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

30
UMAR BIN ABDUL AZIZ
(711-720 A.D/99-101 A.H.)
God commands justice, the doing of good, and liberality to kith and kin, and He forbids all shameful deeds and injustice and rebellion: He instructs you, that you may receive admonition.1 Umar b. Abdul Aziz occupies a unique position in Islamic history: he is the only ruler, apart from the Holy Prophet’s first four successors, who is acknowledged as a Caliph in the true ^sense of the vw,ord. The acknowledgement, made by all schools of orthodox-opinion, is formally betokened by the use before his name of the reverential title Hazrat, which is vouchsafed to no other ruler, with the exception of the Holy Prophet’s first four successors, whose company he joined, across a span ”of six decades, to become the fifth and last of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs/ Umar, (Rad.A), son of Abdul Aziz, was the eighth ruler in the Umayyad line of Muslim sovereigns. He was the grandson of Marwan (64-65 A.H.) and the son of Ummi Asim, the grand-daughter of Umar bin-al-Khattab.
Umar bin Abdul Aziz was born in 61 A.H. at Medina and it was there that he was brought up and educated under the pious care of Abdullah bin Umar. Abdul Malik bin Marwan granted Abdullah a thousand dirhams per month for the maintenance of his nephew. Among the accepted teachers of Umar were Hubaizullah bin Abdullah Bin Utba and Salih bin Kiyan.
Umar was married to Fatimah, the daughter of his uncle Abdul Malik (65-86 A.H.), in the last year of his reign. The same
AI-Quran, XVI • 90 ’ Abdul Islam Nadvi. I ’mar bin \bdul Aziz. P V

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Political and Cultural History of Islam

”year, he was appointed governor of Medina and virtually of the whole of Hijaz, The people, who knew him already, were astonished to see that he had brought with him thirty camel-loads of furniture, luxuries and other decorations, and remarked that ”learning was buried under power.” Having lived a comfortable and easygoing life, Umar bin Abdul A^ziz could hardly be expected to administer his charge with due care. But when he assumed office, he administered justice, heard every supplicant, pledged that no one would be oppressed however weak he might be, nor would he alI«V; anrcrtc to oppress others, whatever his strength. Besides fulfilling his duties and governing his people with the utmost attention. Umar did many other things for the good of the Muslim community.
One of Umar’s lasting achievement was the construction and extension of the Holy Prophet’s mosque and his mausoleum. The standing apartments of the Holy Prophet’s wives were purchased and the work began in Safar, 87 A.H. (January 707). The Roman emperor, to whom Walid bin Abdul Malik (86-96 A.H. 705-715 A.D.) had written about the project of rebuilding the mosque at Medina, contributed a hundred masons, approximately eleven mounds and twenty-eight seers of gold and forty bags of marble pieces. Capable engineers were consulted and employed in the reconstruction work which took three years to complete. The new worshipping place was very beautiful. Walid came to see the mosque in 91 A.H. and expressed his satisfaction at Umar’s accomplishment. The young and zealous governor also required and renovated all the mosques and sanctuaries in the city and suburbs of Medina in which the Holy Prophet had offered prayers. For the convenience of caravans and travellers, he had wells dug and highways improved. Umar resigned his office in 93 A.H. and until his assumption as caliph, he successfully avoided accepting any post..