Umar: The Judeo-Christian "Faruq"!

In the Name of allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Sunnis love to call Umar “al-Faruq”, meaning “the one who distinguishes between truth and falsehood.” This is to show that whichever position Umar holds on a matter is the correct one. Of course, this is dishonest misrepresentation on their part, considering that Umar instituted the three-in-one divorce, which even many Sunnis agree to be a bi’dah, AGAINST THE QUR’AN AND SUNNAH!!! In this article, our purpose is to show Sunnis that the phrase “al-Faruq” is NOT a merit for Umar! Rather, it is an attack upon him! And the reason? It was given to him by Jews and Christians! Of course, its meaning then comes from the Jewish and Christian  perspectives!  

Muhammad ibn Sa’d, the Sunni biographer, in his al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, vol. 3, p. 270, Number 3502, states:

أخبرنا : يعقوب بن إبراهيم بن سعد ، عن أبيه ، عن صالح بن كيسان قال : قال بن شهاب بلغنا أن أهل الكتاب كانوا أول من قال : لعمر الفاروق ، وكان المسلمون يأثرون ذلك من قولهم ولم يبلغنا أن رسول الله (ص) ذكر من ذلك شيئاًً ،

Narrated to us Ya’qub ibn Ibrahim ibn Sa’d, from his father, from Salih ibn Kaysan, who said:

Ibn Shihab said: “It reached us that it was the People of the Book who first called Umar ‘al-Faruq’. The Muslims inherited it from them. And nothing has reached us that Allah’s Apostle said anything about it (i.e. the title).

Ibn al-Athir also records it in his Usd al-Ghabah, vol. 4, p. 57:

وقال إبن شهاب : بلغنا أن أهل الكتاب كانوا أول من قال : لعمر الفاروق

Ibn Jarir al-Tabari also records it in his Tarikh vol. 3, p. 267:

حدثنا : الحارث قال : ، حدثنا : إبن سعد قال : ، أخبرنا : يعقوب بن إبراهيم بن سعد ، عن أبيه ، عن صالح بن كيسان قال : قال إبن شهاب : بلغنا أن أهل الكتاب كانوا أول من قال : لعمر الفاروق وكان المسلمون يأثرون ذلك من قولهم ولم يبلغنا أن رسول الله (ص) ذكر من ذلك شيئاًً ذكر صفته.

And Ibn Asakir too has it documented in his Tarikh Madinat Dimashq, vol. 44, p. 51:

أنا : إبن سعد ، أنا : يعقوب بن إبراهيم بن سعد ، عن أبيه ، عن صالح بن كيسان قال : قال إبن شهاب : بلغنا أن أهل الكتاب كانوا أول من قال : لعمر الفاروق وكان المسلمون يأثرون ذلك من قولهم ولم يبلغنا أن رسول الله (ص) ذكر من ذلك شيئاًً ،

But why would Jews and Christians call a person “al-Faruq”? Apparently, they judged Umar from their own perspectives. They did not consider Islam to be the Truth, or many of its teachings. Therefore, when they claimed that Umar was the criterion of distinguishing between Truth and falsehood, they certainly were not talking about Islam or Islamic ethics! That would be possible only if they considered Islam to be true and their own religions to be false.

No doubt, they called Umar “al-Faruq” because his beliefs agree with the Jewish and Christian religions, as opposed to Islam!

Otherwise, why would those people have called him “al-Faruq”?

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