Rating

Rating

1991 8 August 6 Rating (288) The Encyclopaedia Britannica devotes just a few lines to its description of Umar ibn al-Chattel, the second Caliph of Islam. But Dr. Michael Hart, in his famous book, The 100, in which he presents his selection of the 100 greatest personalities from the whole of human history, accords Umar ibn al-Chattel the 51st position.

This would lead one to conclude that historians sometimes do not do justice to the truly great figures of history, and that there may also be occasions when undeserving personalities have their merits blown up out of all proportion.

An excerpt from Dr. Michael Harts’ conclusion of Umar ibn al-Chattel is quoted below:

Omar’s achievements are impressive indeed ... It may occasion some surprise that Umar – a figure virtually unknown in the west – has been ranked higher than such famous men as Charlemagne and Julius Caesar. However, the conquests made by the Arabs under Omar’s brilliant leadership, taking into account both their size and their duration, are substantially more important than those of either Caesar or Charlemagne. (p. 257)

The Encyclopaedia Britannica has not cited Umar Baroques being a particularly noteworthy figure of his times, yet Dr. Michael Hart has ranked him 51st out of the greatest personalities of the world. And in so far as the history of Islam is concerned, he ranks third in importance.

How many of God’s servants in this world have similarly been relegated to a position which is not worthy of mention’ by their fellow beings! But this state of affairs will be set right in the world hereafter. There everyone will find the place he deserves by virtue of his actions rather than by virtue of the words he spoke, or of the words spoken about him.