Omar ibn Abdel Aziz.

Introduction:

In this blog, we are going to talk about the life story of Omar ibn abdel-aziz. A lot of Muslim historians and biographers like to call him the fifth rightly guided caliph. After Abu Bakr, Omar, Uthman and Ali, Omar ibn Abdel- Aziz was described as the fifth guided khalifa. This was because of his justice. Omar ibn Abdel-Aziz was born in the sixty-one H. He grew up with his maternal uncles in al- Madinah. His maternal grandfather was Omar ibn al-Khattab. Ibn Abdel-Aziz loved knowledge and accompanied scholars in al-Madinah. He was very pious. In the year eighty-seven H, al-Walid ibn Abdel-Malik appointed him as the mayor of al-Madinah.  

The ruler of al-Hijaz province:

In the year ninety-one H, caliph al-Walid appointed him as the ruler of al-Madinah and al-Taif. Thus Omar became the ruler of al-Hijaz area. Later, he moved to Damascus. When Sulaiman ibn Abdel-Malik took over, Omar became the counselor and the minister of the Khalifa. When Sulaiman died, Omar ibn Abdel-Aziz became the khalifa.

The characteristics of omar ibn abdel-aziz:

Omar ibn Abdel-Aziz had a lot of merits. Unlike his predecessors, Omar was just and fair as a ruler. He sacked all the unjust rulers. He used to consult scholars a lot about political affairs. Therefore, he got the title of the fifth rightly guided khalifa. He cared for Islamic studies and ordered the prophet’s hadith to be written down. Omar’s reign lasted for two years, five months and four days. Omar died poisoned in the year one hundred and one H. Omar was forty years old when he died. Omar’s father was Abdel-Aziz ibn Marwan. His mother was Laila bint Assim ibn Omar ibn al-Khattab. Omar’s maternal grandfather was Omar ibn al-Khattab.

Omar puts conditions to be a ruler:

Omar ibn Abdel-Aziz was chosen to be a ruler to al-Madinah. However, he put his conditions to agree to accept the post.  The first condition was to rule with justice. He wouldn’t be unjust to anyone. This would affect the money sent from al-Madinah to the Khalifa in Damascus. The second condition was to perform hajj in the first year of his rule. This was because he had not done it before. The third condition was that the Khalifa allowed him to spend his salary in charity in al-Madinah. These were the three conditions to which Khalifa al-Walid agreed; and Omar eventually accepted the post.

Omar ibn Abdel-Aziz’s illness and death:

Narratives vary concerning Omar ibn Abdel- Aziz’s final illness and death. However, the most certain narrative confirmed that he was given a poisoned drink. This was because the Umayyads got frustrated with his policies. He deprived them of all the advantages which they enjoyed. Therefore, they plotted to poison him. They promised a servant of his to give the servant one thousand dinars and set him free if he poisoned Omar ibn Abdel-Aziz. However, everytime the servant attempted to carry out the wicked plot, he hesitated. The Umayyads resorted to intimidating the servant. Finally, the servant did it. Omar felt it. 

The death of a great khalifa:

When Omar asked the servant about the reason why he did it, the servant told him about the promise of the Umayyads. Omar took the money from the servant and dismissed him. Omar died on Friday the twentieth of Rajab, 101 H. He died in the Christian monastery of Samaan in syria. Omar ruled for two years, five months and four days. He was ill for twenty days. Omar ibn Abdel-Aziz was forty years old when he died. Omar ibn Abdel-Aziz was truly pious and a good Muslim scholar. He loved justice, knowledge and the Islamic sciences. He deserved to be described as the fifth rightly guided khalifa.