Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 506
! ! 506 suffering had beco me unbearable, the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa advised his followers t o migrate towards Abyssinia. T hey replied, “O Prophet of Allah ! H ow can we go to another place and live in peace and harmony while you suffer here?” The Holy Prophet Muhammad sa replied that he had not received God Almighty ’s permission to migrate yet, but they should do so. [He continued to say that] when he receives permission to migrate , he would do so. Among the emigrants was a woman , who was helping her husband load the camels in the early morning. Ha z rat ‘ Umar ra , who had not yet accepted Islam , happened to pass that way. He wa s deeply moved by what he saw. Al t hough Arabs were disbelievers and transgressors , they were brave, and their hand would not rise to h urt the weak and the old. Here in the early hours of the day, Haz rat ‘Umar ra saw a woman preparing to leave M ecc a for ever. I n a voice heavy with tears, he inquired , “ Lady ! It appears that you are preparing for a journey?” She replied , “We have planned to leave here. The suffering has extended beyond what we can bear. Alas, what did we ever do to you? We only say, Allah is O ne, yet you stop us from saying even that. Therefore, we leave. ” Upon seeing her helplessness and sadness, even the hard - hearted ‘Umar, who had no mercy for Muslims, was moved to tears and addressed her, “ Okay lady , God be with you. ” and with that, he went away. Thus , women left their homes, suffered abuse, and accepted death, but they never wished to hide their belief that God was O ne. These women were women just like you. Just as you have hearts within your chests, so did they have hearts. Just as you have children, so did they have children. Yet, they sacrificed everything on the path toward s God. Ha zrat ‘Umar ’s ra sister was a woman as well and it was through her, that Hazrat ‘ Umar ra was given the message. It is said that Haz rat ‘Umar ra left his home with a sword in his hand. Someone asked him where he was going. He stated that he was going to kill the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa. He w as then asked what he would achieve by killing the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa. If he murdered the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa , his family would kill [Hazrat ‘ Umar ra ] and his family. It was better for him to first take care of his