ABSTRACT
Through his faith and ability, ‘Umar I (‘Umar ibn al-Khattab) took a divided state of Muslim Arabs and created a powerful Islamic Empire. ‘Umar converted to Islam in 616 and became linked to Muhammad through the marriage of his daughter Hafsa. ‘Umar became an advisor to Muhammad. The consolidation ordered by ‘Umar permitted, between 635 and 644, the rapid conquest and Islamicization of Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Iran, and Egypt. It also caused the fall of the mighty Persian Empire and made destructive inroads into the Byzantine Empire. Only an outbreak of a plague in Syria in 639 slowed the progress of Islam across the Middle East. In Syria, the Byzantine Empire attempted to defend itself against the Muslims with an enormous army drawn from all of its different possessions; lacking the cohesion that a common identity such as Islam inspired, the Byzantines were badly beaten.
