‘Umar’ is an Islamic TV series which was aired during last Ramadhan by a joint production of the Dubai-based MBC Group and Qatar Television.

After almost a month, I’ve finished watching the entire series. ‘Umar’ has 30 episodes, including a finale of 2 combined episodes. Learning Seerah has never been so much fun!

Official Trailer

Where to watch?

You can watch it on Youtube. The series is in Arabic with English subtitle hard coded into the video. Watch first episode.

What is it all about?

The series tells us the story about the life of the second caliph, Umar Al-Khattab R.A. The storyline is very interesting as it narrates the advent of Islam during the time of Prophet Muhammad p.b.u.h. till the era of the first two caliphs.

Since the depiction of any prophet is forbidden in Islam, the character of the Prophet was shown using first person point of view (POV). Which means in some scenes, we are seeing through what Rasulullah sees.

The actors

Below are the actors from the series. Just in case you’re wondering who’s who.
The first four caliphs - Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman & Ali

Other famous characters – Hamzah, Abi Talib, Abu Sufyan, Abu Jahal & Abu Lahab

Other companions – Bilal bin Rabah, Amru al Asr & Khalid Al-Walid

Why is it a must watch?

• an entertaining way to learn about history of Islam within the context
• it has an almost accurate depiction of Seerah, from a Muslim producer
• beautiful cinematography, big budget for props, costumes, buildings and more!
• war against Byzantine (Rome) and Sassanids (Persian) empire. They’re just awesome to watch!
• it is available in Full HD for your eyes pleasure

Personally, I can only give you five reasons. Should be enough though. You have to watch it yourself to understand why I’m so excited about this series.

Post Production rules!

Since the advancement of CGI and visual effects in the movie industry, I can say this series utilized all the techniques well, especially in making thousands of crowds for the battles and also the reconstruction of the ancient civilization using 3D. Kudos to HECAT Studio and BUF for making the series look amazing!

Episodes guide

These are some of the important events in each episodes.

1. Umar during his youth
2. Islam begins
3. Abu Lahab
4. Family affairs
5. Torture begins
6. Bilal gains freedom
7. Hijrah to Habsyah
8. Umar embraces Islam
9. Boycott against Muslims
10. Hijrah to Yathrib (Madinah)
11. Battle of Badr
12. Khalid Al-Walid & Amru Al As embrace Islam
13. Battle of Uhud & Khandaq
14. Treaty of Hudaibiyah
15. First Hajj
16. Fathul Makkah
17. Death of Prophet
18. Battle against people not paying Zakat
19. Battle against Ridda (apostate)
20. Battle against Musailamah (false prophet)
21. Battle against Persian
22. Umar became second Caliph
23. Battle of Yarmuk against Rome (Byzantine)
24. Battle in Syam
25. Umar and his subjects
26. Conquest of Damascus
27. Battle of Qadisiya against Sassanids (Persian)
28. Battle of Madain, conquest of Al-Quds (Jerusalem)
29. Famine Year
30. Plague, conquest of Egypt and death of Umar

Additional link
Behind the scenes
Genealogy of Muhammad s.a.w.
Omar VFX Making Of

Warning!

This is a good series yet it has lots of battle scenes which are not suitable for children. Viewers discretion is advised. I would rate some episodes in this series as 18SG. Yes, you can see the action as in the trailer above.