Who's the greatest world conquerer

A detailed comparison between Caliph Umar RadiAllah Anhu and Macedonian King Alexander.

Alexander lll of Macedonia known as Alexander the Great (21 July 356 BCE – 10 or 11 June 323 BCE), was the son of King Philip II of Macedonia. He became a king at the age of 20 upon his father’s death and ventured out of Macedon at 23. He first conquered the whole of Greece.

Then he entered Turkey. After this he defeated Darius (Dara) of Persia, entered Syria, moved to Jerusalem and then Babylon and Egypt and India. In India he fought King Porus and founded the city of Phalia in memory of his favorite horse. He started his return through Makran.

Alexander was the son of a king Philip. He was taught to fight and ride by Leonidas of Epirus. Lysimachus of Acarnania taught him reading, writing, and the lyre. At the age of 14 Alexander was introduced to the Greek philosopher Aristotle who Philip hired as a private tutor.

On the other hand Hazrat Umar Farooq did not have any royal ancestor in his 7 previous generations, grew up minding herds of goats and sheep and had not got trained in the art of war from anyone.

Not just war but he didn’t learn horse riding or art of archery and sword fighting from any teacher. But what goes in his way is that his only teacher was Prophet Muhammad (Alahis Salam) the Greatest who gave him religious and spiritual training.

In 15 years Alexander had conquered 1.7 million square miles of land with an army of more then 32,000-47,000 infantry and 5,100 cavalry. Caliph Umar Farooq , in 10 years, conquered 2.2 million square miles of land by crushing the super powers of that time, Rome & Persia.

No ruler of ancient time had a domain as vast as that of Caliph Umar which he had not only got conquered on mere horseback but had also managed and ruled it. And Caliph Umar achieved this feat without having a proper organized military system.

Alexander got many of his own generals killed during his conquests, many generals and soldiers deserted him, there were rebellions against him and his army even refused to proceed in India.

No companion of Caliph Umar ever had the courage to disobey him. He was the commander who deposed the strongest general of Islam, Khalid bin Waleed right in the battleground and demoted him to a simple soldier in the Muslim army.

And appointed Abu Ubaidah as new commander in chief because Khalid bin Waleed won all the battles he led and was seen as invincible to the point that people formed the view that victories were simply coming due to Khalid bin Waleed.

He removed Saad bin Abi Waqas from the governorship of Kufa and recalled the amir of Egypt Ghayas bin Ghanam, made him wear cloths made of rough hair and assigned him to grazing the sheep because he use to wear expensive cloths and had a guard at his door. No one dared to disobey

Alexander conquered 1.7 million square miles of land but could not give any system to the world, whereas Caliph Umar gave such systems as are still prevalent the world over:

1 – Implemented Hijri calendar
2 – Introduced Jail System.

3 – Started the salaries for Muezzins (Who Say Azan for Prayers).
4 – He order to maintain light in all Mosques during night times.
5 – Introduced the Police system for the first time.
6 – Lay down the foundation of a complete court system where even he was answerable.

7 – Started a regular holidays system for soldiers.
8 – He introduced the Canal System for agriculture and irrigation system.
9 – He first time made the Army FOB’s (Forward operating bases) and laid the foundation of a military departments and a complete organization system.

10 – Was first to order funds & regular salaries for infants, handicapped, homeless, old, helpless and widows.
11 – Made the rich and government officials to declare their assets.
12 – Punished unjust judges.
13 – First time in history started accountability of upper class.

14 – He first time ordered to wear uniforms for Police.
15 – During his tenure the Taraweeh Prayer was started regularly.
16 – Adopted the sentence (Prayer is Better than Sleep) in Fajar Prayer.
17 – Built resting places on many places on famous trading routes.

18 – He used to protect the trade caravans at night.
19 – He was the only ruler ever to admit that even if a dog died of hunger on the banks on river Tigris during his rule, he would have to bear the punishment for this.

20 – He was in debt when martyred and his loan was paid off by selling his only property according to his will.
21 – His sentence “Mothers give birth to free children, since when have you enslaved them” is still considered the charter of human rights.

He used to say that rulers who deliver justice, sleep fearlessly at night. Indeed when the Persian envoy visited the Caliph he asked for his Palace but found the Caliph sleeping on a brick on the ground.

His saying is that “the leader of the nation is actually its servant.”

His stamp read “Umar! death is enough of an admonition”.

Caliph Umar never had two dishes on his table.

Caliph Umar used to go to sleep with a brick and even his own elbow as a pillow.

While traveling, he would just stretch a sheet on a tree to make a shadow and go to sleep whenever sleepy.

Caliph Umar used to sleep on bare ground at night. His shirt had 14 patches, among them one of red leather.

Caliph Umar used to wear thick coarse cloth and hated soft one.

Whenever Caliph Umar appointed someone on a government position, he would get an estimate of his wealth and keep it with himself.

If the wealth of that person increased during his tenure, he would be held accountable.

Whenever Caliph Umar appointed anyone as a governor, he would advise him to never to ride a Turkish horse, wear fine cloth, consume fine flour, have a gatekeeper or close his doors to the distressed.

Umar was the first Caliph of Islam who was given the title “Ameer‐ul‐Momineen”

Every religion of the world has a special characteristic, the special characteristic of Islam is justice, and Caliph Umar is one who makes this true.

His justice gave rise to the term “Adl‐e‐Farooqui” (the justice of Farooq).

Alexander is now only in books whereas the systems devised by Caliph Umar are still prevalent in at least 200 countries of the world in some form. Today, when a letter leaves a post office, when a policeman wears a uniform, when a soldier goes on a leave after six months of duty,

when a government pays a stipend to a child, a destitute, a widow or a helpless person, the society automatically accepts Umar as “The Great”, except for those Muslims who, in their deep sense of inferiority, look around in fear even when reciting the words of faith.

A Famous historian once said “If Muslims had one more Umar Farooq in them, Islam would have been the only religion of the world.”

To conclude:

Muslims would lean towards Khalifa Umar as the westerners or other orientalists might lean towards Alexander, but the fact is that Umar conquered much more by serving people than Alexander did when people served him.

Sadly some foolish Muslims today reject the merits and achievements of Caliph Umar. They'll insult Caliph Umar out of so called love for the Prophetic Household based upon apocryphal stories when actually Caliph Umar served the Prophetic Household more than they can imagine.

And it must be noted that Caliph Ali also had a great role in the governance of the earlier Caliphs as he was their most trusted advisor and also the acting Caliph in the absence of the Caliphs of the time. Wisdom of Caliph Ali indeed helped the earlier Caliphs to rule well.

When a man in Madinah rejected Ali as the Maula (Spiritual helper/Friend) then Umar grabbed him by his throat and raised him high to suffocate him and said, "Ali is my Maula and the Maula of every true believer".

And likewise whenever some braindead folks of Ahle Kufa would insult Caliph Abu Bakr, Umar, and Usman then Caliph Ali would become furious and immediately expelled such people from his lands. May God destroy all the enemies of the Four Friends. Ameen.