Paradigms of Leadership – Omar bin Abdul Aziz ?

A dashing young man who loved fashion and fragrance in his times, Omar bin Abdul Aziz ? ruled over the vast Muslim lands, about 13 centuries ago. He neither inherited power from his father nor was he elected by the populace but was rather appointed as a successor by the Umayyad king Sulaiman bin Abd al-Malik (d. 717) – his distant cousin.

When he rose to power, he astonishingly gave his first speech and said: “O people! The responsibilities of the Caliphate have been put on my shoulders without my desire or your consent. If you all were to choose someone else as your Caliph, I am ready to step aside and will support your decision.” In the times of the Umayyad era, these kinds of words were not expected to be heard. So the public elected him unanimously.

Omar bin Abdul Aziz ??is one of the brightest shining stars of Muslim leadership for the following reasons:

1. After assuming the caliphate, he discarded his lavish lifestyle and adopted an ascetic lifestyle, resembling that of the famous prophetic companion Sayyiduna Abu Dhar Ghiffari ? .

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2. He discarded all the pompous princely lifestyle created by the Umayyad rulers: slaves, maids, horses, palaces, golden robes, estates etc., and returned all of them to the public treasury. He also ordered his family and relatives to do so.

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3. Omar bin Abdul Aziz ??created an accountability of the rulers, governors, including himself.

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4. The oppression and the levying of heavy taxes on the conquered people were reversed, and he ensured fairness in collection of taxes. This proved in an increase in the production, and as per Ibn Kathir the annual revenue from Persia alone increased from 28 million Dirhams to a whopping 124 million Dirhams.

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5. Omar bin Abdul Aziz ??sent emissaries to China and Tibet to invite them to Islam. Islam was accepted by great number of people, especially in Egypt and Persia.

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6. When the government officials reported Omar bin Abdul Aziz ??that the revenue of the state has declined due to conversion to Islam, he replied by saying that he accepted the caliphate to invite people to Islam, not to become a tax collector.

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7. The infusion of the Persians and the Egyptians had far reaching consequences in the evolution of the schools of Fiqh between 760 to 860 AD.

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8. He inculcated piety, steadfastness, business ethics and moral rectitude in the general population.

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9. Out of the reforms of Omar bin Abdul Aziz ??included abolition of drinking, forbidding of public nudity, elimination of mixed bathrooms for men and women and a fair dispensation of Zakat. He also got canals, roads, rest houses for travelers and medical dispensaries constructed.

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10. Very importantly, Omar bin Abdul Aziz ??attempted a serious reconciliation for the religious and political differences among Muslims. It was customary to insult Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib ? every Friday by Khatibs in the Umayyad times. This obnoxious practice was abolished by Omar bin Abdul Aziz ? . He rather asked all the Khatibs to recite the Quranic verse 16:90, a practice which is followed by most of the Khatibs even today in the Juma Khutbah!

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11. Omar bin Abdul Aziz ??treated Banu Hashim and the Shias with fairness and dignity - which wasn’t the case by other Umayyad rulers (it is also a stark reminder to those Islamic scholars who think it is essential to use foul language to consider others wrong and themselves correct). Omar bin Abdul Aziz ? even extended his hand to the Kharijites – invited the Kharijite leader Bostam for an open discussion about the Caliphate of Sayyiduna Uthman ? and Sayyiduna Ali ? . He informed Bostam that he will openly repent and convert to Bostam’s school of thought if he gets convinced. In reply, Bostam sent two of his emissaries to Omar bin Abdul Aziz ? . One of the emissaries accepted that Umar ? was right and gave up Kharijite extremism, and the other returned unconvinced. However, Caliph Omar bin Abdul Aziz ??did not persecute the man, and respected the man’s own decision.

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12. Islam flourished in this time, and it momentarily turned its horizons on the prophetic way, as it did during the times of Sayyiduna Omar bin al-Khattab ?.

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13. For all the above reasons Omar bin Abdul Aziz ??is sometimes referred to as Omar II (??? ??????) and is also called Khalifa Rāshid (the rightly guided caliph).

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14. The greed of the Umayyad rulers and merchants didn’t surrender, and after a period of over 2 years, Omar bin Abdul Aziz ??was poisoned, and he passed away in 719 CE (around 101 Hijri). He was just 39 when he left this world.

The Ummah today desperately looks for a leader in the likes of Omar bin Abdul Aziz (may Allah be well pleased with him).

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