Praise of Hazrat Umar (ra) by External Sources

Then Professor Philip K. Hitti writes in his book, History of the Arabs:

“Simple and frugal in manner the energetic and talented successor to the Prophet, Umar (634-644) who was of towering height, strong physique and bald-headed, continued at least for some time after becoming the Caliph to support himself by trade and lived throughout his life in a style as unostentatious as that of a Bedouin Sheikh. In fact, Umar, whose name according to Muslim tradition is the greatest in early Islam after that of Mohammad, has been idolised by Muslim writers for his piety, justice and patriarchal simplicity and treated as the personification of all the virtues a Caliph ought to possess.”

He further writes:

“His irreproachable character became an exemplar for all conscientious successors to follow. He owned, we are told, one shirt and one mantle only, both conspicuous for their patchwork, slept on a bed of palm leaves, and had no concern other than the maintenance of the purity of the faith, the upholding of justice and the ascendancy and security of Islam and the Arabians.”

(History of the Arabs, K. Hitti, 10th Edition, p. 175, London, 1989)