HAMZAH BIN A’BD-UL-MUTTALLEB BIN HÂSHEM AND O’MAR BIN AL-KHATTÂB—MAY ALLAH REWARD THEM— PROFESS ISLÂM.

In the sixth year after the mission the prince of wit­nesses [i.e., martyrs], Hamzah Bin A’bd-ul-Muttalleb, and O’mar Bin Al-Khattâb, became participators in the happi­ness of the religion, and were invested with the robe of Divine knowledge. The reason of their, but particularly of Hamzah’s, profession of Islâm was that Abu Jahl saw one day his holy and prophetic lordship—u. w. b.—sitting in the vicinity of Mount Safa. On account of his great folly, that miserable and impure fellow began to insult his lord­ship the best of men; the latter, however, very patiently endured the imprecations of that accursed man, and offered no resistance; but the slave-girl of A’bdullah Bin Juda’an was looking from the top of Mount Safa upon his lordship the Musstafa.* When Hamzah returned from the chase he circumambulated the Ka’bah according to his usual custom, and the just-mentioned girl informed him of what had taken place. Then Hamzah went in pursuit of that accursed individual, saying: ‘I shall taste neither food nor drink till I have revenged myself upon the person who has insulted Muhammad.’ After that he went to the prophet —u. w. b.—who was sitting in the area of the Ka’bah, and said to him: ‘Thy uncle has come to take vengeance on thy enemy.’ His lordship answered: ‘Let him alone who has no uncle, neither father nor mother, no man of busi­ness, nor wazir.’ But Hamzah swore by Lât and U’zza, saying: ‘I have come only to aid and to protect thee.’ His lordship rejoined: ‘I swear by that God who has sent me in truth, that if thou fightest long enough against infidels to be drowned in their blood, thou wilt only be removed further and further from the Lord of unity, until thou sayest: “I bear witness that there is no God but Allah, and I testify that Muhammad is the apostle of Allah.”’ Accordingly Hamzah pronounced this excellent Kalimat, entered the assembly of the Qoraish, wounded the head of Abu Jahl in seven places, and made a public pro­fession of Islâm; but in some chronicles it is related that he first broke the head of Abu Jahl, then went to the assembly of his holy and prophetic lordship—u. w. b.— and became a Musulmân. In short, his lordship the refuge of termination was greatly rejoiced at Hamzah’s profession of Islâm, his noble companions were comforted and emboldened, and the disappointed infidels abstained from insulting his lordship by word or deed.

The most correct tradition on the conversion of O’mar to Islâm is as follows: When the verse ‘Ye, and what ye worship besides Allah, will be projected into fire; ye will descend to hell,’ was revealed and promulged, Abu Jahl rose in the assembly of the Qoraish and said: ‘O men, Muhammad reproves our and your gods, considers your wise men to be fools, and says that your fathers are, together with the gods they have worshipped, the fuel of hell-fire. Now, I proclaim that anyone who shall kill Muhammad will receive from me one thousand red she-camels and one thousand Oqiahs of red gold.’* But according to another tradition he said ‘one hundred red-haired and black-eyed camels, with one thousand Oqiahs of white bullion-silver.’ O’mar Bin Al-Khattâb, who was present in that company, replied: ‘O Abu-l-Hukm! there must be a security for this promise.’

Abu Jahl: ‘As I intend to make payment immediately, there will be no need for any security.’

Omar: ‘Swear by Lât and by U’zza that thy tongue agrees with thy heart.’

Hereon the accursed Abu Jahl swore an oath, and to convince O’mar took him into the house of the Ka’bah, where he appealed to Hobal the greatest of the Qoraish idols to be a witness in this matter, whereon O’mar girded his sword, the breadth whereof measured one, and the length seven spans, and sallied forth to murder the prophet—u. w. b. According to one tradition, a companion, Na’im Bin A’bdullah, met him on the road, and informed him, for the purpose of gaining time, that his sister and his brother-in-law Sa’aid Bin Zaid had made their profession of Islâm. According to another tradition, Sa’ad Bin Abu Woqâss happened to see him, and to ask: ‘O’mar! where art thou going?’ He replied: ‘To kill Muhammad.’ Sa’ad continued: ‘Thou art unable to do it. Fearest thou not the Bani A’bd Munâf?’ O’mar retorted: ‘I shall first make an end of thyself for having changed thy religion.’ Sa’ad retorted: ‘Thou art unable to kill either me or Muhammad. Such acts are above thy capacity.’ At these words O’mar bared his sword, and Sa’ad his, because at that time Musulmâns never went about unarmed, for fear of the unbelievers. When the dispute was about to terminate with bloodshed, Sa’ad exclaimed: ‘Thou must first slay thy own relatives, because thy sister and thy brother-in-law have also become Musulmâns.’ O’mar continued: ‘What is the proof of the truth of these words?’ Sa’ad replied: ‘That they do not eat of thy sacrifices.’* Accordingly O’mar no longer pressed Sa’ad, but deflected from the road to the house of his sister, to which the latter and her husband Sa’aid Bin Zaid happened on that occasion to have invited Habbâb Bin Arath. When O’mar arrived he found the door locked, but, listening, he heard someone reading; then he knocked, and when the inmates perceived him, Habbâb retired to a corner, and they hid the leaf on which the Surah T. T. H. of the Qurân was written. O’mar asked: ‘Have I heard words?’ They replied: ‘We were conversing with each other.’ Then O’mar slaughtered a kid with his own hands and ordered it to be roasted. When it was done, he said: ‘Let us sit down and eat together.’ They, however, refused to partake of it. There­fore O’mar believed the words of Sa’ad Bin Abu Woqâss, and in his anger took hold of the beard of his brother-in-law; he moreover threw him on the ground and sat on his chest. The sister wished to release her husband from the grasp of O’mar, who then struck her cheek; but according to another tradition he broke her head, and her face was bloody. His sister then exclaimed: ‘Thou insultest us because we have become Musulmâns.’ O’mar replied: ‘Yes.’ His sister retorted: ‘We have both professed Islâm, and say, despite of thee, There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the apostle of Allah! Do as thou listest; we are both Musulmâns, and will not renounce the Faith of Muhammad.’ When Fârûq* beheld their con­stancy in the religion, and perceived the blood on his sister’s face, he was touched, repented of his act, sat down on the edge of a couch, and said: ‘Give me the leaf you have been reading.’ But his sister replied: ‘It is the command of the Lord that “none shall touch the same except those who are clean.”* Arise and wash thyself.’ When O’mar went out for his ablution, Habbâb came forth from his hiding-place, and said to that believing woman: ‘Givest thou the Qurân into the hands of an infidel?’ She replied: ‘I hope he will become a Musulmân.’ O’mar had washed himself and entered the room, whereon Habbâb again concealed himself for fear of him. O’mar then received the book from the hands of his sister, and when he came to the verse ‘The Lord of heaven and earth, and what is between them,’* O’mar said: ‘He alone must be worshipped to whom these words apply, and no one else.’ When he came to the words ‘Thou art proud of speech, but He knows what is secret and most concealed; he is God, and there is no other besides Him,’ the padlock of careless­ness of his breast’s treasury was opened, and he said: ‘There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the apostle of Allah!’ When Habbâb Bin Arath had heard the excel­lent Kalimat pronounced by O’mar he shouted the Takbir,* and, coming forth from his hiding-place, said: ‘I congratu­late thee, for verily the prayer of the apostle—u. w. b.— which he uttered yesterday in the words, “O Allah, make Islâm dear to Abu Jahl Bin Heshâm or to O’mar Bin Al-Khattâb,” has been responded to with regard to thee.’ O’mar replied: ‘Take me to the lord of the apostolate— u. w. b.’ When O’mar arrived at the august mansion where his lordship and the companions were assembled he knocked at the door, and one of the friends, looking through a chink, perceived him standing near it with a sword, and the company having been informed of the fact, no one was willing to open the door, but Hamzah said: ‘O apostle of Allah, order the door to be opened. If O’mar has come with a good intention, it will be all right; but if not, I shall cut off his head with his own sword.’ When the com­panions had opened the door, his lordship the refuge of prophecy hastened to meet O’mar. The tradition is that his holy and prophetic lordship—u. w. b.—took hold of the arm of O’mar and squeezed it, saying: ‘O’mar, tell us whether thou hast come in peace, that I may let go my hold of thee; or whether thou hast come in enmity, that I may punish thee.’ O’mar replied with fear and trembling: ‘I have become a Musulmân.’ His lordship continued: ‘Then say: “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his apostle.”’ Whereon O’mar pronounced the beautiful Kalimat, and his lordship responded with the Takbir, the companions doing the same from gladness and joy, in such a manner that the shouting was heard in the assemblies of the Qoraish. Then O’mar said: ‘O apostle of Allah, it is unseemly that the idolaters worship Lât and U’zza openly, and the professors of Islâm adore the Lord secretly. Order the religion of Allah and the true Faith to be promulged openly.’ After saying these words they went out, and pro­ceeded to circumambulate the house of the Ka’bah, Sidiq [i.e., Abu Bakr] walking on the right, Hamzah on the left, and A’li Murtaza—u. w. b.—with a drawn sword in front of his lordship the prophet—u. w. b. O’mar preceded A’li, and all the companions of the apostle followed in the rear. The Qoraish chiefs were sitting in an apartment and expecting O’mar, when they all of a sudden perceived him from a distance joyfully approaching with the apostle of Allah and his friends. The infidels exclaimed: ‘O’mar, who is coming after thee?’ But he replied: ‘There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the apostle of Allah! Whoever of you moves, I shall cut off his head with my bright scimitar, and shall send him to the mansion of destruction!’ The idolaters were astonished, and said: ‘We have sent O’mar to kill Muhammad, and, lo, now he follows and aids him! A great event has happened, and a great calamity has taken place.’ When the infidels approached O’mar he warded them off, and drove them away from the house of the Ka’bah, which his lordship the apostle then entered with his noble companions, where they all prayed, and the blessed verse ‘O prophet, Allah will reward thee, and the believers who are with thee,’ was revealed. Let it not remain unknown that there are other traditions concerning the conversion of O’mar, but as we have received a hint to abstain from repetitions, we have contented ourselves with the above tradition. Some his­torians narrate that the Fârûq was honoured by professing Islâm after thirty-nine men; others assert that he was the forty-first, and others that he was the forty-sixth individual who professed the Faith. In short, by his aid the arm of the religion was strengthened, and by his accession the believers were comforted.