Episode 6: Omar ibn il Khattab

The reign of Abu Bakr lasted a little over two years, and he kept Omar close in order to prepare him for the role of caliph. But the leadership of the community Omar inherited came with the burden of waging two simultaneous wars against empires that had bordered the Arabs for as long as they they could remember. We very briefly discussed the Byzantine and Sassanid empires in the previous episode, and today we’ll talk about the challenges they posed to the new caliph, and how he responded to them and other dangers to the Umma.

Glossary

• Omar ibn il Khattab: the Umma’s second caliph was – like his predecessor, and indeed all four ‘rightly guided caliphs’ – a close companion of the prophet, and one of the muhajirun who made the journey to Medina with the prophet in the early years of Islam. This episode focuses on the wars that Omar inherited from Abu Bakr, and a lot about this esteemed caliph goes unsaid for now.
• Al Muthanna bin Haritha: sources disagree on a lot about al Muthanna, but not in a way that makes me doubt his existence. Because he was so important to the success of the Arab takeover of Lakhmid territory, some sources insist he had met the prophet and been blessed by him, and others go further and say his tribe had been a nomadic Arab one until settling in Lakhmid territory just before he was born. Their intention is clear: al Muthanna was so useful to the Arabs that some historians begin to claim him as one of the original muslims. They agree that he spent most of his life in what we think of today as Iraq, and only converted to Islam around the time he met Abu Bakr to ask for reinforcements in fighting against the Sassanids.
• Sa’ad bin abi Waqqas: another early muslim of high standing, also of the muhajirun. This Qurayshi is sometimes referred to in the sources as the richest man of his time, but they offer virtually no support for this spurious claim. He was chosen by the muslims of Medina to lead the Arab armies in their war against the Sassanids, and he is praised for his leadership in both war and victory.
• Abu Ubaydah al Jarrah: he was one of the three muhajirun (the other two being Omar and Abu Bakr) who insisted that the role of caliph should remain within Quraysh. He was treasurer to the first caliph before being chosen to lead an army to Byzantine territory by Abu Bakr. His only other major contribution to the Umma came in the form of caravans of food sent to Medina during its time of need in the year of gray. His death of the plague greatly saddened Omar, who some say saw Abu Ubaydah as his successor. I remain unconvinced of this as it seems to be an intentional misreading of the fact that the other two of this trio became caliphs, but I suppose we’ll never know.
• Yazid bin abi Sufian: the eldest son of the ex-leader of Quraysh Abi Sufian, of the Umayyad clan, he converted to Islam with the rest of Mecca following its fall to the prophet. Because of his clan’s enmity towards Islam in its early years, many muslims were skeptical of the conversion of the Umayyads. The clan’s standing within Quraysh (as one of its noblest leading clans) ensured its primacy in Abu Bakr’s caliphate however, and his choice of Yazid to lead one of his armies was meant to send a message to all muslims that the Umayyads were now firmly in the fold. As his deputy, he would go on to govern Abu Ubaydah’s lands before dying of plague shortly after him.
• Al Zubayr bin Awwam: the hero of the siege of (Egypt’s) Babylon was – yes – yet another member of the muhajirun. He was close to the prophet and Abu Bakr, who wed his eldest daughter to al Zubayr even before the hijra. He was fierce in battle and apparently prone to monstrous fits of rage. He will feature prominently in a couple episodes down the line, and I’ll try to find more to say about him then.
• Battle of Yarmouk: this is the battle which the Arabs credit with ending Byzantine control over all of Syria. It was a decisive engagement along the river Heiromax/Yarmouk that the muslims seriously thought they were going to lose for a few days before Khalid ibn il Walid pulled off yet another military miracle. I’ll admit that I’m still not very good at relating battles, but there are YouTube videos that cover these big battles. Here’s one from a channel that regularly covers historical battles.
• Battle of Qadisiya: while the Byzantines sufficed with one massive showdown against the Arabs, the Sassanids would go on fighting until they were no more, so there are many larger-than-life battles on that front (namely Nahavand, and Jalula). Despite this, the battle of Qadisiya is considered the Sassanid counterpart to the battle of Yarmouk. After this victory, Arab armies could securely cross both Mesopotamian rivers and raid lands deeper in Sassanid territory. I’m sure the channel above has something on it if you want more details than I managed to cover.
• Al Ahwaz: the Arab name for Khuzestan, or the southern parts of Iran along the gulf between Persian lands and the Arabian peninsula. Arab sailors made frequent trips to its long coast before Islam, mainly to engage in trade with its inhabitants.