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

Reform in the Caliph’s own Life
The first century of the Hijrah was about to end. It had been a century that witnessed the dazzling victories of the armies of Islam, the strengthening of the Islamic system and the solidarity of Muslim power, first under Muhammad (PBUH) and then under the rightly guided Caliphs. However, the spiritual accomplishment of the time prior to Mu’awiya’s rule and the military achievements of the Umayyad commanders until the appearance of Umar bin Abdul Aziz (henceforth to be called Umar II’) were overshadowed by the political maneuvering and in human deeds of the rulers. The people had begun to accept strange notions and imported philosophy. The court of Umayyads, their courtiers and the commoners, were tending to be morally corrupt. The so-called caliphs who already did things generally contrary to the Quran and the Sunnah, could hardly cWWribute anything towards rebuilding true Islamic character. Conversions to Islam had become a useless practice, while the
’ Muhammad Iqbal. The Mission of Islam. P 51

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Political and Cultural History of Islam
’ converts were neglected and even oppressed in some areas. Umar II was alive to all these unhealthy developments and he appreciated the duties of the caliph very much. He issued directives to the effect that Muslims be educated in piety and that they should not be pitiless and merely worldly in their relationships. ”Laxity of morals was reprehended; the smallest oppression met with condign punishment; and the burden imposed by Hujjaj and his myrmidons on the converts of Iraq, Khurasan, and Sind were removed.”4
Umar II knew that no reform could be effective unless he amended his personal life. He discarded all luxuries, pleasures, tastes of diet and dress, and showed practically an unceasing devotion to the legacies of the Holy Prophet and the righteous Caliphs. A complete transformation seemed incredible in the life of the man who just before assuming office was, according to Ibn Jawzi, ”the best at the use of fragrance, too beautifully clad, most proud while he walked,” and well-known for ostentatious manners. He gave up staying in a grandly decorated palace. He auctioned the camels and the horses of the royal stud, and sold the furniture, carpets, silvers and gold utensils and deposited the sale proceeds (amounting to

22,000 dinars), with the public treasury. He discharged all the guards of the calipfi’s apartments and the court and asked Khalid, the chief executioner, to put his sword into the scabbard. As for his wife, Fatimah, he advised her to return to the treasury all the jewellery and ornaments she had received from her relations, for these were not their own property. She was asked to choose between a simple life with him or separation from him. She preferred living like an ordinary woman. ”After Umar’s death when her brother, Yazid, ascended the throne, he offered to return the jewellery to her. Very gently did she answer: ’I did not care for the things in his lifetime, why should I care for them after his death?’ ”The caliph never had a second shirt readily available at home. As the governor of Medina and in the years following his governorship, he bloomed like a rose and was physically vigorous and well-built. But within two years of his caliphate, he was reduced to a skeleton. The total daily expenses of the caliph never exceeded two dirhams. Sometimes he raised loans to meet domestic needs and did not seek refund of his own money from the treasury. He could not go for the Hajj because he used to keep nothing with him from the income of his private property.

Muhammad Iqbal. P 53
Umar bin Abdul Aziz