Who
    was ‘Umar al-Khayyaam?
Question

                Who was ‘Umar al-Khayyaam and what
      was his belief (‘aqeedah)? I hope you canm give me an idea about him.
Praise be to Allah.His full name was Abu’l-Fath, ‘Umar ibn Ibraaheem al-Khayyaami
        al-Naysapoori. He was a poet and philosopher from among the people of Naysapoor, where he
        was born and died.
He was born in 408 AH, in the town of Naysapoor, where he died and was
        buried in 517 AH, or it was said, 515 AH.
He was a scholar who was well versed in mathematics, astronomy,
        language, fiqh and history.
Because of his brilliance as an astronomer, he was appointed as director
        of the observatory in Baghdaad, and because of his interest in philosophy, his name is
        associated with that of Ibn Seenaa (Avicenna), who wrote articles filled with kufr which
        put him beyond the pale of Islam.
He is also famous for his poetry, the best known of which is al-Rubaa’iyaat,
        which is filled with ideas of kufr, promiscuity and heresy. No wonder the West took such
        an interest in publishing and distributing this book! It has been translated into many
        languages, such as English, French, Russian, German, etc. The British sought to spread the
        ideas of immorality and promiscuity advocated by al-Khayyaam in al-Rubaa’iyaat,
        so they spread it in the countries which they colonized, such as India and Iran, and
        attributed it to one of the Muslims, rather one of the greatest of them – or so they
        claimed.
One of the verses about wine – in al-Rubaa’iyaat –
        says:
Drink wine, for it is the relaxation of the soul
A cure for the soul and heart, and entertainment.
If you are overwhelmed with stress and grief,
Save yourself through it, for it is like the ship of Nooh.
Denying the idea of resurrection after death, he said:
Get up before death seizes you
And take the rose-coloured (liquid) [i.e., wine] to expel darkness
O fool, you are not a piece of gold
To be buried and later brought forth
His words of promiscuity and immorality include the following:
As much as you can, follow the people of immorality
Destroy the structure of fasting and prayer
Receive the best words from al-Khayyaam
Drink, sing and pursue the good things
His mocking of the sharee’ah, his insolence towards his Lord and
        his attitude towards repentance may be seen in the following words:
Every day I have the intention to repent
If night falls and I feel that I want to repent from drinking wine
Then the season of flowers comes and then,
O Lord, I repent from my intention to repent
Some researchers, such as al-Zarkali, said that later he repented and
        performed Hajj. Others, such as ‘Abd al-Haqq Faadil, expressed doubts about the
        attribution of al-Rubaa’iyaat to him.
Whatever the case, the Rubaa’iyaat do not indicate that he
    repented, because they contain clear statements of kufr, wilful neglect of virtuous
    attributes and rejection of the idea of repenting and turning to Allaah. Indeed, they
    contain no indication that their author believed in Allaah and the Last Day.
The doubts about whether he wrote these words are outweighed by number
    of people who attributed them to him. Allaah knows best what is really the case.
For more details on his life, see al-A’laam by al-Zarkali,
    5/38; Mu’jam al-Mu’aalifeen by ‘Umar Ridaa Kahhaalah, 2/549; ‘Umar
    al-Khayyaam bayna al-Kufr wa’l-Eemaan, by Ihsaan Haqqi; Thawrat al-Khayyaam
    by ‘Abd al-Haqq Faadil.
May Allaah bless our Prophet Muhammad.