Umar ibn al-Khattab
The second caliph, called al-Faruq. In ten years his armies took Iraq, Syria, Egypt and western Iran. He created the diwan, founded Basra, Kufa and Fustat, started the Hijri calendar and received Jerusalem's surrender in person.
At a glance
- Lived
- c. 584 to 644
- Role
- Caliph
- Dynasty
- Rashidun Caliphs
- Era
- The Prophet's state in Madinah; Abu Bakr and Umar: the great conquests
- Chapter
- 1. The Rightly Guided Caliphs
Battles
- 636Battle of Yarmouk
Decisive Muslim victory. Six days of fighting destroyed the Byzantine field army.
- 636Battle of Qadisiyyah
Decisive Muslim victory. Over several days the Persian army and its war elephants were broken, and Rustam was killed.
- 637Conquest of Jerusalem
City surrendered. The patriarch would only hand the city to the caliph himself.
- 642Battle of Nahavand
Decisive Muslim victory. Remembered as the victory of victories.
Umar ibn al-Khattab's world
632: The Prophet's state in Madinah
In the ten years after the Hijrah, Madinah grew from one town into a state that held most of Arabia. When the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) died in June 632, the two great powers next door, Byzantium and Sasanian Persia, were worn out after decades of war with each other.
644: Abu Bakr and Umar: the great conquests
Within twelve years the Muslims defeated both superpowers of the age. Byzantium lost Syria at Yarmouk and Egypt soon after. Persia lost Iraq at Qadisiyyah and its heartland at Nahavand. Jerusalem surrendered in 637 and Umar came in person to accept it.
People of the same era
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