The Most Influencial People in the World: ÚMAR IBN AL-KHATTAB (c. 586-644)

‘Umar ibn al-Khattab was the second, and probably the greatest, of the Moslem caliphs. He was a younger contemporary of Muhammad, and like the Prophet, was born in Mecca. The year of his birth is unknown, but was perhaps about 586.

‘Umar was originally one of the bitterest opponents of Muhammad and his new religion. Rather suddenly, however, ‘Umar became converted to Islam, and thereafter was one of its strongest supporters. (The parallel with the conversion of St. Paul to Christianity is striking.) ‘Umar became one of the closest advisors of the prophet Muhammad, and remained so throughout Muhammad’s life.

In 632, Muhammad died without having named a successor. ‘Umar promptly supported the candidacy of Abu Bakr, a close associate and father-in-law of the Prophet. This avoided a power struggle and enabled Abu Bakr to be generally recognized as the first caliph (i.e., as the “successor” of Muhammad). Abu Bakr was a successful leader, but he died after serving as caliph for only two years. He had, however, specifically named ‘Umar (who was also a father-in-law of the Prophet) to succeed him, so once again a power struggle was avoided. ‘Umar became caliph in 634, and retained power until 644, when he was assassinated in Medina by a Persian slave. On his deathbed, ‘Umar named a committee of six persons to choose his successor, thereby again averting an armed struggle for power. The committee closes Othman, the third caliph, who ruled from 644 to 656.

It was during the ten years of ‘Umar’s caliphate that the most important conquest of the Arabs occurred. Not long after ‘Umar’s accession, Arad armies invaded Syria and Palestine, which at that time were part of the Byzantine Empire. At the Battle of the Yarmuk (636), the Arabs won a crushing victory over the Byzantine forces. Damascus fell the same year, and Jerusalem surrendered two years later. By 641, the Arabs had conquered all of Palestine and Syria, and were advancing into present-day Turkey. In 639, Arab armies invaded Egypt, which had also been under Byzantine rule. Within three years, the Arab conquest of Egypt was complete.

Arab attacks upon Iraq, at that time part of the Sassanid Empire of the Persians, had commenced even before ‘Umar took office. The key Arab victory, at the battle of Qadisiya (637) occurred during ‘Umar’s reign. By 641, all of Iraq was under Arab control. Nor was that all: Arab armies invaded Persia itself, and at the battle of Nehavend (642) they decisively defeated the forces of the last Sassanid emperor. By the time ‘Umar died, in 644, most of western Iran had been overrun. Nor had the Arab armies ran out of momentum when ‘Umar died. In the East, they fairly soon completed the conquest of Persia, while in the west they continued their push across North Africa.

Just as important as the extent of ‘Umar conquests is their permanence. Iran, though its population became converted to Islam, eventually regained its independence from Arab rule. But Syria, Iraq, and Egypt never did. Those countries became thoroughly Arabized and remain so to this day.

Umar, of course, had to devise policies for the rule of the great empire that his armies had conquered. He decided that the Arabs were to be a privileged military caste in the regions they had conquered, and that they should live in garrison cities, apart from the natives. The subject peoples were to pay tribute to their Moslem (largely Arab) conquerors, but were otherwise to be left in peace. In particular, they were not to be forcibly converted to Islam. (From the above, it is clear that the Arab conquest was more a nationalist war of conquest than a holy war, although the religious aspect was certainly not lacking.)


‘Umar’s achievements are impressive indeed. After Muhammad himself, he was the principal figure in the spread of Islam. Without his rapid conquest, it is doubtful that Islam would be nearly as widespread today as it actually is. Furthermore, most of the territory conquered during his reign has remained Arab ever since. Obviously, of course, Muhammad, who was the prime mover, should receive the bulk of the credit for those developments. But it would be a grave mistake to ignore ‘Umar’s contribution. The conquests he made were not an automatic consequence of the inspiration provided by Muhammad. Some expansion was probably bound to occur, but not to the enormous extent that it did under ‘Umar’s brilliant leadership.

It may occasion some surprise that ‘Umar—a figure virtually unknown in the West—has been ranked higher than such famous men as Charlemagne and Julius Caesar. However, the conquests made by the Arabs under ‘Umar, taking into account both their size and their duration, are substantially more important than those of either Caesar or Charlemagne.

The Most Influencial People in the World: ASOKA (C. 300 B.C.-c.232 B.C.)

Asoka, who was probably the most important monarch in the history of India, was the third ruler of the Mauryan dynasty and the grandson of its founder, Chandragupta Maurya. Chandragupta was an Indian military leader, who in the years subsequent to the campaign of Alexander the Great, conquered most of northern India, and thereby established the first major empire in Indian history.


The year of Asoka’s birth is unknown; probably it was close to 300 B.C. Asoka ascended the throne about 273 B.C. At first he followed in his grandfather’s footsteps and sought to extend his territory through military action. In the eighth year of his reign, he concluded a successful war against Kalinga, a state on the east coast of India (about where the present state of Orissa is). But when he realized the horrible human cost of his triumph, Asoka was appalled. One hundred thousand persons had been killed, and an even larger number wounded. Shocked and remorseful, Asoka decided that he would not complete the military conquest of India, but would instead renounce all aggressive warfare. He adopted Buddhism as his religious philosophy, and attempted to practice the virtues of dharma, which include truthfulness, mercy, and nonviolence.

On a personal level, Asoka gave up hunting and became a vegetarian. Of more significance were the various humane and political policies that he adopted. He established hospitals and animal sanctuaries, mitigated many harsh laws, built roads, and promoted irrigation. He even appointed special government officials, dharma officers, to instruct people in piety and to encourage friendly human relationships. All religions were tolerated in his realm, but Asoka particularly promoted Buddhism, which naturally enjoyed a great increase in its popularity. Buddhist missions were sent to many foreign countries, and were especially successful in Ceylon.

Asoka ordered descriptions of his life and policies inscribed on rocks and pillars throughout his large realm. Many of these monuments survive to the present day. Their geographic distribution provides us with reliable information concerning the extent of Asoka’s domain, and the inscriptions on them are our main source of knowledge of his career. Incidentally, these pillars are also considered to be superb works of art.

Within fifty years of Asoka’s death, the Mauryan Empire fell apart, and it was never revived. However, through his support of Buddhism, Asoka’s long-term influence upon the world has been very large. When he ascended the throne, Buddhism was a small, local religion, popular only in northwest India. By the time of his death, it had adherents throughout India and was spreading rapidly to neighboring countries. More than any one man, except Gautama himself, Asoka is responsible for the development of Buddhism into a major world religion.

The Most Influencial People in the World: ST. AUGUSTINE (354-430)

Augustine, who lived during the declining years of the Roman Empire, was the greatest theologian of his era. His writings profoundly influenced Christian doctrines and attitudes throughout the middle Ages, and indeed still have influence today.

Augustine was born in 354, in the town of Tagaste (now Souk-Ahras, in Algeria), about forty-five miles south of the large coastal town of Hippo (now Annaba). His father was a pagan; his mother a devout Christian. He was not baptized as an infant.

Even in his adolescence, Augustine’s intelligence was impressive, and at sixteen he was sent to Carthage to study. There he took a mistress and had an illegitimate child. At nineteen, he decided to study philosophy. He soon converted to Manichaeism; the religion founded about 240 by the prophet Mani. To the young Augustine, Christianity seemed unsophisticated, while Manichaeism. When Augustine was twenty-nine, he moved to Rome. A bit later he moved to Milan, in northern Italy, where he became a professor of rhetoric. There he became familiar with Neo-Platonism, a modified version of Plato’s philosophy that had been developed by Plotinus in the third century.

The bishop in Milan at that time was St. Ambrose. Augustine listened to some of his sermons, which introduced him to a new, more sophisticated aspect of Christianity. At the age of thirty-two, Augustine was converted, and the one-time skeptic became an ardent proponent of Christianity. In 387, Augustine was baptized by Ambrose, and soon thereafter he returned home to Tagaste.

In 391, Augustine became the assistant to the bishop of hippo. Five years later the bishop died, and Augustine, then forty-two years old, became the new bishop of Hippo. He remained at that post for the rest of his life.

Although Hippo was not an important city, Augustine’s brilliance was so obvious that he soon became one of the most respected leaders in the church. Although he had a weak constitution, with the help of stenographers he was able to compose a large number of religious writings. About 500 of his sermons survive, as do more than 200 of his letters. Of his books, the two most famous and influential are The City of God and his Confessions. The latter, which is one of the most famous autobiographies even written, was composed when he was in his forties.

Many of Augustine’s letters and sermons are devoted to refuting the beliefs of the Manichaean’s, the Donatists (a schismatic Christians sect), and the Pelagians (another heretical Christian group of the day). His dispute with the Pelagians forms an important part of Augustine’s religious doctrines. Pelagius was an English monk who came to Rome about 400, and there expounded several interesting theological doctrines. We are each, Pelagius claimed, without original sin, and are free to choose good or evil. By righteous living and good works, an individual can attain salvation.

Partly through the influence of St. Augustine’s writings, the views of Pelagius were declared heretical, and Pelagius himself (who had already been banished from Rome) was excommunicated. According to Augustine, all men are stained with Adam’s sin. Human beings are unable to attain salvation solely through their own efforts and good works: the grace of God is necessary for salvation. Similar ideas had been expressed previously; however, Augustine amplified the earlier statements, and his writings solidified the Church’s position on these points, which thereafter became fixed.

Augustine maintained that God already knows who will be saved and who will not, and that some of us are therefore predestined to be saved. This idea of predestination was to greatly influence later theologians, such as St. Thomas Aquinas and John Calvin.

Probably even more important than the doctrine of predestination were St. Augustine’s attitudes concerning sex. When he converted to Christianity, Augustine had decided that it was necessary for him to renounce sex. (He once wrote, “Nothing is so much to be shunned as sex relations.”) However, the actual renunciation proved quite difficult for St. Augustine; both his personal struggle in his views on the subject are described at some length in his Confessions. The views he expressed there, because of Augustine’s great reputation, exerted a strong influence upon medieval attitudes toward sex. Augustine’s writing also linked together the notion of original sin and sexual desire.

During Augustine’s life, the Roman Empire was rapidly declining. In fact, in 410, the city of Rome was sacked by the Visigoths under Alaric. Naturally, the remaining Roman pagans claimed that the Romans were thereby being punished for their desertion of their ancient gods in favor of Christianity. St. Augustine’s most famous book, The City of God, is in part a defense of Christianity against that charge. However, the book also includes an entire philosophy of history, one that was to have considerable influence upon later developments in Europe. Augustine expressed the view that the Roman Empire was not of any basic importance, nor was the city Rome, nor any earthly city. What was really important was the growth of the “heavenly city”—in other words, the spiritual progress of mankind. The vehicle for this progress was, of course, the Church. (“There is no salvation outside the Church.”) It therefore followed that emperors, whether pagan or Christian or barbarian, were not as important as the Pope and the Church were.

Although Augustine himself did not take the final step, the thrust of his argument leads easily to the conclusion that temporal rulers should be subordinate to the Pope. Medieval popes were glad to draw that conclusion from Augustine, and his doctrines therefore laid the foundation for the long conflict between Church and State that was to characterize European history for many centuries.

Augustine’s writings were a factor in the transmission of certain aspects of Greek philosophy to medieval Europe. In particular, Neo-Platonism strongly influenced Augustine’s mature thought, and through Augustine it influenced medieval Christian philosophy. It is also interesting to note that Augustine expressed the idea behind Descartes’ famous statement, “I think, therefore I am,” though in different words, of course.

Augustine was the last great Christian theologian before the Dark Ages, and his writings left Church doctrine, in all its major outlines, in roughly the form it was to keep throughout the Middle Ages. He was the most eminent of the Latin Church fathers, and his writings were widely read by the clergy. His views on salvation, sex, original sin, and many other points were correspondingly influential. Many later Catholic theologians, such as St. Thomas Aquinas, as well as Protestant leaders such as Luther and Calvin, were strongly influenced by him.

Augustine died in Hippo, in 430 A.D., in his seventy-sixth year. The Vandals, one of the barbarian tribes which had invaded the disintegrating Roman Empire, were besieging Hippo at the time. A few months later, they captured the town and burned most of it; however, Augustine’s library and the cathedral escaped destruction.