The King of the Kings: Alexander of Macedonia or Omer bin Khattab?
By Dr Arif Kazmi
Chandler, Arizona
Who is the real Alexander the great, Alexander of Macedonia or Omer Farooq of the Islamic history?
World historians have a duty to find the correct answer. Omer Farooq died on the first of the month of Muharram, 644 AD after ruling for ten years from Madinah (now Saudi Arabia). Currently, it’s the month of Muharram and it may be appropriate to talk of history and to compare his life with other administrators and generals of the world.
We read that Alexander of Macedonia became king at the age of 20 and began his conquests when he reached the age of 23. He first defeated Greece, then Turkey to Iran to Syria to Egypt to India and after ten years of conquests, died while returning from the western parts of India (now known as Pakistan). The world has been told that he was the greatest general, and was titled as the king of the kings, Alexander the Great.
But if you knew Omer Frooq, would you not call him the king of the kings and the greatest general of the world?
Alexander was the son of a king, had the best of education and army training, was the student of the most able and known teacher Aristotle, crowned at the age of 20, and supported by a large organized army. Whereas Omer had no king in his entire family history, was a shepherd, brought up in Makkah and later Madinah of Arabian peninsula in the early 600 AD. He never went to an army academy to learn war lessons. While Alexander, with the help of an organized army conquered 1.7 million square miles in ten years, Omer in a ten-year period, with an un-organized army, acquired 2.2 million square miles of conquered land that included the Roman and the Persian Empires.
It may be noted that no one ruler in world history has conquered such a large area as Omer did. Unlike Alexander, Omer successfully administered all of his controlled area. During Alexander’s era, his generals and deputies were frequently murdered, there were mutinies in the army and soldiers refused to cross over into India. Omer, too, demoted the most popular general of his times, Khalid bin Walid, fired Saad Bin Waaqas from the Governorship of Basra and Kufa, ousted Haaris Bin Kaab from Governorship, confiscated wealth from Omar Bin Aas and assigned another Governor to become a camel caretaker in order to be disciplined, but none of them uttered a word of complaint because Omer’s decisions were fair and popular.
Alexander did conquer 1.7 million sq miles but did not provide a system to administer, whereas Omer gave a system of reforms that the world still follows to date. He established cabinet ministries, court system, put jails in place, regularized the army and bureaucrats and gave them personnel benefits. During his rule garrison cities such as Basra and Kufa (now in Iraq) were founded or expanded along with a regular police department. He ordered census, provided water supply, irrigation, and drainage system, fixed stipend for children, widows, and orphans and made lighting arrangements in places of worship. He was the first ruler of the world to introduce the accountability process by ordering his officials to declare their assets and possessions before taking up a government position. He strictly monitored the living standards of governmental employees, if they were given salaries from taxes. He was keen on public policy and looked after the welfare of his subjects by acting like a watchman during night time.
Many of Omer’s sayings became famous, such as: “Only just and fair rulers deserve good sleep”, “The real rulers are actually servants of their subjects”, and “Remembering the inevitable death, is the best advise for life”. He announced that “to pardon an oppressor is more oppression on the oppressed”, and his famous saying condemning slavery was: “Mothers give birth to free babies, who are we to make them into slaves”.
Examples of fairness and justice prevailed in the times of Omer. In 637 AD, after a prolonged siege of Jerusalem, the Muslims finally entered the city peacefully following the signing of a treaty by both the Patriach of Elya Al-Quds (Jerusalem) and Omer himself. Several years earlier, the Patriach had announced that he would not sign a treaty with anyone other than the Caliph himself. For this reason, Omer personally came to Jerusalem after Muslims had established control of the surrounding territory. According to both Muslim and Christian accounts, Omer entered the city humbly, walking beside a camel upon which his servant was sitting, due to the reason they shared turns over it and it was his servant's turn to ride the camel when they happened to reach the city. Then Omer asked the Patriach to lead him to the place of the old Jewish Temple. Omer was shocked to find the site covered in rubbish, as the Romans had initiated the custom of using it as a dung heap. Omer knelt down immediately, and began to clean the area with his hands. When the Muslims saw what he was doing, they followed his example, and soon the entire area of Al-Aqsa, approximately 35 acres, was cleaned up.
Upon taking Jerusalem, Omer demonstrated utmost respect for members of other faiths living. For the first time in 500 years since their expulsion from the Holy Land, the Jews were allowed to practice their religion freely and live in the vicinity of Jerusalem. According to the Encyclopedia Judaic, seventy Jewish families took up residence in the city. Omer also agreed to several pacts, called the Covenant of Omer with the local Christian population, determining their rights and obligations under Muslim rule.
As a leader, Omer was known for his simple, austere lifestyle. Rather than adopting the pomp and display demonstrated by the rulers of the time, he continued to live ordinarily much as he had done when Muslims were poor and persecuted. He wore most simple clothes and often slept on the ground. He died in debt that was paid off by selling his small house that was his entire asset that he had owned all his life. What more could Omer have done to be called the king of the kings!!!
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