Umar Embraces Islam at Dar al-Arqam

He went to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and it is in the narration that the Companion was frightened and surprised, and he told the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him): "ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb is outside, and he's carrying his sword too." Because, remember, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb had carried his sword — his intention was to go and kill the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), so he was carrying his sword with him. This Companion had all the right to be frightened; this is ʿUmar.

Now, who in that gathering offered to go and open the door? Who is the one who can stand up and face ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb? Who would it be? Well, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) did go later on, but who was the one who first stood up and said, "I'm going to go"? Ḥamzah ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib. The one who would stand up against ʿUmar was Ḥamzah ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib. He said, "O Messenger of Allah, if ʿUmar has come for a good reason, we will reciprocate; but if he came with the wrong intentions, then I will kill him with his own sword." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told Ḥamzah, "No, I will open the door for him." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) went and he opened the door.

Now, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb was one of the tallest men of Quraysh. When ʿUmar was Khalīfah, they received some pieces of cloth from one of the Islamic states. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb distributed these cloths evenly; he gave everyone one piece. When ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb stood to give khuṭbah, he had two pieces on. So ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said, "Listen and obey." Salmān al-Fārisī stood up and said, "We won't listen and we won't obey." ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said, "How come?" Salmān said, "Because you have given each one of us one piece, and you are wearing two pieces." ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb did not respond; he told his son ʿAbdullāh to stand up and respond to what Salmān was saying. ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar stood up and said: "My father is a very tall man, very well built; one piece of cloth would not be enough for him, so I gave him mine." Salmān al-Fārisī said, "Now we will hear and obey." So this was the standard of justice that they had; even the Khalīfah could not have preference over the masses, and there were people who were willing to stand up and fix the mistakes that they would see, like Salmān al-Fārisī.

So ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb was not only tall, but he was very well built, and for a while he was a wrestler; he used to wrestle in Makkah at his young age. So he was a huge, well-built man. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) opened the door for ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was described as being of medium height and medium build. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was not short and not too tall, and not very thin, but at the same time not a heavyweight — he was medium. So one can imagine the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in front of this huge man. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) grabbed ʿUmar by his clothes and dragged him in, and put him down on his knees, and told him, "O ʿUmar, when are you going to stop? Are you waiting for Allah to strike you with a thunderbolt?" ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said, "O Messenger of Allah, I have come to become Muslim." Now, this happened between the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and ʿUmar right next to the gate, and all of the other Companions were in a different room, so they did not see what was happening.

When ʿUmar said that, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "Allāhu akbar." All of the Companions knew what had happened; they realised that ʿUmar had become Muslim. They were so happy with that news; they made the takbīr so loud that they immediately had to disperse, because it was heard by the people of Makkah. The Islam of ʿUmar was a turning point in the history of Islam in Makkah. ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd says: "The Islam of ʿUmar was victory. His emigration to Madīnah was help to Islam, and his reign, his khilāfah, was mercy." ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd says: "We were never able to pray in front of the Kaʿbah publicly until ʿUmar became Muslim." So the Islam of one person changed the situation of the whole Muslim community. That was how valuable ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb was, such a great asset. ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd also says that they used to conceal their Islam until ʿUmar became Muslim, and then they would proudly proclaim their Islam. It is mentioned in one of the narrations of sīrah that when ʿUmar became Muslim, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) lined up the Muslims in two ranks — one rank was headed by Ḥamzah, the other rank was headed by ʿUmar — and they went down the streets of Makkah marching publicly, proclaiming their religion, while the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was walking between the two lines, the two ranks.