The
most notable event of the year 6 of the Proclamation was the conversion
to Islam of Umar bin al-Khattab, a future khalifa of the Muslims. He
was one of the most rabid enemies of Islam and of Muhammad, the
Messenger of God, and was a great tormentor of the Muslims. The modern
Egyptian historian, Amin Dawidar, says that Umar's hatred of Islam, and
his hostility to Muhammad, were matched only by the hatred of, and
hostility to them, of his own maternal uncle, Abu Jahl.
It is said that one day in sheer exasperation, Umar resolved to kill
Muhammad, and thus to extinguish the flame of Islam itself. He left his
home with this intention.
As already noted, the Muslims at this time (the last days of the year
6) still gathered in the house of Arqam bin Abi al-Arqam to say their
congregational prayers. They were beginning to assemble when one of
them, looking out the window, saw Umar approaching toward the house with
a drawn sword. In a state of considerable alarm, he told the other
members of the congregation what he saw. Presumably, they too were
alarmed.
But Hamza, who was also present in the house of Arqam, reassured
them, and said that if Umar was coming with good intentions, then it was
all right; but if not, then he (Hamza) would run him (Umar) through
with his (Umar's) own sword. But it so happened that Umar had come with
the intention of accepting Islam, and he did.
The story is told that Umar was going toward Dar-ul-Arqam with the
intention of killing Muhammad when a passer-by stopped him, and informed
him that his own sister and her husband had become Muslims, and advised
him to put his own house in order before undertaking any other
grandiose and chimerical project.
Muhammad Husayn Haykal
Umar went there (to Dar-ul-Arqam) resolved to kill Muhammad and thus
relieve the Quraysh of its burden, restore its ravaged unity, and
re-establish respect for the gods that Muhammad had castigated.
On the road to Makkah he was met by Nu'aym ibn Abdullah. Upon
learning what Umar was about, Nu'aym said, “By God, you have deceived
yourself, O Umar! Do you think that Banu Abd Manaf would let you run
around alive once you had killed their son Muhammad? Why don't you
return to your own house and at least set it straight?” (The Life of Muhammad)
Umar was furious to hear that his sister and her husband had become
Muslims. He immediately changed his direction from Arqam's house to her
house to investigate the allegation. In reply to his questions, she gave
a discreet but evasive answer.
Ibn Ishaq
Umar came to the door (of the house of his sister) as Khabbab (a
companion of the Prophet) was studying under her guidance the Sura Taha
and also “When the Sun is Overthrown” (81:1). The polytheists used to
call this reading “rubbish”.
When Umar came in, his sister saw that he meant mischief and hid the
sheets from which they were reading. Khabbab slipped away into the
house. Umar asked what was the gibberish he had heard, to which she
answered that it was merely conversation between them...” (The Life of the Messenger of God)
Umar exploded in wrath at what he believed to be a prevarication, and
struck his sister in her face. The blow caused her mouth to bleed. He
was going to strike again but the sight of blood made him pause. He
suddenly appeared to relent, and then in a changed tone asked her to
show him what she was reading. She sensed a change in him but said: “You
are an unclean idolater, and I cannot allow you to touch the Word of
God.”
Umar immediately went away, washed himself, returned to his sister's
home, read the text of Qur'an, and then went to the house of Arqam where
he formally accepted Islam.
Sir William Muir says that Umar's conversion to Islam took place at
the close of the sixth year of the Prophet's mission. He adds the
following footnote:
It (Umar's conversion) occurred in Dhul Hijjah the last month of the
year. The believers are said now to have amounted in all to 40 men and
ten women; or by other accounts, to 45 men and eleven women. (The Life of Mohammed, 1877, p. 95)
Umar was about 35 years old when he became a Muslim.
Muhammad Husayn Haykal
At that time, (when he was converted to Islam) Umar ibn al Khattab was a mature man of thirty to thirty-five years of age. (The Life of Muhammad)
Many Muslims claim that with Umar's conversion, Islam recruited new
strength, and Muslims were now emboldened to dare the pagans. They
could, according to these claims, now come out of their places of
hiding, and pray openly in the precincts of Kaaba, or rather, it was
Umar himself who brought them out of their hiding places, and they were
not now afraid of Abu Jahl or of anyone else.
Muhammad Husayn Haykal
The Muslims who returned from Abyssinia did so for two reasons.
First, Umar ibn al Khattab was converted to Islam shortly after their
emigration. With him, he brought to the Muslim camp the same boldness,
determination, and the tribal standing with which he had been fighting
the Muslims before. He never concealed his conversion nor did he ever
shun the Quraysh opponents. On the contrary, he proclaimed his
conversion publicly and challenged the Quraysh openly.
He did not approve the Muslims' concealment of themselves, their
secret movement from one end of Makkah to the other, and their holding
of prayers at a safe distance from any Quraysh attack. Umar began to
fight the Quraysh as soon as he entered the faith of Islam, constantly
pressed his way close to the Kaaba, and performed his prayer there in
company with whatever Muslims decided to join him. (The Life of Muhammad)
But these curious claims find little support in evidence. And if the
evidence means anything, it appears to run counter to the claims
themselves.
Some claims are even more extravagant. For example, the Egyptian historian, Amin Dawidar, says in his book, Pictures From the Life of the Messenger of God, that Umar's conversion to Islam was a death blow to the Quraysh.
What actually happened was that Umar's conversion to Islam
synchronized with a new and an unprecedented wave of terror that broke
over the Muslims. Whereas before his conversion only those Muslims were
victims of persecution who had no one to protect them, now no Muslim,
not even Muhammad Mustafa himself, was safe from the malevolence of the
polytheists.
Muhammad Husayn Haykal
In their exile (in Abyssinia), they (the emigrants) heard that upon
Umar's conversion the Quraysh had stopped their persecution of Muhammad
and his followers. According to one report a number of them had returned
to Makkah, according to another, all. On reaching Makkah they realized that the Quraysh had resumed persecution of the Muslims with stronger hatred and renewed vigor.
Unable to resist, a number of them returned to Abyssinia while others
entered Makkah under the cover of night and hid themselves away. (The Life of Muhammad, Cairo, 1935)
But this was not all. Much more was yet to come. Now Muhammad
Mustafa, the Messenger of God, could not even live in Makkah. In fact,
little more than a week had passed since Umar's conversion to Islam,
when Muhammad and all members of his family and clan, had to leave
Makkah, and had to go into exile. Therefore, the theory that Umar's
conversion to Islam caused Muslims to abandon their caution and
defensive posture, and to defy the infidels, is simply not coincident
with facts.
S. Margoliouth
.....we have no record of any occasion on which Umar displayed
remarkable courage, though many examples are at hand of his cruelty and
bloodthirstiness; at the battle of Hunain he ran away, and on another
occasion owed his life to the good nature of an enemy. (Mohammed and the Rise of Islam, 1931)
Professor Margoliouth has made a reference to the occasion when a
good-natured enemy spared Umar's life. He must be referring to the
battle of the Trench or the Siege of Medina (A.D. 627). In that battle,
Ali ibn Abi Talib killed the Makkan general, Amr ibn Abd Wudd, whereupon
his (Amr's) comrades-in-arms hastily retreated across the Trench. When
they were retreating, Umar tried to overtake one of them. This knight,
who was in retreat, had heard that Ali never pursued a fleeing enemy.
He, therefore, figured that whoever was pursuing him then, could not
be Ali. Out of curiosity, he stole a glance backwards and noticed that
it was Umar who was bearing down upon him. When he saw Umar, he
immediately turned the reins of his horse to face him, and this made him
(Umar) stop. The knight who knew Umar, said to him: “If my mother had
not made me vow that I would never kill a Qurayshi, you would be a dead
man now. Be grateful to her, and do not forget that I have spared your
life.”
It may be noted that Hamza had accepted Islam one year before Umar
became a Muslim, and he had signalized his conversion by striking Abu
Jahl, the maternal uncle of Umar, with his bow. One may not expect Umar
to emulate Hamza's example by striking his own uncle, but there is no
record that he struck any other idolater for showing insolence to the
Apostle of God.
Furthermore, when Hamza accepted Islam and bloodied the nose of Abu
Jahl, Umar himself was an idolater. It was his duty, in the name of
“tribal solidarity,” to challenge Hamza, and to defend the honor of the
brother of his mother. After all, according to many claims in
circulation, he was the most fearless, the most fear-inspiring, the most
violent-tempered, and the most headstrong man in Makkah. And who but
Umar would dare to challenge Hamza? But the challenge never came.
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