ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz
c. 681–720 CE- Field
- Leadership
- City
- Damascus · d. 101 AH
In a reign of about two and a half years he returned unjustly taken wealth, ended oppressive taxes and ordered the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ to be written down.
ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz ibn Marwan was born into the ruling Umayyad family. His father ʿAbd al-ʿAziz was governor of Egypt, and his mother, Umm ʿAsim, was a granddaughter of ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab. He was raised and educated in Madinah among the scholars of the Tabiʿin, and grew up with wealth and refinement.
Under the caliph al-Walid he served as governor of Madinah (87–93 AH). He formed a council of the city’s leading jurists to advise him and oversaw the rebuilding and enlargement of the Prophet’s Mosque. In Safar 99 AH, the caliph Sulayman ibn ʿAbd al-Malik named him as his successor in his will.
As caliph he changed his own life completely: he returned to the public treasury lands and wealth that had been taken unjustly — beginning with his own and his family’s — removed oppressive taxes, including the jizyah that had still been taken from new Muslims, ended the cursing of ʿAli ibn Abi Talib from the pulpits, and appointed governors known for justice. Sahih al-Bukhari records his letter to Abu Bakr ibn Hazm instructing him to write down the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ for fear that knowledge would be lost — a key step in the recording of the Sunnah.
His rule lasted only about two and a half years. He died in Rajab 101 AH at Dayr Simʿan, near Maʿarrat al-Nuʿman in Syria, aged about forty, and was buried there. Many scholars counted him as the fifth of the rightly guided caliphs, and he is widely regarded as the reviver (mujaddid) of the first Islamic century.
- c. 61 AH · 681 CE
Born — most reports say in Madinah — to ʿAbd al-ʿAziz ibn Marwan and Umm ʿAsim, granddaughter of ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab (some sources give 63 AH).
- 87 AH · 706 CE
Appointed governor of Madinah by al-Walid; he forms a council of the city’s jurists to advise him.
- c. 88 AH · 707 CE
Oversees the rebuilding and enlargement of the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah.
- 99 AH · 717 CE
Becomes caliph in Safar, named in the will of Sulayman ibn ʿAbd al-Malik.
- 101 AH · 720 CE
Dies in Rajab at Dayr Simʿan near Maʿarrat al-Nuʿman, Syria, after about two and a half years of rule; buried there.
Remembered as the model of a just Muslim ruler and the reviver of the first Islamic century.
- Real change starts with yourself: he returned his own family’s wealth before asking anything of others.
- Power and position are a trust (amanah) we will answer for — use whatever authority you have, at home or at work, to be fair.
Prepared from standard sources; pending scholar review.