Editing Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz (section)

===Accession===
According to the traditional Muslim sources, when Sulayman was on his deathbed in Dabiq, he was persuaded by Raja to designate Umar as his successor.{{sfn|Cobb|2000|p=821}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=106}}{{sfn|Hawting|2000|p=72}}{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|p=265}} Sulayman's son Ayyub had been his initial nominee, but predeceased him,{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|p=264}} while his other sons were either too young or away fighting on the Byzantine front.{{sfn|Hawting|2000|p=72}} The nomination of Umar voided the wishes of Abd al-Malik, who sought to restrict the office to his direct descendants.{{sfn|Cobb|2000|p=821}} The elevation of Umar, a member of a cadet branch of the dynasty, in preference to the numerous descendants of Abd al-Malik surprised these princes.{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|p=265}} According to Wellhausen, "nobody dreamed of this, himself [Umar] least of all".{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|p=265}} Raja managed the affair, calling the Umayyad princes into Dabiq's mosque and demanding that they recognize Sulayman's will, which Raja had kept secret.{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|p=265}} Only after the Umayyads accepted did Raja reveal that Umar was the caliph's nominee.{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|p=265}} [[Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik]] voiced his opposition, but relented after being threatened with violence.{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|p=265}} A potential intra-dynastic conflict was averted with the designation of a son of Abd al-Malik, [[Yazid II]], as Umar's successor.{{sfn|Hawting|2000|p=72}}

According to the historian Reinhard Eisener, Raja's role in the affair was likely "exaggerated"; "more reasonable" was that Umar's succession was the result of "traditional patterns, like seniority and well-founded claims" stemming from Caliph Marwan I's original designation of Umar's father, Abd al-Aziz, as Abd al-Malik's successor,{{sfn|Eisener|1997|p=822}} which had not materialized due to Abd al-Aziz predeceasing Abd al-Malik.{{sfn|Hawting|2000|p=59}} Umar acceded without significant opposition on 22 September 717.{{sfn|Cobb|2000|p=821}}