Umar at the Door

Umar ibn al-Khattab (ra) was twenty-seven, fierce, respected and feared, and among the religion's harshest enemies; believers had emigrated to escape men like him. The Prophet ﷺ had prayed: O Allah, strengthen Islam with the more beloved to You of these two men: Abu Jahl, or Umar ibn al-Khattab.

One day Umar set out with his sword, intending, the sirah relates, to finish the matter of Muhammad ﷺ once and for all. A man he met on the road tested his resolve with news closer to home: your own sister Fatimah and her husband Sa'id have believed. Umar turned on his heel.

At his sister's door he heard recitation inside: the household was being taught Surah Ta-Ha. He burst in; the page was hidden; he struck his brother-in-law, and when his sister shielded her husband he wounded her too. The sight of her blood, and her defiance, we have believed, so do what you will, stopped him cold. Shame cooled the rage, and he asked to see what they had been reading.

Wash yourself first, his sister said, and he did, and took the page, and read: Ta-Ha. We have not sent down the Qur'an upon you for you to be miserable... His verdict as he read on was the verdict of an honest tongue: how excellent and noble is this speech. Take me to Muhammad.

At the house of al-Arqam, Hamzah (ra) counselled calm as the dreaded knock sounded. The Prophet ﷺ met him, took hold of his garment, and said: is it not time, O Umar? Umar (ra) declared his faith then and there, and the takbir of the believers inside shook the little house. He refused to practice in hiding: the Muslims soon prayed openly at the Ka'bah for the first time, with Hamzah (ra) on one flank and Umar (ra) on the other.