Umar ibn al-Khattab (1/2)

‘Umar ibn al-Khattab ibn Nufayl ibn ‘Abdu’l-‘Uzza ibn AI-Riyah ibn Qart ibn Razah ibn ‘Adi ibn Ka’b ibn Lu’ayy, Amir al-Mu’minin, Abu Hafs, al-Qurashi, al-‘Adawi, al-Faruq.

He accepted Islam in the sixth year of prophecy when he was twenty-seven years old, says adh-Dhahabi.

An-Nawawi says: ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was born thirteen years after the Elephant, he was one of the nobility of Quraysh, and he had the role of ambassador in the Jahiliyyah; Quraysh, whenever war broke out among them or between them and others, would send him as an ambassador, i.e. a messenger, and when someone called them to judgement — often over a matter of standing or lineage - then they sent him as a response to that.

He accepted Islam very early on, after forty other men and eleven women. Some say that it was after thirty-nine men and twenty-three women, and some say, after forty-five men and eleven women. But it was only after he accepted Islam that Islam was shown openly in Makkah and the Muslims rejoiced in him.

He said: He was one of the outstripping first ones, one of the ten for whom it was witnessed that they were for the Garden, one of the khulafa’ who took the right way, one of the in-laws of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, one of the great men of knowledge of the Companions and one of their abstinent people.

There are related from him five hundred and thirty-nine hadith from the Prophet, (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan narrated from him, ‘Ali (ibn Abi Talib), Talhah (ibn ‘Ubaydullah), Sa’d (ibn Abi Waqqas), ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn ‘Awf, Ibn Mas’ud, Abu Dharr, ‘Amr ibn ‘Abasah and his son ‘Abdullah, Ibn ‘Abbas, Ibn az-Zubayr, Anas, Abu Hurayrah, ‘Ami ibn al-‘As, Abu Musa al-Ashcari, al-Bara’ ibn ‘Azib, Abu Sa’id al-Khudri, and a great number of the Companions and others, may  Allah be pleased with them.

The Reports on His Acceptance of Islam

At-Tirmidhi narrated that Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that: The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘O Allah, strengthen Islam with whoever is more beloved to You of these two men: ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) ibn al-Khattab or Abu Jahl ibn Hisham.’ (At-Tabarani narrated this from hadith of Ibn Mas’ud and Anas, may Allah be pleased with them)

Al-Hakim narrated that Ibn ‘Abbas related that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘O Allah, strengthen Islam by ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) ibn al-Khattab especially.’ (At-Tabarani narrated this in the Awsat from a hadith of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq and in the Kabir from hadith of Thawban)

Ahmad narrated that ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I went out to confront the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and found that he had preceded me to the mosque (of Makkah). I stood behind him and he began by reciting Suratu’l-Haqqah. I was astonished by the composition of the Qur’an, so I said, ‘By Allah, this is a poet as Quraysh say.’ Then he recited, ‘It is truly the saying of a noble Messenger, and it is not the saying o f a poet, how little you believe...’ (Qur’an, Surah Al-Haqqah, 69: 40) to the end of the ayah, and Islam came about in my heart.

Ibn Abi Jabir narrated that Jabir said: The beginning of ‘Umar’s Islam was that ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, ‘My sister’s time to give birth came to her at night so I went out of the house, and entered the precincts of (he Ka’bah. Then the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came and entered the Hijr (the low-walled, semi-circular area to one end of the Ka’bah) and on him there were two rough cloths. He prayed to Allah as much as Allah willed, then he turned away and I heard something the like of which I had not heard. He went out and I followed him and he said, “Who is this?” I said, “‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him).” He said, “‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), will you not leave me alone, either by night or by day?” I became afraid that he might supplicate against me, so I said, “I witness that there is no god but Allah and that you are the Messenger of Allah.” He said, “‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), keep it secret.” I said, “No, by the One Who sent you with the truth, I will openly declare it just as I openly declared idolatry.”’

Ibn Sa’d, Abu Ya’la, al-Hakim, and al-Bayhaqi in ad-Dala’il, narrated that Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him)  went out wearing his sword, and a man from Bani Zuhrah met him  and said, ‘Where do you intend going, ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him)?’ He said, ‘I want to kill Muhammad.’ He said, ‘How will you be safe from Bani Hashim and Bani Zuhrah if you have killed Muhammad?’ He said, ‘I can only believe that you have converted.’ He said, ‘Shall I show you something astonishing; your brother-in-law and your sister have converted and abandoned your deen! ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) walked on and came to the two of them while Khabbab was with them. When he heard the sound of ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) he hid in the house, and then he, ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) entered and said, ‘What is this murmur of lowered voices?’ They had been reciting Taha. They said, ‘Nothing but some conversation which we were holding.’ He said, ‘Perhaps you two have converted?’ His brother-in-law said to him, ‘‘Umar, what if the truth were outside of your deen?” So ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) leapt upon him and struck him severely. His sister came to push him away from her husband and he struck her a blow with his hand so that her face bled. Then she said, and she was angry, ‘And if the truth were outside of your deen? I witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger.’ ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, ‘Give me the writing which you have and I will read it,’ — and ‘Umar used to read. His sister said to him, ‘You are dirty, and no-one reads it but the purified (so stand and bathe yourself or perform wudu).’ He stood and performed wudu, then he took the writing and read Taha until it came to, ‘ Truly I, I am Allah there is no god except Me, so worship Me and establish the prayer for My remembrance.’ (Qur’an 20: 14). ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, ‘Show me the way to Muhammad.’ When Khabbab heard the words of ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) he came out and said, ‘Rejoice, ‘Umar! Because I hope that you are the (answer to the) supplication which the Messenger of Allah made for you on the night of Thursday, “O Allah, strengthen Islam with ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) ibn al-Khattab or with ‘Amr ibn Hisham.’” The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was in the lower part of the house which was at the foot of Safa and ‘Umar went off until he came to the house, at the door of which were Hamzah, Talhah and others. Hamzah said, ‘This is ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him); If Allah wants good for him he will become a Muslim; and if He wishes other than that, then killing him will be a little thing for us.’ He said: And the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), was inside receiving revelation. He came out when ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) arrived, took hold of the folds of his clothes and the straps of his sword, and said, ‘You won’t give up, ‘Umar, until Allah visits you with disgrace and punishment like he did al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah.’ ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, ‘I witness that there is no god but Allah and that you are the slave of Allah and His Messenger.’

Al-Bazzar, at-Tabarani, Abu Nu’aym in al-Hilyah, and al-Bayhaqi in ad-Dala’il narrated that Aslam said: ‘Umar said to us, ‘I was the most severe of people against the Messenger of Allah, (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). Then one hot day at midday I was in one of the pathways of Makkah, and a man met me and said, “I am amazed at you, Ibn al-Khattab. You claim that you are like this and like this, and this matter has entered your own house.” I said, “What is that?” He said, “Your sister has become a Muslim.” So I went back in a fury and struck the door. Someone said, “Who is It?” I said, “‘Umar.” They hurried and hid from me. They had been reciting a page which they had and they abandoned it and forgot It. My sister got up to open the door, and I said to her, “Enemy of her own self, have you converted?” I struck her upon the head with something that I had in my hand so that the blood flowed and she cried. She said, “Ibn al-Khattab, whatever you are going to do, then do it, for I have converted.” I entered and sat down on the couch. Then I glanced at the page and said, “What is this? Give it to me.” She said, “You are not one of its people, you don’t clean yourself after intercourse, and this is a writing which none touches except for those who have purified themselves.” But I wouldn’t give up until she gave it to me. I opened it and there in it was, “In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate When I passed by one of the names of Allah, exalted is He, I became afraid of it and I put down the page. Then I came back to myself and picked up the page and there in it was, “There glorifies Allah that which is in the heavens and the earth" and I became afraid. I read up until, “Believe in Allah and His Messenger”' (Qur’an, Surah Al-Hadid, 57: 1-7) and so I said, “I witness that there is no god but Allah,” and so they all came out to me hastily, saying, “Allahu Akbar” and said, “Rejoice! Because the Messenger of Allah, (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), supplicated on Monday and said, ‘O Allah strengthen Your deen with whoever is the more beloved of the two men to You, either Abu Jahl ibn Hisham or ‘Umar.’” They directed me to the Prophet, (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), in a house at the foot of as-Safa, and I went to it and knocked on the door. They said, “Who is it?” I said, “Ibn al-Khattab.” They knew my severity against the Messenger of Allah, (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), so nobody moved to open the door until he said, (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), “Open it for him.” They opened it for me, two men grabbed hold of me by the upper arms and brought me to the Prophet, (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), who said, “Leave him alone.” Then he grabbed me by my shirt and dragged me forcibly towards him and said, “Accept Islam, Ibn al-Khattab. O Allah guide him,” and I bore witness and the Muslims said, “Allahu Akbar!” so loudly that it was heard in the valleys of Makkah. 

(Continued)