Umar Ibn Abd al-Aziz
Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan (Arabic: عُمَر بْن عَبْد الْعَزِيز بْن مَرْوَان, romanized: ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Marwān; c. 680 – February 720) was the eighth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 717 until his death in 720. He is credited to have instituted significant reforms to the Umayyad central government, by making it much more efficient and egalitarian. His rulership is marked by the first official collection of hadiths and the mandated universal education to the populace.
He dispatched emissaries to China and Tibet, inviting their rulers to accept Islam. It was during his three-year reign that Islam was accepted by huge segments of the populations of Persia and Egypt. He also ordered the withdrawal of the Muslim forces in various fronts such as in Constantinople, Central Asia and Septimania. However despite this, his reign witnessed the Umayyads gaining many new territories in the Iberian Peninsula.
Umar was considered by many to be the first mujaddid and the fifth righteous caliph of Islam after Ali and Hasan ibn Ali’s caliphate is considered with the caliphate of his father Ali because of a Hadith according to some Sunni scholars. He was honorifically called Umar al-Thani (Umar II) after his maternal great-grandfather, Caliph Umar (r. 634–644).
