Umar ibn al-Khattab

Umar's preserved lineage runs through al-Khattab ibn Nufayl and Banu Adi of Quraysh. His kunya was Abu Hafs and al-Faruq became his best-known title, although early reports do not agree on the first use of that title. Biographical works usually identify his mother as Hantama bint Hisham ibn al-Mughira al-Makhzumiyya and place his birth in Mecca roughly thirteen years after the Year of the Elephant, around 584 CE. Before Islam he is described as literate, experienced in trade and travel, physically strong, and direct in speech. He first opposed Islam. The well-known account of his conversion links his change of heart with Qur'anic passages encountered in the home of his sister Fatima bint al-Khattab and her husband Sa'id ibn Zayd; the specific connection with the opening of Surah Ta Ha belongs to early sira tradition rather than the evidentiary rank of the two Sahih collections.

After accepting Islam, Umar became a visible supporter of the Muslim community. Sahih al-Bukhari preserves the statement of Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud that the Muslims remained strong after Umar embraced Islam. He migrated to Medina, and his daughter Hafsa later married the Prophet. Early historical works place him at Badr, Uhud, the Trench, Hudaybiyah, Khaybar, the conquest of Mecca, Hunayn, and Tabuk. Reports about the prisoners of Badr, his forceful questions at Hudaybiyah, and later revelation corresponding with some of his proposals show a pattern of firmness, reflection, and responsiveness to revelation. Sound hadith also links him with proposals concerning the Station of Abraham and hijab, and preserves reports about strength of religion, unusual insight, and Satan avoiding the path he took.

When the Prophet died, grief initially overwhelmed Umar until Abu Bakr recited Qur'an 3:144. Umar then supported allegiance to Abu Bakr at Saqifa and became one of his senior advisers. After Yamama, a sound report attributes to Umar the proposal to gather the scattered written Qur'anic materials, leading Abu Bakr to assign the work to Zayd ibn Thabit. When Umar assumed the caliphate in 13 AH, his reign combined territorial expansion with administrative formation. Large parts of Syria, Iraq, Egypt, and Persia came under Muslim rule while he directed appointments, finance, reinforcement, and strategy from Medina. Traditions from his reign concern the Hijri calendar, registers of stipends, the public treasury, judicial appointments, provincial correspondence, and the fiscal treatment of conquered agricultural land. Reports on the Year of Ashes describe relief efforts, while Sahih al-Bukhari preserves his consultation at Sargh during the plague of Amwas and his decision not to enter the affected region.

Genealogical sources preserve several wives and children. Zaynab bint Maz'un is named as the mother of Abd Allah, Hafsa, and Abd al-Rahman al-Akbar, while Jamila bint Thabit is linked with Asim; other marriages and maternal attributions vary. Sunni genealogical works also report a marriage to Umm Kulthum bint Ali, while Imami tradition contains objections to aspects of that report, so it remains a disputed genealogical tradition. Late in Dhu al-Hijja 23 AH, Umar was stabbed during the dawn prayer by Abu Lu'lu'a. Sahih al-Bukhari preserves his concern for debts and communal rights, the six-member succession council, and his final instructions. During his last illness he asked Aisha for permission to be buried beside the Prophet and Abu Bakr and asked that permission be sought again after his death. After renewed consent, he was buried inside the Sacred Chamber.