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Umar Ii: Religious Policy

Umar II was the eighth Umayyad caliph who ruled from 717-720 AD. [1] When the previous caliph Sulayman died, he nominated Umar as his successor. [2] Umar overhauled the administration of the provinces and split vast governorships that had been established. [3] He adopted policies aimed at propagating Islam, abolishing inequality between Arabs and non-Arabs, and strengthening finances through tax reforms while also showing mercy and justice to all subjects.

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92 views2 pages

Umar Ii: Religious Policy

Umar II was the eighth Umayyad caliph who ruled from 717-720 AD. [1] When the previous caliph Sulayman died, he nominated Umar as his successor. [2] Umar overhauled the administration of the provinces and split vast governorships that had been established. [3] He adopted policies aimed at propagating Islam, abolishing inequality between Arabs and non-Arabs, and strengthening finances through tax reforms while also showing mercy and justice to all subjects.

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ali
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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UMAR II

Introduction:
Umar ibn–Aziz, commonly known as Umar II, was the eighth Umayyad caliph. He ruled
from 717 A.D till 720 A.D (until his death). He was also a cousin of the former caliph.
After the death of Sulayman, umar II became the caliph of Islam.

Umarbecame caliph:
When Sulayman was on his deathbed he nominated Umar as his successor. As he died,
Umar came to the throne.

Umar’s reign:
Shortly after the accession, Umar overhauled the administrations of the provinces. He split
the vast governorship that was established over Iraq and the eastern Caliphate during the
reign of Abd-al Malik and his viceroy al-hajjaj ibn Yusaf.

Achievements:
Religious policy:
To propagate the mission of Holy Prophet (S.A.W) he adopted a new policy. His policy
was that those who would accept Islam would be free from the burden of taxation and
would be placed on the same footing as Muslims.

Abolition of inequality:
When Umar became caliph he tried to abolish inequality between the Arabs and the non-
Arab Muslims. He also restored to the children of fighting Arabs (Mukatila) the pension
which had been curtailed by Mu’awiyah and withheld by Abdul Malik. Though he was
orthodox, he did not fail to show mercy and justice to all of his subjects.

Revenue Reforms:
To strengthen the financial conditions Umar took necessary steps.
 The Muslims purchased land from the non-Muslims and thereby helped them to
hasten their migration to towns.
 Muslims were set free from all kinds of taxes except Zakat. It resulted in the lesser
income of the state. After realizing the condition of the state Umar imposed kharaj
upon the Muslims, and the non-Muslims had to pay poll-tax (Jizya).

Criticism:
His religious policies affected the revenues of the state. Many Berbers and Persians
became Muslims not because of the beauty of Islam but because they wanted only
to enjoy the pecuniary priviliges thus according to them.

Prevent fall of revenue:


As soon as Umar came to know that people were willfully trying to avoid the
payment of taxation by becoming Muslims and the revenue of the state is falling
thereby, he then, to prevent the fall forbade the sale of land by the non-Muslims to
the Muslims.
Moreover he imposed kharaj on Muslims and poll-tax on non-Muslims.

Relief from bloodshed:


It was in Umar’s reign that all sorts of corruptions were banished. He removed the
distinction between Arab-Muslims and Arab non-Muslims. Both Muslims and non-
Muslims were happy under him.

Attractive period:
His period was attractive because there was no bloodshed, no intrigue, no treachery. There
was peace and prosperity during his reign.

Death of Umar:
Umar II died at the age of 39 on 25th Rajab, 101 A.H and was buried at Dair Siman near
Hims.

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