Chief of the Prophets — Page 67

Chapter Five 67 and said that Ḥamzah ra was justified in saying that he had overstepped his bounds. Ḥamzah ra , who had uttered his words of acceptance of Muḥammad’s religion in his outburst, was initially worried at what he had said, but then seriously thought about it and finally concluded that it was better to accept Islam. So he went to Muḥammad sa , recited the Islamic creed ( Kalimah) , and accepted Islam. Acceptance of ‘Umar ra Hardly few days had passed since the conversion of Ḥamzah ra , when Allah, the Exalted, also enabled ‘Umar bin al-Khaṭṭāb ra to accept Islam. The story of his acceptance of Islam is quite interesting. He used to inflict a lot of pain on the Muslims. One day he thought, “Why should I not kill the instigator of this entire dissension and settle the account once for all?” He picked up his sword and went looking for Muḥammad sa. On the way, someone saw him with his unsheathed sword and asked him where he was going. ‘Umar ra said that he was going to kill Muḥammad sa. The person responded, “Before killing Muḥammad sa , you should find out about your own sister. Did you not know that your sister and brother-in-law have both accepted Islam?” ‘Umar ra immediately turned towards the house of his sister, Fāṭimah. When he got to the door, he heard someone inside reading the Qur’ān, which enraged him even more. Hearing his voice, Khabbāb bin al-Arat ra , who was reciting the Qur’ān inside the house, hid himself, and Fāṭimah ra hid the pages of the Qur’ān. ‘Umar ra entered the house and said in a fury, “I have heard that you have abandoned your faith. ” He then attacked his brother-in-law Sa‘īd bin Zaid ra. When Fāṭimah ra stepped forward to protect her husband, she was injured in the scuffle, but valiantly said, “Yes ‘Umar, we have become Muslims, and you may do whatever you can, we will not abandon Islam. ”