Umar Bin Khattab's Islamic Economic Policy During the Ramadah Crisis: Tracing the Wisdom of the Past for the Future

Islamic economics is an attempt to apply the vision of Islam as rahmatan lil alamin, which means welfare and prosperity for the entire universe, including humans themselves. The contribution of Islamic economics, in fact, has been able to improve the socio-economic order for most underdeveloped nations, where with the presence of Islamic economics their welfare gets more attention from the government.

Many thoughts of figures in the past that can be used as a reference in the present, such as the policy that has been done by Umar bin Khattab in the face of the ramadah crisis which is important to retrace the wisdom of the past can provide valuable guidance for the future in accordance with the complexity of the times.

Caliph Umar bin Khattab was the second caliph who became the successor after the Prophet died and earned the title "amirul mukminin"(leader of the believers). His full name is Umar bin Al- Khattab bin Nufail bin Abd Al- 'Uzza bin Rabah bin Abdullah bin Qurth bin Razah bin Adiy bin Ka'ab bin Luay bin Ghalib Al- Qurasyi Al-'Adawi. Umar was born around 586 or after 13 years of the Prophet's birth in Mecca. The personality of Umar bin Khattab is that he is a just and very responsible figure and is very concerned about the supervision of state officials, he is a friendly figure towards his citizens and enthusiastic in realising the welfare of his citizens, firm in religion, intelligent and broad knowledge.

As we all know that many of the economic policies set by Umar have had a major influence on the Islamic economic system of his time. In developing economic principles, Umar bin Khattab prioritised the principles of justice and balance regardless of the social status of his citizens based on the Quran and Hadith. So it is very reasonable if the Baitul mal at that time which has a very large deposit and the distribution of zakat is done fairly and thoroughly so as to provide welfare for its citizens and poverty can be overcome.

Economic activities during Umar's reign basically consisted of agriculture, industry and trade. These trading activities were strongly supported by the geographical location which was an international trade route so it was very favourable for traders to conduct buying and selling transactions.

At that time it was rare to experience a state budget deficit, except during the Ramadah crisis, namely the economic crisis that occurred for one year during the reign of Caliph Umar bin Khattab which occurred throughout the Hijaz region and even outside the Arabian Peninsula according to some expert opinions. This crisis occurred around the year 18 where at that time there was a lot of hunger, many livestock died, many people contracted a disease, and the soil conditions were black because it did not rain. This disrupted agricultural activities so that food availability was disrupted and the bubonic plague that caused many people to die made the international trade route through the Levant stop, where the Hijaz region got food and clothing supplies from the Levant.

Before the crisis occurred, there was a lot of urbanisation that caused economic activities to not run in the area of origin, the number of refugees who flocked to Medina to ask Umar bin Khattab for help made it even more difficult to deal with the crisis because the availability of food was running low. You can imagine how severe the crisis was at that time.

Umar bin Khattab was of the opinion that contributing to the hardship of their citizens was the duty of the government. Therefore he prioritised his citizens over himself. In his endeavours Umar bin Khattab applied crisis management, which is management that is specifically used to overcome things that are new during this crisis and are not eternal. The following are some of the economic policies that were implemented to deal with the ramadah crisis:

1. The collection of zakat for those citizens who had the obligation to pay zakat was postponed, especially on livestock zakat because many livestock died.

2. Issuing the infaq policy, collecting all the resources owned by the state in the baitul mal and asking for help from the governors in the caliphate to use the wealth from the baitul mal which previously the reserve funds in the baitul mal were released gradually. One of the things Umar could do was to distribute camel meat to the community so that the camel livestock that would be handed over did not die in vain due to lack of food and water, but the camel could become food for starving citizens.

3. Establishing monetary policy is a policy that regulates the circulation of the amount of money that is very useful for the stability of a country's economy. Umar approved the issuance of dirhams to overcome the circulation of money made by Jews used by Palestine and Syria, but there was no interest there.

4. Umar implemented a fiscal policy that is a policy set by the government in ensuring the expenditure and income of a country in order to stabilise the economy. In the baitul mal there are many state assets derived from zakat, kharaj (taxes), usyr (import duties imposed on goods), ghanimah (booty), fa'i (treasures from infidels), jizyah (annual tax for non-Muslims), and other revenues. Good administrative records can make it easier to supervise the expenditure and income of money, including the distribution of who receives and for what purposes.

5. Umar bin Khattab abolished the had punishment for theft during the current crisis. Initially the thieves had their hands cut off but in the Ramadah crisis the penalty was eliminated. The conditions at that time were a lot of theft of foodstuffs because of the limited availability of food. The economic welfare of citizens can be seen from the high and low crime rate that exists the more the crime rate the lower the level of welfare, conversely the lower the crime rate the more prosperous the economy of a country.

6. Umar bin Khattab made a policy of vacant land management, he urged his citizens to revive the dead land and do land parcelling. Even umar helped in how to manage the land and gave a period of time if the land was not cultivated then the land would become state property.

The end of the Ramadah crisis period was marked by the rain and Umar bin Khattab ordered all his citizens to return to their respective areas and pray for rain so that hunger, drought, plants, and animals would get water for their needs. The return of refugees to their respective areas made economic activity slowly return to normal.

Through the economic policies that Umar bin Khattab had implemented during the ramadah crisis could have a good influence in creating economic stability that slowly began to improve and equitable distribution of economic welfare. Among them are monetary policy, fiscal policy, baitul mal policy and bookkeeping administration of zakat, jizyah, kharaj, and usyur, policies in managing natural resources and allocating livestock distribution. These policies provide concrete evidence of justice, and sustainability that can be applied in the context of modern economics.

Umar bin Khattab's economic policies provide valuable lessons for the future where economic challenges are so complex as today, we can trace the wisdom of the past and relevant sharia principles to realise a sustainable economy such as wise resource management, social justice, and fair trade. Such wisdom can serve as a guideline for future leaders. However, it is important to remember that times have changed significantly since the reign of Umar bin Khattab, so while we can draw lessons from the past for the future, it is imperative to adapt wisely according to the challenges, opportunities and technologies that exist in this modern era.