Letters by the Umayyad Caliph 'Umar ibnu 'Abdi l-'Aziz

Main Part · Full-text chapter from the book Islam's Strict Prohibitions Against Killing Women, Children and Other Defenceless People · Read as PDF

'Umar ibnu 'Abdi l-'Aziz رحمه الله (died 101 AH/720 CE) is commonly referred to as “the fifth rightly guided Caliph” amongst Muslims. In the above exegesis, the exegete Ibnu Abi Hatim indicates that 'Umar ibnu 'Abdi l-'Aziz was one of those who narrated the exposition of this verse.

In this regard, At-Tabari reports the following:

عن يحيى بن يحيى الغساني، قال: كتبتُ إلى عمر بن عبد العزيز أسألهُ عن قوله: "وقاتلوا في سَبيل الله الذين يُقاتلونكم ولا تعتدوا إنّ الله لا يُحب المعتدين"، قال: فكتب إليّ: "إنّ ذلك في النساء والذريّة ومن لم يَنصِبْ لك الحرَب منهم"

On the authority of Yahya ibnu Yahya al-Ghassani, who said: “I wrote a letter to 'Umar ibnu 'Abdi l-'Aziz and asked him about the statement of Allah: ‘And fight in the way of Allah the ones who fight you, but do not transgress; surely Allah does not love the transgressors.’

He replied: ‘This verse refers to the women and the offspring and to those, who are not engaging in battle against you.’”

This letter illustrates Caliph 'Umar ibnu 'Abdi l-'Aziz's exegesis of the said verse. Notably, he classifies all non-combatant parts of the populace as people, against whom must not be fought.

Considering that there was no word to describe the concept of a “civilian” – today the Arabs use the word madaniyyun – this definition does substantially coincide with the understanding of the term civilian. Islamic legal scholars paraphrased people of this category as non-combatants or as people, who are not part of a fighting troop (min ghairi l-muqatilah).

The said tradition was also recorded in al-Musannaf written by the scholar of hadith Ibnu Abi Shaybah رحمه الله (died 235 AH/850 CE), in identical wording.

Taken into consideration the vast territory 'Umar ibnu 'Abdi l-'Aziz reigned as a caliph, one can suggest that he used his authority to cultivate these principles amongst the Muslims.

Accordingly, At-Tabari, in his annotations on the named verse (2:190), narrates another letter by 'Umar ibnu 'Abdi l-'Aziz, of the same tenor:

عن سعيد بن عبد العزيز، قال: كتب عمر بن عبد العزيز إلى عديِّ بن أرطاة: "إني وَجَدتُ آية في كتاب الله: "وقاتلوا في سبيل الله الذين يُقاتلونكم ولا تعتدوا إنّ الله لا يحب المعتدين" أي: لا تقاتل من لا يقاتلك، يعني: النساء والصبيان والرُّهبان."

On the authority of Sa'id ibnu 'Abdi l-'Aziz, that he said: “'Umar ibnu 'Abdi l-'Aziz wrote a letter to 'Adi ibnu Artah¹¹: ‘I found the following verse in the book of Allah […] Its meaning is: Do not fight those who are not fighting you. Namely: women, children and monks.’”

In his letters, 'Umar defines the concept of transgression and its prohibition, as laid out by this verse. Whoever fought the defenceless, is thereby guilty of transgression.

'Umar ibnu 'Abdi l-'Aziz lays out that the grounds for this ban, against fighting the defenceless, are their non-aggression. Islamic jurists, in accord, defined this prohibition to include all people who share the same justification (in Islamic jurisprudence this is called 'illah).

Another group of people, the monks, is also exemplified in this statement and is later touched upon in a chapter of their own.