Chronology of Umar Al-Khattab

Umar led a very eventful life. We narrate hereunder in chronological order the main events in the life of Umar.
Umar was born in Mecca around 580 A.D. He started independent business around 600 A.D. He married in the first decade of the seventh century.
He was converted to Islam in 616 A.D. at the age of 26. He migrated to Madina in 622 A.D.
He participated in the battle of Badr in 623 A.D.
He participated in the battle of Uhud in 625 A.D. A few months after the battle of Uhud, Hasah the daughter of Umar was married to the Holy Prophet of Islam.
In 627 Umar participated in the battle of the Ditch and the campaign against Banu Mustaliq.
In 628 Umar was present on the occasion of the Hudaybiah pact. Thereafter he participated in the Khyber campaign. He divorced his wives Qariba and Malaika who did not accept Islam. He married Sabiha and Jamila.
In 630 Umar participated in the conquest of Mecca and in the campaigns of Hunain and Ta'if.
In 632 he participated in the farewell pilgrimage. This year the Holy Prophet died. Umar played an important role in getting Abu Bakr elected as the Caliph.
Abu Bakr died in 634, and Umar became the Caliph. During this year the Muslims captured Damascus on the Syrian front. On the Iraq front there was the battle of Namaraq in September; the battle of Kaskar in October and the battle of the Bridge in November 634 A D.
In 635 Umar married Atika. During the Ramadan Umar organized Tarawih on congregation basis. On the Syrian front the battle of Fahl was fought in January. Beisan and Tabariyya were captured in March. The battle of Marj Rum was fought in March whereby Damascus was reoccupied. In April the Muslim forces reached Emessa and a truce was arrived at. In the Southern Iraq sector Ubala was captured in April. The region of Aburqubaz and Meisan was occupied in November.
In 636 Umar introduced the Hijri calendar. In Central Syria the city of Emessa was captured in March. In Southern Syria the Muslims won the battle of Yermuk in August. the battle of Ajnadin was fought in December. On the Iraq front the battle of Qadisiyya was won by the Muslims in November. Thereafter began the march to Al-Mada'in. The battles of Burs, Babylon and Sura on the way to Mada'in were fought in December.
In 637 Umar married Umm Hakim. This year stipends and allowances were sanctioned for the Muslims. On the Syrian front Qinissrin, Aleppo, and Antioch were captured. The whole of North Syria was cleared of the Byzantines. On the Iraq front Mada'in was captured in April. Takeet and Mosul were occupied in May. The battle of Jalaula was won in November. Khanqueen and Qirqassia were occupied in December.
In 638 Umar adopted the title of 'Amir-ul-Mumnin.' The Jews and Christians were expelled from Arabia proper and settled in Iraq and Syria. On the Syfian front Jerusalem and Caesaria were captured. On the Iraq front Hulwan, Masabzan, Heet and Ahwaz were captured. During the year the city of Kufa was established in Central Iraq, and the city of Basra in Southern Iraq.
In 639 Arabia was afflicted by a severe famine. Umar organized relief measures on a large scale. Plague broke out in Syria and Iraq and caused considerable havoc. Amr bin Al-Aas marched to Egypt. On the Iraq front Ahwaz, Dauraq and Ram Hormuz were occupied by the Muslims.
In 640 there were battles of Farma, Bilbeis and Babylon in Egypt which were won by the Muslims. On the Iraq front there was the battle of Tustar which was won by the Muslims, In 641 the Muslims captured Alexandria on the Egyptian front Sus was occupied on the Iraq front in January. On this front Jande Sabur was occupied in March. The historic battle of Nihawand was won by the Muslims in December.
In 641 an expedition was undertaken to Nubia. The Muslims advanced to Burqa and Fezzan in North Africa. During this year the city of Fustat was founded as the capital of Egypt. On the Persian front war was carried and the Muslims occupied Hamadan, Isfahan, Rayy, Tabaristan, Fars and Sistan.
In 643 the Muslims occupied Sabrata and Tripoli but these advance posts were subsequently abandoned and the Muslims withdrew to Egypt. On the Persian front Khurasan and Azerbaijan were occupied by the Muslims during the year.
During 644 Makran and Armenia were occupied. During this year Umar was assassinated and that was the end of a glorious and eventful career.

Umar Al-Khattab

Umar was born in Makkah. In his earlier years, he worked as a shepherd and a merchant, growing up in humble surroundings. His father was Khattab ibn Nufayl, who is said to have been an emotional polytheist belonging to a middle class family. Umar was literate, which by some accounts was uncommon in those times, and he was also well known for his physical strength, being a champion warrior. Although Umar was a very well respected and honourable man, and came from a family of noble descent, he was just like the rest of Quraysh.‘Omar was like most of Quraysh before Islam, yet after Islam he became one of the greatest men to walk this earth
When Muhammad began preaching Islam, `Umar ibn al-Khattāb resolved to defend the traditional, polytheistic religion of Arabia. He was most adamant in opposing Muhammad and very prominent in persecuting the Muslims. In those days the early Muslims lived in fear of their life and often did not openly pray in the kaaba. To overcome this oppression Muhammad explicitly prayed, 'to strengthen the religion with Umar' According to an early story, recounted in Ibn Ishaq's Sīrah, `Umar resolved to assassinate Muhammad. On the way to assassinate Muhammad. Umar met a Muslim who told him to set his own house in order first, as his sister and her husband had converted to Islam. Upon arriving at her house, `Umar found her reciting verses of the Qur'an. When he listened carefully to the Surah's verses,he was so struck by the sūrah's verses, that he accepted Islam that very day. When `Umar later went to inform the chief of Quraish, Abu Jahl, about his acceptance of Islam. Full of jealousness, according to one account, Umar, thereafter prayed openly in Ka'abah as the Quraish chiefs, Abu Jahl and Abu Sufyan were said to have watched in anger. According to the same account, this further helped the Muslims to gain their confidence in practicing Islam openly, since no one dared to interfere with Umar when he was openly praying.

Migration to Medina

`Umar was part of the first migration (Hijrah) to Yathrib (later renamed Medīnat an-Nabī, or simply Medina, which means "the city," in 622. where he was one of two chief advisors to Muhammad, the other being Abu Bakr.
In the following years, he participated at the battles of Badr, Uhud, Khaybar, and the raid on Syria, as well as many other engagements. He was one of Muhammad's companions. In 625, `Umar's daughter Hafsah was married to Muhammad.

Caliphate of Abu Bakr

Abu Bakr was chosen as the new leader, the Khalifah, of the community by a group of men gathered in Saqeefah Bani Saadah, in Medina. The Muslims who were natives of Medina, the Ansar, had met separately and were planning to elect their own leader. This would have split the community between the natives of Medinas and the immigrants from Mecca, known as the Muhajirs. Finally, both Abu Bakr and Umar arrived at the meeting, and, after a day of deliberations, Umar took the initiative by publicly giving his allegiance to Abu Bakr. The Ansar followed suit, and swore allegiance to Abu Bakr, pointing to various hints given by Muhammad that Abu Bakr should be his successor.
Abu Bakr was Caliph for only a short time. Most of his caliphate was occupied with the Ridda Wars, in which tribes who tried to desert the Muslim alliance were brought to heel. Umar was one of his chief advisors. Just before his death in 634, Abū Bakr appointed Umar as his successor.

Umar's Reign as a caliph

Main article: Reforms of Umar's era
During Umar's reign, the Islamic empire grew at an unprecedented rate, taking Mesopotamia and parts of Persia from the Sassanids (effectively ending that empire), and taking Egypt, Palestine, Syria, North Africa and Armenia from the Byzantines. Many of these conquests followed major battles on both the western and eastern fronts. The Battle of Yarmūk, fought near Damascus in 636, saw a small Muslim army defeat a much larger Byzantine force, permanently ending Byzantine rule south of Asia Minor. A Muslim army achieved victory over a larger force in the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah (c. 636), near the banks of the Euphrates River. During the course of the battle, Muslim general Sa'ad bin Abu Waqqas routed the Sassanid army and killed the Persian general Rostam Farrokhzād.