Dirasa Naqdiyya fi al-Marwiyyat al-Warida fi Shakhsiyyat Umar ibn al-Khattab wa Siyasatihi al-Idariyya
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- Deanship of Scientific Research at the Islamic University
Dirasa Naqdiyya fi al-Marwiyyat al-Warida fi Shakhsiyyat Umar ibn al-Khattab wa Siyasatihi al-Idariyya ("A Critical Study of the Narrations Concerning the Personality of Umar ibn al-Khattab and His Administrative Policy") is a multi-volume historical and hadith study by Abd al-Salam bin Muhsin Al Isa . It investigates the biographical and administrative narrations of the second caliph using the critical methodology of hadith scholars and historical source analysis .
Background and Purpose
The book originated as a doctoral dissertation submitted to the Islamic University of Madinah . Al Isa composed it as a continuation of his master's thesis, which had focused on the financial narrations of Umar's caliphate . His stated objective was to collect and authenticate the historical texts and transmitted reports (marwiyyat) regarding Umar's life, character, and governance across all administrative dimensions, distinguishing authentic accounts from weak or fabricated transmissions .
Methodology and Sources
Al Isa gathered material from more than two hundred primary sources with continuous chains of transmission (isnads), encompassing collections of hadith, history, creed, genealogy, biographical evaluation (rijal), and literature in both print and manuscript form .
His analytical method combined hadith criticism with historical text analysis:
- He surveyed and evaluated the transmission routes of each report, judging reports as authentic (sahih), fair (hasan), weak (da'if), or fabricated (mawdu') .
- When an account was established through a sound chain, he relied on it directly; where individual paths were weak, he examined whether corroborating transmissions (shawahid and mutaba'at) elevated the report to fair through corroboration (hasan li-ghayrih) .
- Narrations transmitted by known fabricators or severely compromised transmitters were discarded .
- For narrator assessments, he primarily relied on the verdicts of Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in Taqrib al-Tahdhib .
- In historical matters that did not involve legal rulings (ahkam) or the probity of the Companions, he permitted leniency in narration and utilized internal and external critical textual analysis where traditional isnad evaluation was not applicable .
Structure and Contents
The work is organized into an introduction, a preliminary chapter, two main parts, and a conclusion :
- Preliminary Chapter (al-Tamhid): Covers the pre-Islamic status and lineage of Umar's clan and family in Mecca .
- Part One (al-Bab al-Awwal): Examines the personality of Umar across three chapters:
- Chapter 1: His upbringing, physical characteristics, pre-Islamic life, conversion to Islam, migration, livelihood, and moral qualities .
- Chapter 2: His virtues, documented through prophetic hadiths, the testimonies of the Companions, and the statements of the Successors .
- Chapter 3: His life and role alongside the Prophet ﷺ and during the caliphate of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq .
- Part Two (al-Bab al-Thani): Focuses on state administrative policy during his caliphate across two chapters:
- Chapter 1: The state apparatus, detailing the office of the caliph, appointment policies and oversight of regional governors (wulat), and the appointment, qualifications, and etiquette of judges (qudat) in the provinces .
- Chapter 2: General public administration, encompassing religious and scholarly supervision, public morality and penal sanctions (hudud), marriage and social solidarity, economic activities and public welfare, the status of non-Muslim subjects (ahl al-dhimma) and slaves, military administration and wartime conduct, concluding with the account of his assassination and death .
- Conclusion and Indices: Summarizes the findings and provides indices for Quranic verses, prophetic hadiths, historical reports, biographical figures, criticized transmitters, places, and subjects .
Publication
The book was published in its first edition in 1423 AH / 2002 CE in two volumes by the Deanship of Scientific Research at the Islamic University of Madinah .
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