Stories from Early Islam — Page 59
Umar Accepts Islam Before accepting Islam, Umar was one of the worst enemies of the Muslims. He was a great soldier. When he saw that in spite of the strong opposition, Islam was spreading day by day, he decided to kill the Prophet saw in order to finish the new Faith for ever. With this vicious motive, he took a sword in hand and set out in search of the Holy Prophet saw. A friend met him on the way and asked him where he was going. ‘To kill Muhammad’, replied Umar. ‘But don’t you know that your sister Faatimah and her husband have already become Muslims’ said the man. Umar was greatly shocked to learn this. He decided to deal with them first before going to the Prophet saw. As he reached his sister’s house, he heard a recitation being made inside the house. A Muslim teacher, Khabbaab by name was teaching them the Holy Book. As soon as they saw Umar approaching, Khabbaab hid himself, and Faatimah hid the leaves on which the verses were written. Umar faced his sister and brother-in-law and said, ‘I learnt that you have joined the new religion which Muhammad has brought. ’ They tried to explain to him, to calm him down, but Umar was in no mood to listen to any explanation. He raised his sword to hit his brother-in-law. Faatimah, who was standing nearby, stepped in quickly to save her husband, and was injured slightly in doing so. Blood began to flow from her face. She