Kitab at-Tabaqat al-Kabir (Volume VI )

The second caliph of Islam, ‘Umar ibn al-Khattâb faced more struggles than any other Muslim leader in the early onset of Islam. His life began in a time of ignorance and ended during the Golden Age of Islam. Under his leadership, the Muslim world was witnessing some of its most notable conquests in the history of Islam. The strength and resilience of Islam’s leaders were being tested, and ‘Umar ibn al-Khattâb’s true commitment to Allah shone to reveal an Islamic spirit unlike that found in any other Muslim leader. The standards by which he lived can teach us a lot about determination, hardship, and success. The two books which compose ‘Umar ibn al-Khattâb: His Life and Times are sold together as a set. They belong in Part II of the Islamic History Series, as the second set of The Rightly Guided Caliphs. The Table of Contents for Volume 1 of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattâb: His Life and Times may be viewed via the ‘View Table of Contents’ link located above. This book was translated into English by Nasiruddin al-Khattab. From the Translator: For those who would be leaders, this book offers the model of an ideal Muslim leader, one who felt responsible before Allah for the well being of all those under his rule, including his troops, women, infants, non-Muslim subjects and even animals. ‘Umar was a ‘hands on’ leader who kept himself informed and consulted scholars and experts before every major decision. For the rest of us, this book offers a window into an exciting and important period of Islamic history, and it also reminds of an important lesson, that our strength comes not from wealth or money or status, but from our submission to Allah and our commitment to the path of Islam.

This book describes, among other things, the principles based upon which ‘Umar ibn al-khattab governed the Muslims during his caliphate; among those principles were mutual consultation, justice, equality among people, and honoring of freedoms.

With the turn of every page, the reader will come to appreciate the fact that Umar was exceptional in his faith, distinguished in his knowledge, profoundly wise in his thinking, remarkable in his eloquence, noble in his manners and great in the contributions he made to this nation.

The author has chosen one hundred personalities amongst the Companions. He compiled narrations, hadiths and incidences that contributed to the distinction of these individuals who have no similitude in the history of mankind after the Prophets of Allah and His Messengers. Their excellence is further clearly established from the study of these individuals, their attributes and their characters with which they were embellished. For this reason, they were from the best of people ever raised up for mankind.