KHALIFAH UMAR BIN ABDUL AZIZ

Para pelajar yang dikasihi, berikut ini saya perturunkan petikan daripada buku A Short History of Islam karangan Dr. A. Rahim: Khalifa Umar Bin Abdul Aziz By Dr. A Rahim Character Son of a grand-daughter of the second Pious Khalifa Umar the Great, Umar ibn Abdul Aziz inherited the blood as well as the qualities and ideas of his great meternal ancestor ans the name-sake. Piety, simplicity and deep devotion to the duty of the Khalafat were the distinguishing qualities of his character. Because of his ideals of life, Umar was regarded as the Umayyad Saint. By his piety and austerity he had so much impressed the society that it became the chief discourse of the people whenever they assembled together. As a governor of the Arabia under Khalifah Walid, Umar enthroned himself is the hearts of the Arabs by his high character and fatherly rule. Rules As a Khalifa, Umar ibn Abdul Aziz followed the ideals of khalifah Abu Bakar and Umar. Both in his private and public in life, he followed the footsteps of the Pious Khalifas and hence the Sunni Muslims give him the honour of the fifth Pious Khalifa in Islam. Umar considered the Bait al-Mal as a sacred trust and would nor spend a single pie for his personal use. Immediately after his accessions to the Khalifat, he sole all the horses of the royal stable by auction and deposited tee proceeds in the Bait al-Mal. He also bade his wife return all her arnaments and jewels to the public treasury. The devoted and pious lady obeyed her husband and she did nor wear jewels in her life. So great was the piety and so loftier was his ideal that even the fanatical Kharjites, who did not recognize any other Khalifa except Abu Bakr and Umar, recognized Umar ibn Abdul Aziz as the lawfull Khalifa of Islam. Religious Policy The ideal of Umar II was the promotion of Islam and the revival of the early tradition os Islam. He restored the practical equality of all the Muslims by exempting the new converts from the payment of Kheraz. As a result, the number of converts greatly increased, but this meant a great fall in the revenues. When the governor of Egypt complained about this, Umat II replied, “Allah sent the Prophet as a missionary, not as a tax-gatherer”. In Khurasan, the governor tested the sincerity of the new converts by their willingness to get circumcised. The pious Khalifa forbade this, saying, Muhammad was sent to call men to the faith, not to circumcise them”. This stimulated the rapid spread of the religion of Islam in Asia and Africa. Umar II gave the Mawalis, the non-Arabs Muslims pensions for the military service-a privilege which was enjoyed only by the Arabs during the reigns of his predecessors. To prevent the fall in the revenue, Umar II however, forbade the sale of land by the non-Muslims to the Muslims after 100 A.H., because the Muslims did not have to pay the Kheraz. It was in the reign of Walid II that the distinction between Jizya as a poll-tax and Kheraz as land-tax was definitely made and it was provided that Kheraz was to be paid by both non-Muslims and Muslims for the holding of land. Khalifa Umar II was fair ang tolerant to all religious communities of his empire. He gave the Christians of Demuscus the right to retain the permanent possession of the Church of St. Thomas which was not theirs by right, in compensation for the church of St. John which was made a mosque at the time of Walid. He lso reduced the taxes in favour of the Christians of Najran on their representation. Umar II was very fair and generous to the members of Ali’s family. He restored to them the property of Fadak which was appropriated by Marwan. He also discontinued the practice established by Muawiya of cursing Ali ang his descendants in the Khutba of the public prayers in the empire. Umar appointed them to responsible posts and gave them back the privileges they enjoyed at the time of the Pious Khalifas. Semoga petikan dapat membantu para pelajar memperolehi maklumat berkaitan tokoh Tamadun Islam berdasarkan sukatan pelajaran terkini. A Rahim. Dr. (1965), A Short History of Islam, Dacca: Ahmed Publishing House.