Explain Umaru’s reforms in: a) Judiciary b) Administration c) Revenue d) Army e) Education

a) Judiciary
1. Separated the judiciary from other departments i.e. it was made independent
2. Established courts of law in every district or province
3. Appointed judges and were paid high salaries to avoid bribery.
4. Created a special board to issue decrees (laws) on issues that needed special attention
5. For one to be a judge, he had to be wealthy or rich.
6. Judges were not to engage in trade or buy and sale in the market.
7. The number of judges had to be matching with the population to avoid delay of justice
8. Contributed to the creation of the police department to keep law and order
9. He invented the punishments of deportation
10. He established jails where criminals were to be held.
11. He selected the best judges e.g. Abdullah bin Masud.
12. Practiced impartial justice that knew no friend or enemy
13. Doubled the punishments of wine drinking from 40 to 80 lashes
14. Upheld security for individual freedom.

b) Administration
1. For important questions, the consultative assembly was called.
2. Daily reports from districts and provinces had to be made and brought to the caliph
3. He encouraged citizens through their representatives to air out their views to the consultative assembly
4. He was too ordinary in his administration for there were no favours for him
5. Made administrative divisions in the state like districts, provinces
6. All provinces were put under strong officers e.g. governor, chief secretary.
7. He appointed his officers on grounds of merit
8. He gave powers to the consultative assembly to appoint some officials
9. He appointed officials and were given instruments of instruction to follow
10. All officials could make promises or pledges before taking up office.
11. Began a system of checking the change in the financial position of officials
12. There was compulsory presence of officials at the time of annual pilgrimage
13. A special office was set up to receive the complaints of people
14. Officers who never visited the sick or had courts where the poor found no ready acceptance were dismissed

c) Revenue
1. Land tax was introduced by caliph Umar
2. Introduced land surveying and assessment to determine its usage
3. Land archer age under use age was increased through taxing idle land
4. Abolished the old Roman land tenure system
5. Canals were dug and this boosted agriculture through irrigation
6. Quarantine was introduced to avoid spread of diseases in crops and animals
7. Introduced his own coinage system that worked alongside the old coins
8. Introduced police to check the quality of produce and avoid over loading
9. A registry was maintained for all departments for proper accountability.
10. A population census was carried out for proper planning
11. A state treasury operated and it was public and not private property.
12. Set up branches of the state treasury in various provinces/ districts.
13. A tax on trade i.e. 10% on imports was introduced
14. Provided allowances for the crippled people
15. A special programme was put up during times of famine.

d) Army
1. Selected the best commanders e.g. Khalid bin Walid, Abu Ubaidah, Amir bin Al-Aas, Muthana etc.
2. All men registered for war and were liable for military services
3. The army was divided into active and regular standing army
4. His army was for all weather conditions i.e. trained in swimming, raiding horses, shooting arrows.
5. Army was organized into department e.g. the treasurer, accountant, translator etc.
6. Built several barracks for the army to be ready for military action all the time
7. Created stables (buildings) for animals to feed in at every military centre and each contained over 4000 horses
8. Established several military cantonments in big towns
9. Built forts where the Muslim territory touched the enemy territory.
10. He had secret agents or spy network
11. He ensured that the family members of the soldiers were catered for when their men were away in war
12. He looked after the families of the fallen soldiers

e) Education
1. Caliph Umar spread religious education
2. Men of greatness and reputation versed in Islamic law and Hadith were employed to teach
3. Lecturers and teachers at schools were given salaries and put on payroll
4. Teaching of the Quran to the desert Arab’s children was made compulsory
5. He contributed to the collection and arrangement of the Hadith
6. He ensured that the Quran was spread extensively
7. Made sure that vowel marks and correct forms of words of the Quran were written
8. Sent companions of the prophet to distant places to teach Quran
9. All people were asked to learn five surahs of the Quran e.g. Bakara, Nisae, Maida, Hajj, Nuur.
10. Ensured studying of hadith with caution e.g one time he slapped Abi-Hurairah for reporting Hadith without witnesses
11. He taught the laws of religion in person
12. He occasionally wrote on religious teachings e.g. fixing times of the five daily prayers.

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francis1897 answered the question on March 2, 2023 at 09:09