CONVERTING TO ISLAM
The first ray of the light of faith that touched his heart came on when he saw the women of Quraysh leaving their homeland and travelling to a distant land because of the persecution that they were facing from Umar and other unbelievers. His conscious was moved, and he felt remorse and pity for them, and he spoke kind words to them which they had never expected to hear from his person beforehand (Tantawi, 1983:12).
Umm Abdullah bint Hantamh said: when we were migrating to Abyssinia, Umar, who used to persecute us mercilessly, came and stood over and said to me: are you leaving? I said: Yes, for you have persecuted us and oppressed us, and by Allah we are going out in the land of Allah until Allah grants us a way out. Then Umar said: may Allah be with you. And I saw kindness that I had never seen before.
Umar was moved by this woman’s attitude and he felt distressed. How much suffering the followers of this new religion were putting up with, but despite that they were standing firm. What was the secret beyond this extraordinary strength? He felt
sad and his heart was filled with pain (Al-Sharqawi, 1988: 9). Shortly after this incident, Umar became Muslim as a result of the prayers of the messenger Mohammad (prayers and peace be upon him), which was the main reason for his acceptance of Islam. The Prophet Mohammad had prayed for him saying: “Oh Allah, support Islam with the more beloved of these two men to You: Abu Jahl ibn Hisham or Umar ibn Al Khattab”. And the
more beloved of them to Allah was Umar (Al-Tirmidhi, 1978: 3682).
Umar became Muslim in Dhu al-Hijjah of the sixth year of the Prophet-hood, when he was twenty-seven years old. He accepted Islam three days after Hamzah, the Prophet’s uncle. At that time the Muslims numbered thirty-nine. Umar said: “I remember that when I became Muslim, there were just thirty- nine men with the Messenger of Allah (prayers and peace be upon him), and I brought the number to forty.” Thus, Allah caused His religion to prevail and grant glory to Islam (Al-Suyuti, 1997: 137).
Abdullah Ibn Mas’ood said: “We felt a sense of pride when Umar became Muslim, for we could not circumambulate the Holy Mosque and pray, until Umar became Muslim. When he became Muslim, he fought them until they sent us free. Then we prayed and circumambulated the Ka’bah.” He also said: “Umar’s becoming a Muslim was a victory, his migration was help, and his caliphate was a mercy. We could not pray or circumambulate the House until Umar became Muslim. When he became Muslim, he fought the unbelievers until they left us alone and let us pray.” (Ibn Sa’ad, V.3:269)
Source: (The Series of: Men and Women Around Muhammad)
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