At a glance
- Roles
- Companion · Caliph
- Counted among
- Sunni
- Era
- The Prophetic Era · The Rashidun Caliphate
- Region
- Arabia · Levant & Iraq · Egypt & Nile
- Review
- Draft Completeness 3/5 · Help complete it
Life in time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
Development of law, theology and institutionsWars and campaignsFactions, splits and schisms
Place in the story
- Convert to Islam · c. 616 CETradition
- Companion · c. 616 CETradition
- SuccessortowardAbu Bakr al-Siddiq · August 634 CE · Jumada II 13 AH†Historical
- RulertowardRashidun Caliphate · 634 CE · 13 AH† – 644 CE · 23 AH†Historical
Sunni (transmitted)
How others named them
- “al-Faruq (the one who distinguishes truth from falsehood)” — Islamic tradition
Roles are dated and sourced; the museum describes the act and attributes the judgement.
Brief
Umar ibn al-Khattab was the second caliph (634–644 CE). Under his ten years of rule the early community conquered Syria, Egypt and most of the Sasanian Empire — and, in Sunni memory, the model of just Islamic government took shape.
Life
A merchant of the clan of Banu Adi of Quraysh, Umar was at first a stern opponent of the new faith, then embraced it about 616 CE — a conversion the tradition remembers as strengthening the whole community 1. He migrated with The Hijra, fought in the early battles, and his daughter Hafsa became a wife of the Prophet.
Chosen caliph by the dying Abu Bakr, Umar presided over the conquests of Syria, Egypt and Iraq, and organized what the early state became: stipends by register (the diwan), garrison cities, a calendar, judges and governors 2. In November 644 he was stabbed by a Persian captive, Abu Lu'lu'a, and died days later in Medina 1.
Legacy
The Islamic state's first shape — how a caliph rules, how armies are paid, how judges judge — bears his stamp more than any other founder's, and the debate over his succession still divides memory.
For young visitors
Umar was feared as an enemy, then became the community's second leader. In ten years under him, a religion born in one valley reached three empires.
Opinions on the question
The question: How are Umar ibn al-Khattab and his caliphate assessed in the traditions?
First opinion · Sunni tradition (the museum's frame)Main reference
More opinions (2)
Academic viewSecondary opinion
Twelver Shia viewOther opinion
Connections
- Parent of
- Abdullah ibn Umar ibn al-Khattab· Hafsa bint Umar
- Born in
- Mecca
- Died in
- Medina
- Child of
- al-Khattab ibn Nufayl
- Member of
- Banu Adi ibn Ka'b· Quraysh
- Converted under
- Muhammad
- Participated in
- The Hijra· The Battle of Badr· The Battle of Uhud· The Treaty of Hudaybiyya· The Conquest of Mecca (Fath Makka)· The conversion of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb· Abu Sufyan's mission to Medina· The Badr war council· The affair of the Badr prisoners· The Qulayb at Badr· The Pledge of the Tree (Bay'at al-Ridwan)· The burial of Dhu al-Bijadayn at Tabuk· The Conquest of Caesarea· The Conquest of the Jazira· The Conquest of Ra's al-Ayn· The Conquest of Syria· Conversion of Umayr ibn Wahb· The death of Abdullah ibn Ubayy and the Prophet's prayer over him· The death of the Prophet· The Expedition of Dhat al-Salasil· Umar's Expulsion of the Christians of Najran· The Farewell Sermon at Arafat· Umar accepts Islam· The Killing of Malik ibn Nuwayra· The Dispatch of the Armies to Syria· The pen-and-paper incident· The Plague of Amwas· The siege of Ta'if· The Treaty with the Christian Taghlib· Muslim withdrawal to the mountain pass at Uhud· Umar dismisses al-Nu'man ibn Adi from Maysan· Umar's Expulsion of the Jews of Khaybar and Fadak· The Sea Transport of Egypt's Kharaj Grain to Medina· Mu'adh's Counsel on the Land of Syria at al-Jabiya
- Successor of
- Abu Bakr al-Siddiq
- Spouse of
- Umm Kulthum bint Ali
- Predecessor of
- Uthman ibn Affan
- Sibling of
- Zayd ibn al-Khattab
- Mentioned in
- Arba'un 1 — Actions are but by intentions· Arba'un 2 — the hadith of Jibril· Arba'un 49 — were you to trust in God as He deserves
People and things also explored
Muhammad· Abu Bakr al-Siddiq· Medina· The Prophetic Era· Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah· The Battle of Badr· Mecca· Khalid ibn al-Walid
Sources
- Ibn Sa'd, Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir (Bewley translation, Ta-Ha)
- Watt, Muhammad at Medina (1956)
- Momen, An Introduction to Shi'i Islam (1985)
- Ibn Ishaq / Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad (1955)
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Umar ibn al-Khattab”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/umar-ibn-al-khattab/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-13.