Abu Lu'lu'a
Sign in to saveAlso known as Piruz Nahavandi, Pirouz Nahavandi, Pirooz Nahavandi, Firuz Nahavandi, Firouz Nahavandi, Firooz Nahavandi, Baba Shuja' al-din, Baba Shuja aldin
Persian sasanian soldier, murder of caliph Omar
Key facts
- Born
- Nahavand , Iran (likely)
- Died
- Historical: 644 , Medina , Arabia Legendary: after 644 , Kashan , Iran
- Other names
- Bābā Shujāʿ al-Dīn (16th century) , Fīrūz Nahāvandī (20th century)
- Era
- Early Islamic period
- Known for
- Assassinating the caliph Umar
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Gender
- male
- Place of birth
- Kashan
- Place of death
- Kashan
- Occupation
- murderer
- Employer
- Mughira ibn Shu'ba
- Languages spoken
- Arabic
- Religion
- Zoroastrianism
- Conflict
- Battle of al-Qadisiyyah
- Image
- ابولولو.jpg
Show 7 more facts
- manner of death
- Suicide
- cause of death
- exsanguination
- date of death
- 0644-11-03
- Commons category
- Piruz Nahavandi
- place of burial
- Piruz Nahavandi Mausoleum
- nickname
- أبو لؤلؤة
- name in native language
- پیروز نهاوندی
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~16 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Abū Luʾluʾa Fīrūz (Arabic: أبو لؤلؤة فیروز, from Middle Persian: Pērōz), also known in modern Persian-language sources as Abū Luʾluʾ (ابولؤلؤ) or Fīrūz Nahāvandī (فیروز نهاوندی), was a Sasanian Persian slave who assassinated Umar ibn al-Khattab (r. 634–644), the second Islamic caliph, in November 644.
After having been captured in battle during the Arab-Muslim conquest of Persia, Abu Lu'lu'a was brought to Medina, the then-capital of the Rashidun Caliphate, which was normally off-limits to non-Arab captives. However, as a highly skilled craftsman, Abu Lu'lu'a was exceptionally allowed entrance into the city in order to work for the caliph. His motive for killing the caliph is not entirely clear, but medieval sources generally attribute it to a tax dispute. At one point, Abu Lu'lu'a is said to have asked the caliph to lift a tax imposed upon him by his Arab master, al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba. When Umar refused to lift the tax, Abu Lu'lu'a attacked him while he was leading the congregational prayer in the mosque, stabbing him with a double-bladed dagger and leaving him mortally wounded.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Abu Lu'lu'a” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.