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In fact, 'Umar's conversion created a great deal of stir in Makkah that some people denounced him
as an apostate, yet he would never waver in Faith, on the contrary, he persisted in his stance even
at the peril of his life. The polytheists of Quraish marched towards his house with the intention of
killing him. 'Abdullah bin 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) narrated: While 'Umar was at home
in a state of fear, there came Al-'As bin Wa'il As-Sahmy Abu 'Amr, wearing an embroidered cloak
and a shirt having silk hems. He was from the tribe of Bani Sahm who were our allies during the
pre-Islamic period of ignorance. Al-'As said to 'Umar: What's wrong with you? He said: Your people
claim that they will kill me if I become a Muslim. Al-'As said: Nobody will harm you after I have
given protection to you. So Al-'As went out and met the people streaming in the whole valley. He
said: Where are you going? They replied: We want son of Al-Khattab who has embraced Islam. Al-
'As said: There is no way for anybody to touch him. So the people retreated.
With respect to the Muslims in Makkah, 'Umar's conversion had a different tremendous impact.
Mujahid, on the authority of Ibn Al-'Abbas (May Allah be pleased with him) related that he had
asked 'Umar bin Al-Khattab why he had been given the epithet of
Al-Farouque
(he who distinguishes
truth from falsehood), he replied: After I had embraced Islam, I asked the Prophet (Peace be upon
him): 'Aren't we on the right path here andHereafter?' The Prophet (Peace be upon him) answered:
'Of course you are! I swear by Allâh in Whose Hand my soul is, that you are right in this world and
in the hereafter.' I, therefore, asked the Prophet (Peace be upon him) 'Why we then had to conduct
clandestine activism. I swear by Allâh Who has sent you with the Truth, that we will leave our
concealment and proclaim our noble cause publicly.' We then went out in two groups, Hamzah
leading one and I the other. We headed for the Mosque in broad daylight when the polytheists of
Quraish saw us, their faces went pale and got incredibly depressed and resentful. On that very
occasion, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) attached to me the epithet of Al-Farouque. Ibn Mas'ud
(May Allah be pleased with him) related that they (the Muslims) had never been able to observe
their religious rites inside the Holy Sanctuary except when 'Umar embraced Islam.
Suhaib bin Sinan (May Allah be pleased with him), in the same context, said that it was only after
'Umar's conversion, that we started to proclaim our Call, assemble around and circumambulate the
Sacred House freely. We even dared retaliate against some of the injustices done to harm us. In the
same context, Ibn Mas'ud said: We have been strengthened a lot since 'Umar embraced Islam.
QURAISH'S REPRESENTATIVE NEGOTIATES WITH THE MESSENGER OF ALLAH:
Shortly after
the conversion of these two powerful heroes, Hamzah bin 'Abdul-Muttalib and 'Umar bin Al-Khattab
(May Allah be pleased with him), the clouds of tyranny and oppressionstarted to clear away and the
polytheists realized that it was no use meting out torture to the Muslims. They consequently began
to direct their campaign to a different course. The authentic records of the biography of the Prophet
(Peace be upon him) show that it had occurred to the Makkan leaders to credit Muhammad (Peace
be upon him) with ambition. They, therefore, time and again plied him with temptation. One day
some of the important men of Makkah gathered in the enclosure of Al-Ka'bah, and 'Utbah bin Rabi'a,
a chief among them, offered to approach the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and contract a bargain
with him whereby they give him whatever worldly wealth he asks for, on condition that he keep
silent and no longer proclaim his new faith. The people of Quraish endorsed his proposal and
requested him to undertake that task. 'Utbah came closer to Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and
addressed him in the following words:
We have seen no other man of Arabia, who has brought so great a calamity to a nation, as you have
done. You have outraged our gods and religion and taxed our forefathers and wise men with impiety
and error and created strife amongst us. You have left no stone unturned to estrange the relations
with us. If you are doing all this with a view to getting wealth, we will join together to give you
greater riches than any Quraishite has possessed. If ambition moves you, we will make you our
chief. If you desire kingship we will readily offer you that. If you are under the power of an evil spirit
which seems to haunt and dominate you so that you cannot shake off its yoke, then we shall call in
skilful physicians to cure you.
"Have you said all?" asked Muhammad (Peace be upon him); and then hearing that all had been
said, he spoke forth, and said:
"In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.
Hâ-Mîm
. [These letters are
one of the miracles of the Qur'ân, and none but Allâh (Alone) knows their meanings]. A
revelation from Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. A Book whereof the verses are
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