In the last days of his life, Caliph Abu Bakr was busy on asking many people. "What do you think of Umar?" Almost everyone calls Umar a hard man, but his soul is very good. After that, Abu Bakr asked Usman bin Affan to write down the will that his successor would be Umar. It seems that Abu Bakr is worried that Muslims will argue if he does not write the will.
In the year 13 Hijriah or 634 AD, Abu Bakr died and Umar became khalifah. If people refer to Abu Bakr as "Khalifatur-Rasul", they now call Umar "Amir al-mu'minin" (Leader of the Believers). Umar converted to Islam around the year 6 Hijriah. At that time, he intended to kill Muhammad but was touched when he heard his younger brother, Fatima, chanting the verses of the Quran.
While in Medina, Umar and Hamzah were the most feared of the Quraysh. Both are always ready to fight if the Apostle is insulted. At the time of hijra, he was also the only Apostle's best friend who went openly. He challenges anyone to follow him if he wants "his mother to mourn, his wife to be a widow, and his child crying lost."
Now he must appear to be the leader of all. At that time, the Islamic army was fighting fiercely in Yarmuk - the border region with Syria. Umar did not preach to his troops that Abu Bakr had died and he was now the caliph. He did not want to disrupt the concentration of troops who were fighting the Roman Empire.
In Yarmuk, Abu Bakr's decision to take the headquarters in that place and Khalid bin Walid's ingenuity and courage brought results. Muslims are headquartered in the hills that became a natural fortress, while the Romans were forced to occupy the valley in front of him. Tens of thousands of Roman troops-both the Syrian Arab forces and those imported from Greece-were killed. Then there was an impressive event.
The Roman commander, Gregorius Theodore - the Arabs called him "Jirri Tudur" - wanted to avoid falling victim. He challenged Khalid to a duel. In the battle of the two men, Gregory's spear was fractured by the sword of Khalid's sword. He changed to take a big sword. As Gregory waves war on again, he asks Khalid about his motivation for war as well as about Islam.
Hearing Khalid's answer, in the presence of hundreds of thousands of Roman and Muslim troops, Gregory declared himself converted to Islam. He then studied Islam at a glance, had time to pray two rak'ahs, then fought beside Khalid. Gregory was martyred in the hands of his former army. But the Islamists recorded a major victory in Yarmuk, although some friends died there. Among these are Juwariah, daughter of Abu Sofyan.
Umar then fired Khalid, and appointed Abu Ubaidah as the supreme commander-in-chief. Omar is worried, Muslims will greatly deify Khalid. This is so contradictory to the principle of Islam. Khalid ikhlas accepted the decision. "I am jihad not for Umar," he said. He continues to help Abu Ubaidah on the battlefield. Damascus city was mastered. By using the "human ladder", Khalid's troops managed to penetrate the fortress of Aleppo. Emperor Heraclius was sadly forced to retreat to Constantinople, leaving behind all Syria territory that had been ruled for five centuries.
The ruler of Jerusalem also surrendered. But they will only surrender the city to the supreme leader of Islam. So Umar went to Jerusalem. He refused to be escorted by troops. Be that odd sight. Jerusalem's leaders welcomed with a grand ceremony. The Islamic army also appeared classy. After conquering Syria, they now live prosperously. Then Umar with his very modest dress came riding a red camel. He was only accompanied by a maid. They brought their own food bags and water.
Umar's simplicity invites the sympathy of non-Muslims. Moreover, the Syrian Church and the Coptic-Egyptian Church are indeed expecting the coming of Islam. During their Roman rule they were oppressed, because the only kingdom recognized the Greek Church. So Islam soon spread quickly to Memphis (Cairo), Alexandria to Tripoli, under the command of Amr bin Ash and Zubair, the son-in-law of Abu Bakr.
To the East, Saad bin Abu Waqas's troops also captured the Ctesiphon-the center of the Persian empire, in 637 AD. Three princesses were brought to Medina, and married Muhammad bin Abu Bakr, Abdullah ibn Umar, and Hussein ibn Ali. Hussein and his wife gave birth to Zainal Ali Abidin-a great Shiite Imam. Thus, Zainal inherited the blood of the Prophet Muhammad, Ishmael and Ibrahim from the father, and the blood of the Persian kings from the mother. That explains why Iranians follow Shi'ism. From Persia, Islam then spread to the region of Central Asia, from Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and even east to the territory of Afghanistan now.
Umar died in the year 23 Hijri or 644 AD. At dawn prayer, a Persian origin Firuz stabbed him and went berserk in the mosque with a poisonous knife. Six others died, before Firus himself was also killed. Many allegations about the reason for the murder. To be sure, this is the first killing of a Muslim by another Muslim.
Umar was not only a modest man, but also a man who dared to give ijtihad. That is doing things that the Apostle did not do. For the government, he formed departments. He no longer distributes the wars of war for his troops, but sets salaries for them. Umar started the Hijri calendar, and proceeded to collect the records of the Qur'anic verses pioneered by Abu Bakr. He also ordered tarawih prayers in congregation.
According to history, a time Ali was amazed to see the lights of the mosque burning on the night of Ramadan. "Oh God, please shine Umar's grave as our mosques are brightly lit," Ali said.
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