Q. & A. 711 to 1707 with solved Papers css 1971 to date

CHARACTER
The period of Hazrat Umar’s (Rad.A) Caliphate undoubtedly is the ”Golden Age” of Islam in every respect. He was a man of extra-ordinary genius who not only moulded the destiny of the nation but made history of his own. He followed the footsteps of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) to the fullest extent. It was Umar (Rad.A) under whose rule Islam became a world power and the mighty empires of
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Persia and Byzantine crumbled before the arm of Islam. Within ten years of his glorious rule, the whole of the Persian Empire, Syria. Palestine, Egypt and a part of Turkey came under the banner of Islam and the nations entered the fold of Islam. He was not only a conqueror but also an exemplary administrator who originated an efficient system of administration, and thus he was the real founder of political system of Islam. He enforced Divine Law (Shariah) as the code of a newly formed International Islamic State; he safeguarded the internal safety by introducing the police force; he gave stipends to the poor; he constructed cantonments and fons for the safety of Islamic armies: he founded new cities for the growth of Islamic culture and civilization; he improved agriculture and economics of the Islamic State; he founded the educational system in an Islamic State; in brief he was the founder of great Islamic State.
He was a very pious Muslim. His success lay in two things fear of Allah and his love for the Holy Prophet. He never used even oil from the Bait-ul-Mal (Public Treasury) to burn a lamp at night for his personal needs. Whenever he finished the official work he put off the lamp. He used to patrol in the city at night to find out the needs and requirements and conditions of the people. He did not hesitate to take his wife to work as a midwife for a poor woman. The salary he got from the Bait-ul-Mal was so low that it was hardly enough for him and his family’s needs. When some of the eminent Muslims requested him to increase the amount he said: ”The Holy Prophet has left a standard by his personal example. I must follow him”.
Hazrat Umar (Rad.A) was the most just ruler in the Islamic History. All the citizens, including the Caliph himself, were equal before law. Once he appeared before a court at Medina to clarify his position against a complaint. The Qazi wanted to stand in his honour, but he did not allow him to do so, so that there would be no distinction between him and an ordinary person before law. He was really the founder of modern democratic system.
In short he was the best example of an ideal character, and was the greatest ”Khalifah” of Islam after Abu Bakr (Rad.A). He selflessly devoted his whole energy for the cause of Islam. Muslims will always be indebted to him for his great achievements. As a matter of fact a separate book is required to describe his character and his services to Islam. PIETY
His dress, meals and general behaviour were similar to those of the Holy Prophet. There were usually a number of patches on his

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dress. He always took very ordinary meals. Once Yazid bin Abi Sufyan invited him to a feast and when special dishes were brought before him. he stopped eating and said, ”I swear Allah in whose hand is the life of Umar (Rad.A), if you would not follow the ways of Holy Prophet, Allah would cause you to be away from the ”(SiratulMustaqim)” (The straight path)”. He did not leave his characteristic simplicity even though he was ruling over a vast empire from Iran to Tripoli. He used to sit on a mat made of date-palms.
Hazrat Umar (Rad.A) feared Allah and was wholly devoted to Him. It was his usual practice to cry and weep during Salat. Sometimes he passed whole of the night performing Salat and crying before Allah and because of tears his beard used to get wet. It was his usual practice to weep during the Fajr Salat. On hearing or reading the verses of the Holy Qur’an containing description of the Day of Judgement and he used to weep so much so that his whole beard would get wet. Once he was leading Fajr Salat when he recited a verse from Surah Yusaf:’! expose my distress and anguish only to Allah”. (12:16), he started to weep and his voice was heard in the back row of the congregation. Because of excessive weeping due to fear of Allah his eyes were swollen.
He was fearful of the account to be taken on the Day of Judgement. Once he took hold of a straw and said: ”I wish I was a straw (to be saved from the account on the Day of Judgement)”. Hazrat Umar (Rad.A) sacrificed almost all of his wealth for the sake of Allah and for Holy Prophet. Once he said, ”I love the Holy Prophet more than anything besides my life”. Hearing this the Holy Prophet remarked, ”Nobody is (a true) Muslim unless he loves me more than everything of the world including his own life.” On this Hazrat Umar (Rad.A) said, ”Now I love you, O Prophet of Allah, more than my life. Hazrat Umar (Rad.A) as a Great Scholar
Before the advent of Islam there was no tradition in Arabia of reading or writing. There were only seventeen people among Quraysh who could read or write at the time when the Holy Prophet started to receive Divine revelation. Hazrat Umar (Rad.A) was one of those seventeen persons. His writing and lecture are still found in some old books. The first address he gave as a Caliph is as under:
”O Allah, I am strict, make me soft. I am weak give me power. The Arabs are like refractory camels, I will endeavour to bring them to the straight path.” He was also
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interested in poetry and sometimes he composed verses. Umar (Rad.A) was one of the most fluent Quraysh. Arabic knowing persons can appreciate the fluency of his writings and addresses. Many of his sayings became aphorisms of literature.
He was a great Jurist and Theologian of Islam. Because of the fear of making any mistake he did not quote many Ahadith (saying of the Holy Prophet) even though he was fully conversant with them. He never allowed a person to quote any Hadith which was not well known without producing any attestator in support of it. If somebody quoted a Hadith before him which he had never heard, he at once asked him to bring a witness failing which he would be punished. He was expert in deriving laws from the Holy Qur’an and the Hadith. A full volume could be compiled out of the verdicts and judgments given by Hazrat Umar (Rad.A). As a matter of fact he opened a new door of ”Ijtihad” in the history of Islamic Law and jurisprudence and settled a number of disputable cases during his Caliphate.