Al Farooq – English – By Shaykh Allamah Shibli Al-FAROOQ The Life of Omar The Great (The Second Caliph of Islam). Then came Omar the Great, whose life forms the subject-matter of this work. To no person, ever since the Dawn of History, has the appellation 4 great ‘ been more deservedly conceded by posterity than to this Second Caliph of Islam. He was great in the true and exhaustive sense of the word. Alexander, Julius Ca2sar and Napoleon are called great, because they were mighty governors and administrators ; Peter and Fredrick are called great because they evolved order out of chaos and made their respective nations great ; Solomon and Justinian may be called great because one of them was the wisest <an<3 the most magnificent potentate that ever lived and the other a great law-giver, but Omar was great because he was all that Alexander, Julius Caesar, Napoleon, Peter, Fredrick, Justinian and Solomon together exemplified. He was a conqueror, a states-man, a reformer, a law-giver and a spiritual leader all at once.
Washington Irving says;*
” The whole history of Omar shows him to have been a man of great powers of mind, inflexible integrity, and rigid justice. He was more than any one else, the founder of the Islamic empire ; confirming and carrying out the inspirations of the Prophet; aiding Abu Baker with his counsels during his brief Caliphate ; and establishing wise regulations for the strict administration of the law throughout the rapidly-extending bounds of the Moslem conquests. The rigid hand which he kept upon his most popular generals in the midst of their armies, and in the most distant scenes of their triumphs, gives signal evidence of his extraordinary capacity to rule. In the simplicity of his habits, and his contempt for all pomp and luxury, he emulated the example of the Prophet and Abu Baker. He endeavored incessantly to impress the merit and policy of the same in his letters to his generals. * Beware,’ he would say, 4 of Persian luxury both in food and raiment. Keep to the simple habits of your country, and Allah will continue you victorious ; depart from them and he will reverse your fortunes. 1 It was his strong conviction of the truth of this policy, which made him so severe in punishing all ostentatious style and luxurious indulgence in his officers
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