A Night Beside the Kaʿbah

ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb narrates, and he is narrating his own story. He is saying that he used to love drinking; he was in love with wine, and he had some drinking partners whom he would meet every night, and they used to meet in a place in al-Hazwarah. So he went late that evening to meet his friends — going to the pub down the street — and he did not find anyone; there was no one there. So he decided to go to the wine dealer, but he found his shop closed. He went around looking for other options; he did not find any, and it was too late. Since the pub was closed and the liquor store was closed, he thought: why not go and make ṭawāf around the Kaʿbah — do something better.

ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said: "I went to make ṭawāf around the Kaʿbah, and who do you expect he found there? Who else would be praying next to the Kaʿbah at that late hour of the night?" The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). He said: "There was no one there but me and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and the Messenger of Allah did not sense my presence." ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said he wanted to sneak — in one narration, to sneak and attack him; in another narration, to listen to what he was reciting.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) would pray with the Kaʿbah in front of him, towards the direction of Jerusalem; therefore the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) would be praying towards the wall of the Kaʿbah that had the Yemeni corner and the Black Stone. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said: "I went from behind, and I was hiding between the covering of the Kaʿbah and the Kaʿbah, so I had my back towards the Kaʿbah." And he had the cloth of the Kaʿbah over him, so he could not be seen. And he said: "I was sneaking around the Kaʿbah until I was right in front of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). Nothing is between me and him except the cloth of the Kaʿbah." But he could not see me.

ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said: "I was able to hear his recitation. He was right in front of me, and he was reciting from Sūrat al-Ḥāqqah." He said that he just froze in his tracks, listening to the wonderful words of the Qurʾān. And then he told himself: these must be the words of a poet. The next āyah that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) recited was:

— these are not the words of a poet; little do you believe. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said: "I was shocked, and I said to myself, these must be words of a soothsayer — how did he know what was in my heart? These must be words of a soothsayer." The next āyah was:

— these are not the words of a soothsayer; little do you remember. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said that was the first step in bringing him towards Islam — the foundation of kufr in the heart of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb was cracked. Nevertheless, his heart is still filled with hatred towards the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and the Muslims; he was not there yet. He was one step closer, but he was still inhibited because of the hatred that he had in his heart towards the Muslims.