Islamiyat 2058/22 1

Topic: The Rightly Guided Caliphs, Sub Topic: Umar bin Khattab.

Expansion of Islamic Empire

Q (a) Trace the expansion of the Islamic empire under the rule of the caliph ‘Umar. [10]
Structure of Answer
Para 1 Para 2
 Persian Campaign (Against Sassanid Empire)  Roman Campaign (Against Byzantine Empire)
 Back Ground and reasons  Back Ground and reasons
 Battle of Namaraq  Conquest of Damascus
 Battle of Bridge  Battle of Fahl
 Battle of Buwaib  Conquest of Emesa
 Battle of Qadisiyyah  Battle of Yarmouk
 Conquest of Mada’in  Surrender of Jerusalem
 Battle of Jalula  Conquest of Egypt.
 Battle of Nahavand
 Complete Conquest of Persia.
Answer
 Abu Bakr (RA) faced all challenges and cleared the ground for Umar (RA) to expand Islamic empire.
 Relationship of Muslims with Persians was never exemplary after the letter sent by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was
torn into pieces and army was sent to arrest Holy Prophet (PBUH) by Persian king.
 There are traditions according to which Persians helped Musailmah and apostate tribes against Abu Bakr (RA).
 The first advancement of Muslims in Persian governed Iraq was under the command of Abu Ubaid Thaqfi along with
Muthanna (RA). They successfully defeated Persians at Namaraq. This took place in 13th AH/634 Ad.
 To avenge the battle of Namaraq, Persians gathered under the command of Bahman Jaduyah. They camped on east
bank of Euphrates and Muslims waited for them on the other side. Abu Ubaid Thaqfi rejected suggestions of senior
companions and crossed the river. They were not able to assemble properly, Persian army supported by immense
elephants thrashed them. Abu Ubaid, his brother Hakam and 7 other who took command one after another, got
trampled by elephants. 6 thousand Muslims got martyred in this battle.
 Muthanna (RA) avenged this at battle of Buwaib and crushed Persian army led by Mehran. This happened in 14th AH/
635 AD.
 In the same year Rustam along with famous Persian commanders marched to Qadisiyyah along with 60-80 thousand
army. Saad bin Abi Waqas (RA) faced Persians with only 30 thousand soldiers. This battle lasted for 3 days and nights
and ended with decisive Muslim victory. This marks the completion of Muslims conquest of Iraq. Soon after this,
another historically and strategically important city of Babul was captured by Muslims.
 Saad (RA) marched to Mada’in after crossing Tigris river. The fierce advancement of Muslims compelled Yazdegerd to
flee the city along with his family and valuables. City fell to Muslims after a siege of some months.
 In 16th AH/637 AD Persians gathered at Jalula under the command of Rustam’s brother Farrukhzad. Saad (RA) sent 12
thousand Muslim soldiers under the command of Hashim bin Utbah (RA) who defeated Persians after a long siege
followed by a fierce battle.
 Muslim forces kept marching and seizing small and big Persian cities that almost ended Sassanid rule in Persia. In
21st AH/642 AD Sassanid gathered their remaining final army led by Mardan Shah that was approximately 150
thousand. 30 thousand Muslim soldiers led by Nauman bin Muqrin (RA) marched to Nahavand. After a fierce battle
in which hundreds of Muslims along with commander Nauman (RA) got martyred, Muslims managed to crush Persian
army killing more than 30 thousand Persians. This marked the end of Sassanid power in Persia and completed
Muslim conquest. That why it is called ‘Victory of Victories’.
 Relation with Romans got disturbed when their governor Shurahbil killed Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) messenger.
Battle of Mautah and later Tabuk took place in order to reply Romans in their language. During Abu Bakr’s (RA) era
they remained constant threat for Muslims.
 As soon as Khalid (RA) reached Rome in 14th AH/635 AD he laid siege around Damascus the capital city of Syria. After
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a long siege, Khalid (RA) managed to enter break into the walls. Seeing this situation romans offered surrender to
Abu Ubaidah (RA) and asked for protection. Although, Khalid had captured the city by force but he agreed to give
protection on terms set by Abu Ubaidah (RA).
 Triggered after humiliating defeat at Damascus, Heraclius gathered 40 thousand soldiers under the command of
Saqlar in Beisan, Jordan. Abu Ubaidah (RA) and Khalid (RA) defeated them and captured whole Jordan.
 In the same year of 14th AH/635 AD Muslim army captured very important city of Emesa.
 In 15th AH/636 AD Heraclius was so much triggered by humiliating defeats at Damascus, Fahl and Emesa. He ordered
to gather armies from every corner of the empire and managed to gather an immense army of approx. 200 thousand
and ordered to vanish Muslims and Islam from the face of earth. Abu Ubaidah retreated from Emesa and gathered all
Muslim armies at Yarmouk and assembled 30-35 thousand soldiers to face this storm. This battle lasted for 6 days
and was one of the fiercest battles that ended with decisive Muslim victory and crushed Byzantine forces.
 In 16th AH/637 AD Muslim army led by Abu Ubaidah (RA) and Amr bin Aas (RA) laid siege around Jerusalem.
Jerusalem was surrendered by locals on a condition that Caliph Umar (RA) would visit Jerusalem and write the treaty
by himself. Umar (RA) agreed and this historically and strategically important city was captured without any
bloodshed.
 In 20th AH/641 AD Amr bin Aas (RA) entered Egypt that used to be a province of Rome. Muqawqis who was viceroy of
Egypt on behalf of Roman Emperor prepared to fight Muslim Army. Umar (RA) sent another 10 thousand soldiers to
aid Amr bin Aas (RA). Amr bin Aas (RA) defeated Muqawqis at fort of Fustat and later on captured the famous port
city of Alexandria. This marks the completion of Expansion under Umar (RA).

Administrative Measures of Umar (RA)

Q (a) Write a detailed account of the administrative measures put in place by Umar (RA) during his
caliphate. [10]

Structure of Answer
Para 1 Para 2 Para 3
 Democratic Government  Judiciary  Defense
 Majlis-e-Shura and Majlis-e-Aam  Finance  Other Measures
 Provinces  Agriculture
 Aamil (governors) and Waali (Mayors)  Education
Answer
 Abu Bakr’s (RA) era was very precise and he remained busy in tackling internal and external problems including cross
border aggression of Byzantine and Sassanid and mischief of false Prophets and apostate tribes. He did establish a
basic administrative structure but could not get time to bring revolutionary measures.
 When Umar (RA) became Caliph on Jamadi-la-Thani 13th A.H, He paid special attention on maintenance and
administration of Islamic Empire. Being an excellent administrator and visionary leader, he transformed the concept
of government and came up with an excellent administrative structure that has been an example for rulers in every
era.
 First of all, he implemented a systematic chain of authority in order to clarify the domain of every institute. Caliph
was the highest authority over whole Islamic Caliphate, then Aamil (governor) was in charge of province and Waali
(Mayor) was in charge of districts. Each authority was answerable to the higher authority
 He Formed 2 advisory councils. Majlis-e-Shura consisted most senior, experienced and literate companions. Uthman
bin Affan (RA), Ali (RA), Abdul Rahman bin Auf (RA), Muaz bin Jabal (RA), Ubayy bin Ka’ab (RA), Zaid bin Thabit and
others were part of it.
Majlis-e-Aam comprised of senior Emigrants and Helpers mostly those companions who participated in Battle of
Badar.
 He divided the caliphate into 8 provinces for better execution of laws and order and keeping the governors accessible
to their people. Those provinces were Hijaz, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Palestine, Jazirah and Central Arabia.
 He devised strict rules and regulations for the induction and scrutiny of governors and waali that was the biggest
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reason behind excellent governing system of

 He ensured an independent and transparent judicial system where everyone is treated equally. The Qazi (Judges)
were given full authority to deliver justice in time and honestly. Selection criteria and standards of judges were really
high and up to the mark. Even judges were allowed to summon any governing figure even the caliph himself if any
citizen reported something concerning the caliph.
Some judges of Umar’s (RA) era were Abdullah bin Masud (RA) at Kufa, Zaid bin Thabit (RA) at Madinah, Ubadah bin
Samit (RA) at Palestine and Ali (RA) was given the special charge of Honorary Judge. People would come to Ali (RA) to
get their problems solved. Therefore he was given the title of ‘Greatest Judge of Arab’
 He also focused on finance department and named it Dewan. He refreshed and reconstructed the system of Bait-ul-
Maal and Zakat. He introduced taxes: Jizya (defense tax for on non-Muslims), Khiraj (Land Tax), Ushr & Khums (Special
Tax) and Rikaz (Mines Tax). Tax collection department was crystal clear and transparent. Yearly tax collected from
different provinces was:
 10 crore 28 lacs dirham from Iraq
 5 crore 6 lacs dirham from Egypt
 5 crore 80 lacs dirham from Syria.
 He made use of the barren lands by digging canals that resulted in surprising growth of Agriculture.
 Education department was also reformed by Umar (RA). He set up new schools and took them under government
charge, introduced salaries of teachers and incentives for students. He sent literate companions to every corner of
caliphate in order to educate masses.
 As a strong caliphate requires a strong defense so Umar (RA) reformed Military department.
He introduced new ranks for better control, constructed cantonments and barracks for training, devised attractive
salaries and mad army ready to quickly respond to any threat. He would recruit 30 thousand new soldiers every year.
 Introduced police system for internal safety.
 He introduced new born baby allowance and old age pension systems.
 He introduced a very effective Department of Bareed (Post).
 He devised the mechanism of Hijrah calendar and asked experts to establish the history of Prophet’s (PBUH) era and
Abu Bakr’s (RA) time in backward counting method.
 He maintained a very strict check on all departments to evaluate their performance and keep the system running
flawlessly. He would roam around the streets of Madinah in order to check the condition of his people. He would
even disguise and visit random areas of his caliphate in order to check the quality of governing structure. He would
punish rulers if found any discrepancy.
Q (b) What do you think was ‘Umar’s greatest achievement during his rule? Explain why you think so. [4]
Points to be covered
 The greatest achievement of Umar bin Khattab (RA) was the way he managed a vast country with his great
administrative qualities and formed a ‘Social Welfare State’.
 Transparent system of Judiciary, Finance department, scrutiny of governors and mayors ensured that his dream of
social welfare state comes true.
 He did not only appoint excellent officers, but he observed them with hawk eye and took strict action if he ever
noticed any mishap.
Q (b) Was ‘Umar better as a military leader or as an administrator? [4]
Points to be covered
 Umar (RA) was a great military leader. He could not lead army by participating on the battle field because of some
reasons. But the way he guided and mentored the campaign against Persians and Romans by distributing accurate
number of armies, selection of areas to be conquered, instructions about when to advance and when to retreat and
other war tactics conveyed to commanders of Muslim army by him, makes him a great military leader.
 His administration was flawless. The way he managed a gigantic caliphate by appointing worthy governors and
mayors, establishing/introducing systems of Finance, Judiciary, Education, Revenue generation and military was
highly commendable. He did not prove his mettle in normal situations but the way he managed the great plague and
famine and saved millions of lives makes him the greatest administrator of all time.