OMAR
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OMAR
splendid date-palms. The country is rich in mining wealth ; lead and gold are found in considerable quan- tity. See AK.VBIA ; Persia.
O'mar (Heb, Omar', I'siX, eloquent; Sept. 'Q/iap), the second named of the seven sons of Eliphaz, son of Esau (Gen. xxxvi, 15 [comp. ver. 11]; 1 Chron. i, 3(5). who were heads and princes of tribes among the Edom- ites. B.C. cir. 1900. The name is supposed to survive in that of the tribe of Amir Arabs cast of the Jordan. Bunsen asserts that Omar was the ancestor of the Bene 'Aammer iu Northern Edom (^Bihelwerk, Gen. xxxvi, 11), but the names are somewhat different (N initial, and the Arabic equivalent of ").
Omar, Abu-Hafsa ibn-al-Khatab, the second caliph of the Moslems, and one of the most noted char- acters in Mohammedan annals, was born about 581. Of his early history little is known. He was the third cousin of Abdullah, the father of the Prophet, but pre- vious to his conversion was an ardent persecutor of Mo- hammed and his followers. He even attempted to take Mohammed's life. He was, however, most remarkably converted to Islam, and thereafter became as zealous an apostle as he had formerly been a persecutor, and rendered valuable aid to the Prophet in all his warlike expeditions. After Mohammed's death he caused Abu- Bekr to be proclaimed caliph, and was himself appointed hajth, or prime minister. Though of a tiery and enthu- siastic temperament, he proved a sagacious adviser, and it was at his suggestion that the caliph put down with an iron hand the many dissensions which had arisen among the Arabs after the Prophet's decease, and re- solved to strengthen and consolidate their new-born na- tional spirit, as well as propagate the doctrines of Islam, by engaging them in continual aggressive wars. See Mohammedanism. Omar succeeded Abu-Bekr in the caliphate by the express wish of the first caliph in A.D. GIM, and immediately pushed on the war of con- quests with increased vigor. He was a most enthu- siastic Moslem, and vowed that the Crescent should receive the homage of the world. Everj' soldier or officer who had proved himself incompetent for the trust reposed in liim was promptly removed, and every precaution taken to put in responsible offices only men of character and bravery. Thus he dismissed from the command of the Syrian armies the celebrated Khaled ibn-Walid, surnamed '• The Sword of God," who by his rapacity and cruelty towards the vanquished had made himself obnoxious, and replaced him by Abu Obeydah ibn-al-Jerrah, another brave general who had distin- guished himself in the wars against the Greeks. Kha- led, fortunately for Omar, had virtue enough to accept the second post in the army, and he continued to serve under the new general. These two officers prosecuted the conquest of Syria, and took Damascus, its capital, in the month of Rejeb, A.H. 14 (August-September, A.D. C35). After the capture of Damascus, the Moslems proceeded to the reduction of Emesa, Ilamah, and Ken- nesrin. The emperor Ileraclius sent a considerable force to stop the progress of the Arabs, but tlie tJreeks were completely defeated at the bloody battle of Yer- muk (Got)). The following year (G37) Omar sent Amru ibn-al-As and Sarjil to besiege Jerusalem. The city was stoutly defended by the garrison ; but after a siege of several months the patriarch Sophronius, who com- manded in it, agreed to surrender to the Moslems, but refused to treat with any other except tlie caliiih him- self. A messenger having been desjiatclied to Omar, who was then residing at jMedina, he hastened to Jeru- * salem followed by a scanty suite. Omar's journey from Arabia to Palestine is thus described by the historian Tiibari :
"lie rode a sorrel-colored camel, .ind was dressed iu an old tattered habit of hair-cloth ; he cariied with him, in two bags, his provisions, consisting of dry fruits, bar- ley, rice, and boiled corn, besides a skin for the water. Whenever he halted to make a repast, he permitted those
who accompanied him to partake of it, eating from the same wooden dish ; if he took any rest, the earth was his conch. Dining his march he administered justice to all applicants; in several instances he corrected the laxity of morals, and reformed several abuses, especially among the new converts; abolishing also many luxurious indul- gences which bad spread among the Moslems, such as the drinking of wine, the using of silken garments, etc. . . . Arrived at the camp, he caused several Moslems to be seized and dragged through the mud for luiving, in diso- bedience to his orders, arrayed themselves in the silken tunics of the conquered Greeks."
After a short conference with Sophronius, the terms of a capitulation were agreed upon, and the keys of the Holy City were delivered up to Omar. The articles of the capitulation of Jerusalem have been translated (Mines de VOrient, vol. ii), and as they were the model upon which the Moslems dictated many others to the subdued cities of Africa and Spain, we transcribe them here :
"The inhabitants shall retain their lives and property; they shall preserve the use of their churches, but they shall build no new ones; they shall neither place crosses upon those which they already have, nor hinder the Mos- lems from entering them night or day; they shall not ring their bells, but they shalfbe allowed to toll them ; if a Moslem travels through the cit.v, the inhabitants shall give him hospitality for three days. They shall not be enfoiced to teach their children the Koran, but they shall not try to convert any Moslem to their religion ; they shall in every instance show respect for the Moslems, and give them the precedence ; they shall wear turbans and shoes, and use names different from theirs. They shall be allowed to ride on horseback, but without either sad- dle or arms ; they shall never go out without their girdles [the distinctive mark of all Christians then living under the Mohammedan sway]; they shall not sell wine to the Moslems, and shall remain faithful to the caliph, and pay regularly the taxes imposed upon them."