Second caliph, 634–644 CE.
Leadership in an expanding community
Umar ibn al-Khattab was a companion of the Prophet and succeeded Abu Bakr as caliph in 634. His administration governed a rapidly expanding territory. The TDV biography discusses the new responsibilities created by conquests and the organization of provincial government, revenue and military support.
Institutions and historical memory
The establishment of registers for stipends, known as the diwan, is associated with his rule. These arrangements linked revenue to the support of members of the community and the army. Umar died in 644. Stories about his judgments are important in later Muslim writing, but each individual anecdote still requires its own source assessment. His political career and the differing religious assessments of succession should be studied as related but distinct subjects.
Sources and further reading
Mustafa Fayda and Muhsin Koçak — Ömer, TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (Turkish)