Al-Muzaffar Umar
Encyclopedia
Al-Muzaffar Taqi al-Din Umar (died 1191) was the Ayyubid prince of Hama
Hama
Hama is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria north of Damascus. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. Hama is the fourth-largest city in Syria—behind Aleppo, Damascus, and Homs—with a population of 696,863...

 from 1179 to 1191 and a general of Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...

. He was the son of Nur al-Din Shahanshah, the brother of Saladin.

Emir of Hama

After the conquest of Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

 and northern Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

, Saladin named al-Muzaffar Umar the sovereign of Ayyubid-ruled Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...

. In the city of Edessa
Edessa, Mesopotamia
Edessa is the Greek name of an Aramaic town in northern Mesopotamia, as refounded by Seleucus I Nicator. For the modern history of the city, see Şanlıurfa.-Names:...

 located in the Mesopotamian territory, al-Muzaffar Umar also built a madrasa. He particularly showed favor for those who worked in religious law and Sufi's. He was handed the principality of Hama four years after helping Saladin conquer it in 1175. His ascendancy ushered in an era of prosperity for Hama that lasted until the end of Ayyubid rule in 1341. During al-Muzaffar Umar's reign, the city was walled and palaces, markets, madrasas, and mosques were built.

Viceroy of Egypt

In 1181, while in Manbij, he attempted to block the Zengid forces of Izz ad-Din Mas'ud
Izz ad-Din Mas'ud
Izz ad-Din Mas'ud I bin Mawdud was a Zangi emir of Mosul....

 from reaching Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...

, but failed and was forced to retreat to Hama. Two years later, Saladin's brother and his deputy ruler in Egypt, al-Adil, was sent to besiege Kerak
Kerak
Kerak Castle is a large crusader castle located in Kerak in Jordan. It is one of the largest crusader castles in the Levant.Construction of the castle began in the 1140s, under Pagan, the butler of Fulk of Jerusalem. The Crusaders called it Crac des Moabites or "Karak in Moab", as it is frequently...

 in southern Transjordan
Transjordan
The Emirate of Transjordan was a former Ottoman territory in the Southern Levant that was part of the British Mandate of Palestine...

 which was in Crusader
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...

 hands. Saladin therefore sent al-Muzaffar Umar as al-Adil's replacement.

While in Egypt, he was granted the province of Fayyum as a fief. He founded two Sunni Muslim madrasas (Islamic education institutions) in the province, one for the Shafi'i
Shafi'i
The Shafi'i madhhab is one of the schools of fiqh, or religious law, within the Sunni branch of Islam. The Shafi'i school of fiqh is named after Imām ash-Shafi'i.-Principles:...

 denomination and the other for the Maliki
Maliki
The ' madhhab is one of the schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam. It is the second-largest of the four schools, followed by approximately 25% of Muslims, mostly in North Africa, West Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and in some parts of Saudi Arabia...

 denomination. In Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...

, he erected a madrasa bearing the name Manazil al-Izz which was a former residence of his—originally taken from the Fatimid
Fatimid
The Fatimid Islamic Caliphate or al-Fāṭimiyyūn was a Berber Shia Muslim caliphate first centered in Tunisia and later in Egypt that ruled over varying areas of the Maghreb, Sudan, Sicily, the Levant, and Hijaz from 5 January 909 to 1171.The caliphate was ruled by the Fatimids, who established the...

s. All of his Egyptian properties were made a part of his waqf
Waqf
A waqf also spelled wakf formally known as wakf-alal-aulad is an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law, typically denoting a building or plot of land for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. The donated assets are held by a charitable trust...

("religious endowment"). However, in 1185, Saladin appointed his son, al-Aziz Uthman
Al-Aziz Uthman
Al-Malik Al-Aziz Osman bin Salahadin Yusuf was the second Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt. He was the second son of Saladin.Before his death, Saladin had divided his dominions amongst his kin: Al-Afdal received Palestine and Syria, Al-Aziz was made ruler of Egypt, Al-Zahir received Aleppo, Al-Adil...

, to rule Egypt on his behalf.

Return to Syria

This act upset al-Muzaffar Umar who resolved to invade the Maghreb
Maghreb
The Maghreb is the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. It includes five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara...

, but was discouraged from doing so by his aides. He acceded to Saladin's request that he return to serve as an army commander under his authority. The two met near Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...

 and al-Muzaffar Umar was graciously welcomed by his uncle. Later, in 1187, al-Muzaffar Umar participated in the Battle of Hattin
Battle of Hattin
The Battle of Hattin took place on Saturday, July 4, 1187, between the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and the forces of the Ayyubid dynasty....

, where he proved instrumental in the decisive Ayyubid victory over the Crusader armies.

Afterward, he returned to Hama, and soon after he led his forces to Khilat in Mesopotamia with the intention of capturing the Seljuk
Great Seljuq Empire
The Great Seljuq Empire was a medieval Persianate, Turko-Persian Sunni Muslim empire, originating from the Qynyq branch of Oghuz Turks. The Seljuq Empire controlled a vast area stretching from the Hindu Kush to eastern Anatolia and from Central Asia to the Persian Gulf...

-held castle of Manzikert
Malazgirt
Malazgirt is a town in Muş Province in eastern Turkey, with a population of 23,697 .-Founding:...

. The siege continued for weeks and al-Muzaffar Umar died while it was in effect on October 19, 1191. His body was transported to Hama where it was buried. His son al-Mansur Muhammad
Al-Mansur Muhammad
Al-Mansur Muhammad was an imam of the Zaidi state in Yemen who ruled in 1475-1504, in rivalry with other claimants for the imamate.-Zaidi disunity:...

 was appointed his successor and al-Muzaffar Umar's descendants would end up ruling Hama until being deposed by the Mamluk
Mamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...

s in 1341.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK