of their
rights, I will be harsh and stern,
but for those who follow the law, I will be most soft and
tender.
Next Address
Omar's addresses moved the people greatly. Next time he addressed
the people as follows:
I will be harsh and stern against the aggressor, but I will be a pillar of
strength for the weak.
I will not calm down until I will put one cheek of a tyrant on the ground
and the other under my feet,
and as for the poor and weak, I will put my cheek on the ground for them.
Omar laid his foundation on his rule about which he was consistent:
By God,
he that is weakest among you shall be in my eye the strongest,
until I have vindicated for him his rights;
he that is strongest I will treat as the weakest,
until he complies with the law.
Omar and Fadak
Omar's stress was on the well being of underprivileged
people, as this class made the bulk of any community,
The people were soundly moved by Omar's speeches
and his popularity grew rapidly
and continuously over the period of his reign.
In addition,
Omar delivered Fadak back to Ali,
Along with the disputed estates in Khaybar.
Though Fatima had already died by then, nevertheless
Fadak was returned to its legitimate owner.
Though Omar followed Abu Bakr's decision over the dispute
of Fadak, he continued its status as a state property.
Strategic Decisions
As a result of Ridda wars,
thousands of prisoners from rebel and apostate tribes
were taken away as slaves during the expeditions.
Omar ordered:
General amnesty for the prisoners,
and he ordered their immediate emancipation.
This made Omar popular among the bedouin
tribes.
With necessary public support with him,
Omar took a bold decision of removing Khalid ibn Walid
from supreme command on the Byzantine front.
Omar’s Khilaafah
1. Omar and Majlis al-Shura
2. Omar and Fadak
3. The Government of Omar
4. Omar as a Pioneer
5. Omar and Reforms
6. Administrative Decisions
13
How to Administer!
Since the empire under Omar’s rule had grown
enormously in all directions,
Omar had to establish an administrative system.
But the Arabs did not have any experience in
administration.
Omar, therefore, left the Persian and the Roman
framework of administration in the conquered
provinces undisturbed.
The Persian and the Roman staff carried on the
day-to-day work as before.
The Government of Omar
The government of Omar was more or less a unitary
government,
Where the sovereign political authority was the Khalifa.
The empire of Omar was divided into
Provinces
and some autonomous territories like in some regions as
Azerbaijan and Armenia, that had accepted the suzerainty
of the Khilaafah.
The provinces were administered by the provincial
governors or Wali ‫وآلي‬.
The selection of which was made personally by Omar,
who was very fastidious in it.
The Government of Omar, Continued
The Provinces were further divided
into districts,
there were about 100 districts in the empire.
Each district or main city was:
under the charge of a junior governor or Wali,
The Wali was usually appointed by Omar
himself,
but occasionally they were also appointed by
the provincial governor
The Government of Omar, Continued
Other officers at the provincial level were:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Katib: the Chief Secretary.
Katib al-Diwan, the Military Secretary.
Sahib al-Kharaj, the Revenue Collector.
Sahib al-Ah’dath, the Police chief.
Sahib Bayt al-Mal, the Treasury Officer.
Qadhi, the Chief Judge.
In some districts there were separate military officers,
though the Governor (Wali) was in most cases the
Commander-in-chief of the army
As such quartered in that province.
The Government of Omar, Continued
Every appointment was made in writing.
At the time of appointment:
an instrument of instructions was issued with a view to
regulating the conduct of Governors.
On assuming office:
the Governor was required to assemble the people in
the main mosque,
and read the instrument of instructions before them.
The Government of Omar, Continued
Omar's general instructions to his officers were:
"Remember, I have not appointed you as tyrants over the
people.
I have sent you as leaders instead, so that the people may
follow your example.
Give the Muslims their rights and do not beat them lest they
become abused.
Do not praise them unduly, lest they fall into the error of
conceit.
Do not keep your doors shut in their faces, lest the more
powerful of them eat up the weaker ones.
And do not behave as if you were superior to them, for that is
tyranny over them."
19
The Government of Omar, Continued
Various other strict codes of conduct were to be obeyed
by the governors and state officials.
The principal officers were required to come to Mecca on
the occasion of the Haj,
during which people were free to present any complaints
against them.
In order to minimize the chances of corruption, Omar
made it a point to pay high salaries to the staff.
Provincial governor received as much as five to seven thousand
dirhams annually
besides their shares of the spoils of war (if they were also
the commander-in-chief of the army of their sector).
The Government of Omar, Continued
Under Omar the empire was divided into the following provinces.
Arabia was divided into two provinces,
Mecca and Medina;
Iraq was divided into two provinces,
Basra and Kufa;
In the upper reaches of the Tigris and the Euphrates,
Jazira was a province;
Syria was a province; and Omar divided Palestine in two provinces
Aylya and Ramlah;
Egypt was divided into two provinces,
Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt;
Persia was divided into three provinces,
Khorasan; Azarbaijan and Fars.
Land Revenue
To assess land revenue, Omar again had to retain the Persian and
the Roman systems.
But in Iraq it was found necessary to survey the arable lands and to
assess tax on them.
Arabs knew hardly anything about assessing land revenue.
There was, however, one exception in Uthman Ibn Hunaif of
Medina:
He had outstanding ability as a revenue expert.
Though Omar's policy was to not appoint citizens of Medina
(Ansaar) to any outside positions,
In this case Omar had no choice. Uthman Ibn Hunaif was
appointed, since he was an authority on taxation, assessment of
land revenue, and land reclamation.
Department for Investigation
Omar was first to establish a special department for the investigation of
complaints against the officers of the State.
This department acted as Administrative court, where the legal
proceedings were personally led by Omar.
The Department was under the charge of Muhammad ibn Maslamah,
one of Omar's most trusted men.
In important cases Muhammad ibn Maslamah was
deputed by Omar to proceed to the spot, investigate the charge and
take action.
Sometimes an Inquiry Commission was assembled to investigate the
charge.
On occasions the officers against whom complaints were received were
summoned to Medina,
and charged in Omar's administrative court.
23
The Intelligence Department
One of Omar's most powerful department was
his intelligence department of secret services.
Omar's iron fist rule on his empire, is often
credited to this institution.
His agents were everywhere,
in the army,
in the bureaucracy
and in the enemy land.
For the officials of Omar it was said to be the
most fearsome department.
Omar’s Rule
Autocratic
Consultative
Benign
Strategy
Responsible
Austere
Omar as a Pioneer
Omar was a pioneer in some affairs:
Omar was the first to introduce the public
ministry system,
where the records of officials and soldiers were kept.
He also kept a record system that had the messages
he sent to Governors and heads of states.
He was the first to appoint police forces to keep
civil order.
He was the first to discipline the people when
they became disordered.
Reforms
Omar is regarded as a political genius.
Under his leadership the empire expanded at a quickening rate
He built a political structure that held together this vast empire.
He undertook administrative reforms and oversaw public policy.
He established good administration for the newly conquered lands,
including several new ministries
and new bureaus (administrative agencies),
and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories.
During his rule,
the garrison of Basra and Kufa were founded, then these two
garrisons were expanded into towns.
Omar's Empire, 644
Omar's empire at its peak, 644.
28
Other Administrative Decisions
In 638, Omar enlarged and renovated:
1. Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca
2. and al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina.
Omar also ordered the expulsion of the Christian and Jewish
communities of Najran and Khaybar, allowing them to reside in
Syria or Iraq.
He issued orders that these Christians and Jews should be
treated well and allotted them the equivalent land in their new
settlements.
Omar also forbade non-Muslims to reside in the Hijaz for longer
than three days.
He was first to establish army as a state department.
Other Administrative Decisions
Omar is regarded by Sunni Muslims to be one of the
greatest Faqeehs.
Omar as a jurist started the process of codifying Islamic
Law.
In 641, he established Bayt al-mal,
a financial institution and
started annual allowance for the Muslims.
A year later he also started
allowance for the poor,
underprivileged and
old non-Muslim citizens of the empire.
As a Leader
As a leader, Omar was known for his simple,
austere lifestyle.
Rather than adopt the pomp and display affected
by the rulers of the time,
he continued to live much as he had when Muslims
were poor and persecuted.
In 639, his fourth year as Khalifa, and as
suggested by Ali:
he decreed that the Islamic calendar should be counted
from the year of the Hijrah of Muhammad from Mecca
to Medina.
In Conclusion
Omar as the Khilaafah
Inaugural address
Omar and Majlis al-Shura
Omar and Fadak
The Government of Omar
Department for Investigation
Omar as a Pioneer
Omar and Reforms
Other Administrative Decisions
As a Leader
Finally we quote the Quran:
By the Token of Time
Verily Man is in loss,
Except those who
believe and do good
works, and exhort one
another to Truth and
exhort one another to
patience.
‫من الرَّ ِح ِيم‬
ِ ‫ِبسْ ِم‬
ِ ْ‫هللا الرَّ ح‬
‫َو ْال َعصْ ِر‬
‫ان َل ِفي ُخسْ ٍر‬
َ ‫إِنَّ ِاالن َس‬
‫ين آ َم ُنوا َو َع ِملُوا‬
َ ‫إِال الَّ ِذ‬
‫ص ْوا ِب ْال َح ِّق‬
ِ ‫الصَّالِ َحا‬
َ ‫ت َو َت َوا‬
‫صب ِْر‬
َّ ‫ص ْوا ِبال‬
َ ‫َو َت َوا‬
THANK YOU
Be in Allah’s Care
Dr. A.S. Hashim