Shia View of Umar

Shia View Of Umar

Umar ibn al-Khattab was one of the earliest figures in the history of Islam. However, the Shia have traditionally asserted that the Sunni perspective of Umar, including ideas inadvertently borrowed by certain Western orientalists, is at best inaccurate, and at worst largely fabricated.

While Sunnis regard Umar ibn al-Khattab in high esteem and respect his place as one of the "Four Righteously Guided Caliphs", Shia hold an opposing perspective of him. They do not view him as a legitimate leader of the Ummah and believe it to be factually provable that Umar and Abu Bakr conspired to usurp power from Ali. Shia believe that the Sunni view of Umar is an inaccurate one, created by the later Umayyad dynasty to honour the man that gave power to the first Umayyad ruler and third Sunni Caliph, Uthman. In this way, it gives legitimacy to Umar's consultation that started their own dynasty, a corrupt one in both Shi'a and Sunni view.

Shia believe that the Umayyad view was propagated with lethal force and heavy duress and as time went on, that view became predominant and eventually taken as truth, cemented by the works of Bukhari. However, Shi'a believe that despite the perceived white washing of Umar, bits of his true qualities can be found in all sources, including Sunni ones. They also believe that invented positive traits attributed to him do not hold a closer scrutiny.

Read more about Shia View Of Umar:  Legacy

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