Umar Ibn Khattab CD 1

Monday, May 18, 2009

LEGENDS
OF
Islam


عمر ابن الخطاب رضي الله تعالى عنه


Umar Ibn Khattab radhiAllahu anhu

His Life &Times



A comprehenssive series of lectures that will cover the different aspects of the life of Umar Ibn Khattab:
Before Islam
During the life of Messenger of Allaah
During the life of Abu Bakr
&
Finally His Khilafah



Lecture series by Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki
[May Allaah preserve him]






PART 1

Umar Ibn Khattab radhiallahu anhu
His life and times
By Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki

اعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم
الحمد لله الصلاة والسلام على سيدالاولين والاخيرين محمد ابن عبد الله وعلى اهله وصحبيه وسلم
تسليماً كثيراً امابعد!

السلام و عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاتهُ

يقول تعالى "يايها الذين امنوا لا تموتن الا وانتم مسلمون"
Allaah Azzawajal says, “O you who believe donot let death approach you except in state of Taqwa”. We ask Allaah Azzawajal to give us all Taqwa [ameen]. In Sunan al-Baghawi Abdullah Ibn Masa’ud radhiAllahu anhu says

من كان مستنن فليستن بمن قدمات فإن الحيء لا تؤمنوا عليه فتنة اولاءك اصحاب محمد] صلوات الله والسلام
عليه [كانوا والله افضلوا هذاه الامة و ابرحا قلوبن واعمقها علماً وعقلها تكلفا قوم اختارهم الله يصحبت نبيه واقامت دينه فاعرفه لهم فضلهم واتبعواهم فى اثارهم وتمسقوا بما استطعتم من اخلاقهم و دينهم فإنهم كانوا على الصراط المستقيم [Please rectify errors in Arabic Text Jazakallahu Khairun]

Abdullah Ibn Masa’ud radhiAllahu anhu said, من كان مستنن فليستن بمن قدمات whoever is going to follow a path should follow the path of one who died فإن الحي لا تؤمنوا عليه فتنة becuase the living could fail in their trials, اولاءك اصحاب محمد those are the companions of Muhammad Salallahu Alaihey Wasalam.Abdullah Ibn Masa’ud radhiAllahu anhu is telling the Tabee’n who are the second greatest generation, he is telling them “don’t follow the life living among you, even though they might be Awliyah of Allaaz Azzawajal, some of them might be virtuous among them, some of them would be Mujahideen, Ulama, Ubad ”. Abdullah Ibn Masa’ud radhiAllahu anhu is telling them “don’t follow the life of living among you but follow the dead, the campanion of Rasoolullah Sallalahu Alaihe Waslam why? Because there is no guaranttee that this person who is living wouldn’t fail in some of his trials.. But with Sahaaba radhiAllahu anhum they have been giving the stamp of approval. See anyone who is living you never know what the out come would be? Because Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wasalam says there are some people who would be on the track of people of Jannah [Paradise] in their Ibadah, in their actions. They are doing what people of Jannah do but before they die they commit the actions of people of Hell Fire and then they end up going to Hell fire. While they failed in Fitnah [Trials] everyone is going be face with the trials and no body knows what the out come of that will be? And that is why Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam used to say
“يا مقلب القلوب والابصار ثبت قلوبنا على الدين”[Please correct if there is any error in text]
“O the one who changes the hearts make our hearts steadfast on Islam. “the heart the word Qalb in Arabic means “something that changes”, overturns, that goes up and down. So Abdullah Ibn Masa’ud radhiAllahu anhu is saying follow the campanions of Rasoolullah. He was saying this in time of Tabee’n which was the seecond best generation. What should we say today? No one has the guaranttee no one that they are going to go to Jannah. Nobody. But the ones who with Rasoollulah sallalahu alaihe wasalam the ones who were in Ghazwa al-Badr, the ones who gave him Baiy’ah under the [tree], ar-Ridwan, the ones who fought with him, the one who had patience with him, the ones whom rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wasalam had died ما توهواعنهم راضع Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam was pleased with them, these are the ones we should follow. And then he gives us some other reasons why should we follow them.

كانوا والله افضل هذاالامة They were the best of this Ummah:
[ خيرالقروني قرني] Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam says “the best of generations is my generation” these are the best. [كانوا والله افضل هذاه الامة].

و ابروحا قلوبن and they had the most pious hearts:
There hearts had the most Taqwa. No one can compete with Sahaaba in their Taqwa. They have achieved the highest limits.

واعمقها علماً and they had the deepest knowledge.
Now notice here the choice of words. Abdullah Ibn Masa’ud radhiAllahu anhu didn’t say [واكثرها علما] he didn’t say that they had the most knowledge, he said they had the deepest knowledge. Because they are the people who came after the Sahaaba. Who known things which Sahaaba may not have known. For example al-Bukhari, he knew more ahadiths then many of the Sahaaba . Why because he knew? Because what umar had, he knew the ahadith of abu bakr, he knew ahadith uthman had, he was an encyclopedae of hadith. When it comes to the opinion of Fiqh, some of the great imams of this ummah not only combines Fiqh of one Sahabi but combine the Fiqh of many. So Abdullah Ibn Masa’ud radhiAllahu anhu didn’t say that they had most of the knowledge, he said they had the deepest knowledge. So even though, some of the scholars of hadith scholars of Fiqh could know things that some of the Sahaaba didn’t know however, none of the people who came after Sahaaba had depth of knowledge that Sahaaba had. Because even though a Sahaabi may only know two hundred or three hundred ahadith but he was there when that ahadith was spoken by Rasooullah sallalahu alaihe wasalam. He knew the circumstances, he knew why rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wasalam said it, he was there, he lived that ahadith, an opportunity that none of us have. So they had something, they had an edge over everyone of us. They were there when the ayaat of Qur’an were coming down. They lived it, they experienced it fisrt hand. Therefore, evrybody who comes after the Sahaaba is scratching the surface of knowledge but the Sahaaba had the depth of it. There understanding was deep and when you have deep understanding, it makes throughout your life and your actions better than somebody who might have more knowledge than you do, and thats why we should follow the actions of the Sahaaba radhiAllahu anhum because they had the deepest knowledge.
وعقلبها تكلفاً and they were the least supeficial:
The Sahaaba radhiAllah anhum would not act out Islam. They would not put out fake image. They were not superficial. They did not pretend to be sophisticated. You know now you have books that are written and the brother comes and says Masha Allaah that was an excellent book and you know i read it from the begining till the end and i didn’t understand it. [such a sophisticated book!] that wasn’t the way of Sahaaba radhiAllahu anhum. The way of Sahaaba was simplecity their speeches were short, their words were concise and clear. They wouldn’t want to prove that they were knowledgeable by choosing sophisticated long words and put it in a rhyming long speech. There words were very simple. Because Sahaaba radhiAllahu anhum came from very simple background. The Arabs of Arabia were not adulterated like the other nations of the world. They were not affected by the luxurious life styles of Persians and Romans. They were not affected by the philosophy of the Greek. They were not affected by the theology of the Latin the Sahaaba radhiAllahu anhum most of them were illeterate. They were very simple and straight forward, honest, decent people. Even the poetry in time of Jahiliyah was very simple it wasn’t philosophical. It was descriptive, they would describe nature, they would describe woman, that was their poetry. They were simple in their dress they were simple in their food that they would eat and thats why the Fitrah of the Sahaaba was very clean. So when they accepted Islam for them to practice Islam was easy because Qur’an came on an empty plate. However, with the other nations, Qur’an had to cleanse their hearts Qur’an has to heal the scarce that were left behind by their old life. Because the Fitrah was deformed, and thats why the Bid’ah [innovation] the early innovation didn’t start in Mecca and Madina they started among the other nations. In Iraq and ash-Sham the nations that were effected by the philosophy of the Greek, the religious teachings of the other nations, you know the Arabs in their religion they didn’t have any methology in their religion. For example like the Hindus or the Greeks. They didn’t have that imagination. They just worship this idle that stone that cloth they would hold on some virtues, truth, chivalry, loyalty being loyal to their kinship, that was there religion. So it wasn’t really religion it was more of a set of morals and its just bow down to and idle and you slaughter the animal. Even their religion was simple. So when they became Muslim they carried forward that straight forwardness, honesty and decency. So when they became Muslims they straight went to action they didn’t involved thesmselves in philosophical, theological discourses. Sahaaba radhiAllahu anhum weren’t into that. They only came later on in times of the Khilafah of Umar, Uthman and Ali. When these other nations were accepting Islam and they were talking about the issue of Qadr and they turned it into a theology. But Umar Ibn Khattab was on top of them with his stick.

قوم اختارهاالله يصحبت نبيه واقامت الدينه these are the people whom Allaah chose to be campanions of His Prophet and to establish His Religion.
There is a reason why Allaah chose them. While Allaah Azza wajal chose them particularly they were hand picked to be Sahaaaba of the greatest Nabi.[لكل نبي حواري ] Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam says every Nabi has campanions. Allaah chose these Sahaaba to be campanions of Muhammad Salallahu Alaihey Wasalam for a reason. Because they were the most fit for that responsibility. Once Rasolullah sallalahu alaihe wasalam pass away there was no need to sent any other Nabi till the Day of Judgment. Why because Sahaaba radhiAllahu anhum can carry it on their own. So why were are talking about Sahaaba? Because of these reasons, and also because Abdullah Ibn Masa’ud radhiAllahu anhu said
[فاعرف لهم فضلهم] recognize their virtues:
We need to recognize the Sahaaba for who they are? We need to put them at high esteem, raise their level, respect them. So we are coming together now, for entire month to talk about one of the Sahaaba Umar Ibn al-Khattab radhiAllaahu anhu as an attempt on our behalf, [لما اعرفة فضلا] to recognize them for who they are, to hold them in high esteem. And then he says,”
[ واتبعواهم فى اثارهم] ” and follow their footsteps
[Follow their footsteps!], do what they did if you want to succeed.
[ وتمسقوا بما استطعتم من اخلاقهم و دينهم فانهم كانوا على صراط المستقيم] and follow what you can hold on to whatever you can of their character and religion because they were on the straight path.
They were the ones who were guided. They were the one given stamp of approval by Allaah Azza wajal. So, thats why we talk about Sahaaba ingeneral. And then out of Sahaaba we need to give special emphasis to the four Khulafah, why because Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wasalam had said, “عليكم بسنتي سنت الخلفاء الراشدين المهديين منم بعدى ادعوا عليها بالنار” Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam says follow my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Khulafah [the rightly guided] righteous Khulafah after me and who are they? Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali and out of the four you specially need to talk about Abu Bakr and Umar because Rasoolullah Sallalahu Alaihe Wasalam says in another Hadith, [ابتدوا بالدين بعدى ابى بكر و عمر رضي الله تعالى عنهم] follow the two men after me Abu Bakr and Umar and thats in at-Tarmidi. Allaah Azza wajal says about the Sahaaba
محمدا رسول الله والذين مع هو اشدة وعلى الكفار رحماهو بينهم تراحم ركعوا وسجدا
[Correct: the errors if any Jazakallahu Khairun]
“Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam and the ones around him are stern and harsh with the disbelievers and they are merciful compassionate and soft with the believers you see them making Sujood and making Roko’ah.” We already talked about Abu Abu Bakr as-Siddique radhiAllahu anhu in previous course, now we are talking about Umar Ibn Khattab.

Dear brothers and sisters! Umar Ibn Khattab is a special person. We said unique thing about Abu Bakr was his Emaan with Umar Ibn Khattab its his personality. He had a unique personaliy. History does not produce men like Umar Ibn Khattab. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam said [and this Hadith is in al-Bukhari & al-Muslim],
لقد كان فيما قبلكم من الامم محدث فى اي كن امتى احد فانه هو عمر
[Correct: the errors if any Jazakallahu Khairun]
Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam says there were people who were “Muhadasoon” [محدثون] [I will mention what Muhadasoon means] there were Muhadasoon in the nations before me and if theres going to be a Muhadas [محدث] in my Ummah it would be Umar Ibn Khattab. Now whats the meaning of Muhadas? Ibn Hajar as-Qalaani [ابن حجرالعسقلانى] in his commentary on al-Bukhari, he gives few different opinions:

1) is [منحمون] Munhamoon, men who are inspired by Allaah.
2) [الرجل صادق الظن وهومن القى و روحى شئ من القبل ملاء الاعلى ] the man whose intuition is right because of something that is put in his heart. The third opinion:
3) [من يجر ثواب وعلى لسانيه بغيرقصد] the one who speaks the truth, truth flows naturally on his tongue without him intending. [Without him trying it just comes out naturally on his tongue] and the fourth opinion is:
4) [تكلمه الملاءكه بغير الهوى ] he is the man whom the Angels speak to without him being the prophet and that’s Umar Ibn Khattab.


The truth naturally flows on his tongue, his intuition is always right as if the Angels are speaking to him. Infact we will talk later on about some situations where he would say something and then the Qur’an will come down to approve what he said as if he is speaking with the light of Allaah Azza wajal. And that’s why Umar Ibn Khattab is special and that’s why we should follow the way of Umar Ibn Khattab. Because he is the man who recognizes the truth and spoke and acted upon it. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam says, [ان الله جعل الحق على لسانى عمر وعلى قلبه] “Allaah Azza wajal showed the truth on the tonque of Umar Ibn Khattab and in his heart”. And this Hadith is in at-Tirmidhi and there is another Hadith in at-Tirmidhi which is Hasan Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam says,”[ لو كان بعدى نبيٌ لكان عمر] if there is going to be a Prophet after me he would be Umar Ibn Khattab.”

Umar Ibn Khattab had so many attributes of the Anbiya in him built into his system that if there is going to be a Nabi in this Ummah Allaah would choose Umar Ibn Khattab. And he would be most similar to whom among the Anbiyaa of Allaah? Musa ‘alaihe salaam. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam infact in one Hadith said,”that you are similar to Noah and Musa]”. These were the Anbiyaa of strength. You know Umar Ibn Khattab use to carry stick just like Musa. Our source or sources for this series, obviously when we talk about history must go back to the “Classical Sources” that’s where histroy is. But the thing is with Classical Sources, is the style of our early scholars was to right down everything even they might know this particular narration, that is not authentic. But for the sake of documentation they would write it. They wanted to document everything. So even though we are using at-Tabari but we are using it with care because some of narrations at-Tabari are not very strong. Lot of exaggeration, weak narrations, sometimes fabricated so it needs to be used with care. However, we are going to base the series the primary source would be contemporary book written by Sheikh ‘Ales as-Sulaabi, a Professor in Islamic Studies. We are using his source because he has combed the classical sources one by one and he has retrieved the gems the treasures out of these old books and compiled them into one version. So when we say contemporary sources its not really contemporary in terms of throwing his own words in it. It’s a classical reference because he is quoting from classical books and bringing them in one reference. So that will be used as a primary source and then also will be consulting at-Tabari which is earliest history books written. What we are going to talk about we will talk about name of Umar Ibn Khattab , his character, his family, we talk about his life in Jahiliyah, we will talk about his Islam, hijrah, we will talk about Umar Ibn Khattab and Qur’an, Umar Ibn Khattab in Jihad, some incidences that happen in Madina, we will talk about his virtues, we will talk about Umar Ibn Khattab in the reign of Abu Bakr and then we will talk about the Khilafah of Umar Ibn Khattab radhiAllahu anhu. We will talk about Umar Ibn Khattab and his family, Umar Ibn Khattab with the society, we will talk about the government of Umar Ibn Khattab, we will talk about the conquest that took place in times of Umar Ibn Khattab in Iraq and ash-Sham and then we will talk about his last days. So this is the blue print for our course. So lets start and we ask Allaah Azza wajal to give us tawfeeq [توفيق] we ask Allaah Azza wajal to give us Ikhlas, we ask Allaah Azza wajal to benefit us in the sessions, and to make these sessions surrounded by Angels sessions which Allaah Azza wa jal will throw in tranquility, mercy upon us because we are talking about as-Saliheen and this is to encourage us to be like them. And we ask Allaah Azza wa jal to make us those who follows best at words and applies. [ameen]

Date of Birth:
Umar Ibn Khattab was born according to one opinion eleven years after the Year of the Elephants. Now Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam was born in the Year of Elephants, thats when the army of Abraha tried to destroy the Ka’ba. Umar Ibn Khattab was eleven years younger than Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam. So according to this opinion, Umar Ibn Khattab would be twenty nine years old when Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam received Prophethood. And he would be few years older than when he became Muslim. However, it’s the opinion of as-Sayuti [سيوطى] that he was younger then that. So he was in his late twenties when he embraced Islam according to as-Sayuti.
As we did with Abu Bakr we want to start of with a mental image of Umar Ibn Khattab because that helps you to learn about him, when you have a mental image of a person.
What were physical discriptions of Umar Ibn Khattab?

Dear brothers and sisters! Umar Ibn Khattab was a towering figure. Whenever, he would be with any group, he would be tallest among them. And it was described as when you see him from a distance in a group, you think that he is riding his mount when everybody around him were standing. As if he was on top of his camel and everybody else is standing around it. He was very well built. He wasn’t over wieght but he was described as [مجدود الالحم] Majdood al-Lahm. There was a lot of flesh on his bones but it was muscle. Umar Ibn Khattab was a wrestler, he had a body of a wrestler and he used to wrestle. He used to be a wrestler in Jahiliyah [ignorance] . Majdood al-Lahm مجدود الالحم اعريض القدامين وليدين [] his limbs were large, he had large bones, large frame, and his limbs were large, his hands and his feet were large. He was bald head, [bald headed] and he was described as being a fair skin obviousely relative to the colour of skin of people in Arabia, which is predominantely dark. So relative to that he was a bit fair. [مشحوب بحمرا] [Mashoob bi humra], redness in his colour. [وكان] he used [حنا] Hina, when he was old he used hina hin his hair. [that red dye]. He was described, the tip of his moustouch called the whiskers were long, and he used to twist them with his fingers when he become upset. [when he was angry he would twist his moustouch, they were long]. He was described as when he would walk, he would walk fast. Whe he would speak you could definetly hear him, and when he strikes he strikes with strength, he hurts. [وإذا ضرب اوجع [when he strikes he hurts]. So it was a personality of strength, his voice was strong, his demiter in walking was strong and when he strikes he strikes with strength.
Now Umar Ibn Khattab had that presence, his presence was intimidating to his enemy and to strike fear even within his friends. The Sahaaba radhiAllahu anhum, it happened on many occasions they were afraid of Umar Ibn Khattab. Abu Musa al-‘Ashari once he was requested,[we will talk about it later on], to do something by Umar Ibn Khattab and when he left, his face was pale. Sahaaba said, whats wrong with you? He said Umar Ibn Khattab did this. His face was pale. Another occasion when he was walking some of the sahaaba, he turned around suddenly there was pregnant woman behind him, she had a miscarraige and Sahaaba were then debating whether he has to pay the blood money or not but it happened without his, he didn’t intend to cause her all that trouble. But then Ali Ibn Taalib said you have to pay the blood money to her because the damage that was done but you don’t have to pay it, it should be paid from [بيت المال] bait al-Maal [treasury of the Muslims]. When the enemies of Allaah would hear the name of Umar Ibn Khattab their knees would shake and their hearts would tremble. Now the unique thing about the personality of Umar Ibn Khattab is that even though he had all these characteristics, his eyes would flow with tears easily. And he had very compassionate and merciful heart. And he was very humble, and that’s the unique thing about personality of Umar Ibn Khattab. Usually people who have this strength tend to be harsh and aggressive and arrogant. And people who have compassionate and soft heart tend to be weak. But Umar Ibn Khattab had these opposing characteristics in one personality and that’s why he was unique.

His Family:

His father al-Khattab Ibn Nufail. His father was a very harsh man and Umar Ibn Khattab had a tough up bringing. His father was very harsh with him. Umar Ibn Khattab when he was a Khalifah he would say, he was with some other campanions and he came to this place where he used to be a shepherd, he used to takes the camels of his father, he said ” [لا اله الا الله العلي العظيم المعطى ما يشحء من يشآء] ” the Most High and the Great Who gives whomever he wants and to whom he wants, I used to be a shepherd for camels of my father in this place, [فى مضراعتم منثوب] would wear some harsh wool clothes. [وكان فظن يعطبنى عاملت] and my father was harsh and he would make me exhausted when I worked and he would beat me up if I don’t work. [ ويضربنى اذا قصرت وقد امسيت ليس بينى و بين الله احد ] and today, there is no one between me and Allaah. Being Khalifah of the Muslims on the ladder of classification humanity he is the highest. There is no one in between him and Allaah. Umar Ibn Khattab was saying Subhan Allaah, there was a day when I was a shepherd for my father and he would beat me up. He would hit me, and he was very harsh with me. And now look at where Umar Ibn Khattab is? When you say La Ilaha iLalah [لا اله الا الله] Allaah gives whatever he wants whomever he wants. Who would imagine that he would be given to Umar Ibn Khattab the shepherd of yesterday. He wasn’t only shepherd for his father but he also use to work for other woman his aunts. He said that I had aunts I would take their goats, sheep to this valley and I would come back at the end of the day and they would give me a handful of raisins or dates. Now Abdur Rahman Ibn ‘Awf is narrating the story, he said Umar Ibn Khattab called the people to the Masjid and when they all assembled Umar Ibn Khattab stands up on the pulpit and he says and this is when he is Khalifah,’I used to be a shepherd for some of my aunts and I would come back on the end of the day and they would give me a handful of dates or raisins and I would have a miserable day. ’ and then he came down from the pulpit. I had a miserable day what it meant was I worked for entire day and this is what I get in the end of the day handufl of dates, that was how poor I was. Abdur Rahman Ibn ‘Awf said [مازت على انكم ما تنفسك] you haven’t done more then to belittle yourself , I mean why, what you mean by this khuttba? Whats the point? All what you did just to belittle yourself infront of everyone. Umar Ibn Khattab said, [ويهات ابن غوف] Woe to you son of ‘Awf! My nafs my soul was telling me that you are ameer ul mo’mineen so who is better than you?” So I wanted to teach myself a lesson and let it know who it is. I wanted myself to know who it really is, how humble it is, because myself was trying to play games on me, was tying to tell me I am the ameer ul mo’mineen and who is better than me.
When we are going through the story of Umar Ibn Khattab I wanted to reflect on his sayings, and his actions. Because it tells you a lot about his personality. Umar Ibn Khattab he can not be fooled by anyone even his own self. See, his self was trying to play game on him and was telling him that you are the best. Look at who you are?

Brothers and sisters Shaytan can not come to you unless you allow him to do so? On the Day of Judgment people would go to the Shaytan and compalint and Shaytan would say [ما كان لاعليكم السلطان ] I have no authority over you, you are the one who [لو كنتم قوم طغين] but you are people who are transgressors. Shaytan cannot have access to your heart unless you give him the keys. Umar Ibn Khattab was closing all the cracks which would allow shaytan to come in. while we don’t have cracks we have opened our gates, the gates of our heart to the shaytan. Welcome ‘come in’. Shaytan cannot come to you unless you allow him to. When he went to Adam Alaihe Salaam in Jannah what did he tell the Adam? Did he tell him go and eat from the tree Allaah has banned? Go and eat from the tree that is haram. Go and disobey Allaah Azza wajal “no”. he told him [يا آدم هل ادلك على شجرة الخلد وملك لا يبلى ] “O Adam I am going to tell you about a tree that would give you everlasting life and a great kingdom” Shaytan knows whats appealing to our hearts. You want to live forever, you want to have power, so these are the gates in which he came in heart of Adam alaihe salam. So shaytan needs to find the way to come in Umar Ibn Khattab was sealing all these cracks. He shuts them, Umar Ibn Khattab says,’[ليست بل خبت وليبدالخبت يعداعنى] [Correct the Arabic text if needed Jazakallahu Khairun] I am not a deceiver nor I will allow anybody to deceive me. I don’t go around by deceiving people but at the same time no once can deceive me. That’s why Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam says,”whenever shaytan sees you following one road, he would take another”. Shaytan has given up on Umar Ibn Khattab there is no hope, there is no way, its just waste of time.The father of Umar Ibn Khattab was very rough and harsh in the way he use to bring up his children.

The mother of Umar Ibn Khattab, there is one opinion that says that she is from the family of Bani Makhzom [بني مخظوم \ بني مخزوم] family of Khaalid Ibn Waleed but most of the historeans says that she is the cousin of Abu Jahl. Her name was Hintimah Ibn Hisham.

His wives: He married seven or eight in total, he married Zaynb bint Mad’on a sister of great Sahaabi Uthman Ibn Mad’on, he married her during the time of Jahiliyah. And she was the mother of Abdullah, Abdur Rahman the eldest, and Hafsa. He married Maleeka bint Jarwul and she was the mother of Obaidullah he divorced her. He married Quraiba bint Abi Makhzom, he later on divorced her and she then later on married Abdur Rahman ibn Abu Bakr. He married Umme Hakeem bint al-Harris, she was the wife of Ikramah ibn Abi Jahl, when Ikramah died in the Battle of Yarmook Umar Ibn Khattab married her. And then when Umar Ibn Khattab died she remarried again. She was the mother of Fatimah. He married Jameela bint ‘Asim bin Sabit. He married ‘Atika bin Zayd bin ‘Amr bin Nufail, she was a relative of his. She was married before to Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr. And when Umar Ibn Khattab was killed she married Zubair Ibn Awam. Umar Ibn Khattab wanted to marry the youngest daughter of Abu Bakr her name is Umm Kalthoom she is was born when Abu Bakr passed away. She was his youngest daughter. So Umar Ibn Khattab asked for hand in marriage, she refused. ‘Aysha told her,[أ تر غبينه عن امير المؤمنين] you don’t want to merry Ameerul Mo’mineen? She said,’[ان هو خش لايش] his life style is harsh. Woman want easy life styles even in those days, she wants her husband to take care of her make her life comfortable, easy I donot want him. So ‘Aysha told ‘Amr bin ‘Aas about it. ‘Amr bin ‘Aas went to Umar Ibn Khattab and said,’I have a suggestion for you, why don’t you merry Umm Kalthoom the daughter of Ali? Because by merrying her you will have [ثبب الى رسول الله] you will have a relationship with the family of Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam because Umm Kalthoom was daughter of Fatimah radhiAllahu ta’ala anha’ she was the grand-daughter of Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam. So Umar Ibn Khattab asked her hand in marriage and she agreed and she married her. That was the daughter of Ali ibn Abi Taalib. Now Ali Ibn Abi Taalib was much younger than Umar Ibn Khattab so his daughter very young. Lohaiya was either a slave girl or wife there is a difference of opinion and she bore him Abdur Rahman the youngest. Then he had a slave girl whose name was Fuqiyha and she was the mother of Zaynb. So he had a total of thirteen children from his marraiges. [زيد الاكبر و زيد الاصغر] Zayd the eldest and Zayd the youngest I am translating literally [زيد الاكبر] and [زيد الاصغر] he named his two sons Zayd because his brother was Zayd. Whom he use to love very much. [this is his elder brother] died as a Shaheed. He had ‘Asim, Abdullah, then Abdur Rahman the Eldest, then Abdur Rahman the Middle and then Abdur Rahman the Youngest. So he used to love the name Abdur Rahman he named three of his kids Abdur Rahman. [عبدالرحمان اكبر اوسط و اصغر], he had Obaidallah, Ayad, these are the male children. Then he had four daughters, Hafsa, Ruqiya, Zaynb and Fatimah, total of fifteen.
A just a word on the marraiges in those days, just a thought came to my mind about the marraiges of Umar Ibn Khattab first of all you noticed he married more than four, obviousely they were not,he didn’t have four at any one point. We are talking about total number of woman that married seven or eight during his life time. We also noticed that he divorced two of his wives and he divorced them in Islam. Its was not in the time of Jahiliyah. Abu Bakr also divorced and Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam was almost going to divorce. Many of the Sahaaba divorced. Now a days we tend to see divorce as un-acceptable thing. Infect when we talk about the ills of society, we say the ratio of divorce is so high. Well if that’s the standard then the ratio at the time of Sahaaba was extremely high. So that’s not quite really a criteria of the health of society. But their perception of divorce was different then ours. They used to see marriage as a relationship between two souls, so there needs to be a competability. If it doesn’t work out just like business agreement if it didn’t work out fine we can part. Now a days we see divorce in a different light. We see it something that’s no [no] you never do and then if it ever happens that’s a stigma on a person untill the end of their life especially to the woman. The woman who is divorced no one wants to marry her and that is very unfair. That’s oppressive.

You notice in the time of Sahaaba radhiAllahu anhum no woman would be left without a husband. Because for Muslim male or female family is the essence of your life. Family is the most important thing you have. Your family as a Muslim is very very important. We not living a life style of Kuffaar they don’t have a maid that’s fine, you go from one pub to another and enjoy yourself. That’s not a life style of a Muslim. The kuffar woman that’s alright changing from one hand to another, living a life that’s closer to the animal life, there is to human life. So for a Muslim man or a woman family is everything. So the Sahaaba radhiAllahu anhum never leave any of there sisters without the opportunity and previlage being married. And that’s why polygamy was very wide spread and it was accepted. And if a woman or a man divorced that’s not a stigma on them they can easily be remarried. Also you will find that, there could be a great difference in the age. As long as both sides are agree, there wasn’t a cultural problem with that Umar Ibn Khattab was very old when he married Umm Kalthoom bint Ali. And Umm Kalthoom bint Abu Bakr didn’t refuse to marry him because he was old because she then married Talha Ibn Obaidullah who was also old. So as long as both sides agree they were fine with it culturally. So our perception of marriage and divorce are different then the perception of the Sahaaba. In times of Sahaaba marriage was early and easy and everyone was allowed to be part of the family. Now there are millions of woman around the Muslim world not really a problem in the west but in the Muslim countries it’s a disastrous social problem. Millions of woman are growing older and older and they cannot get married. Why? Because nobody wants to marry them because they are old, nobody wants to allow polygamy, and that’s why we have all these woman unmarried. So when you look at it from this point of view, polygamy is fairness to the woman rather than being oppressive. Because then it gives every woman in the society an opportunity to be married there are always more woman then men. So if polygamy is not accepted then that means there are going to be woman who are not be able to get married. So the champions of woman rights should actually be asking for the legalization of polygamy.

The work of Umar Ibn Khattab:
His first profession was being a shepherd for his father and for his aunts. And then he started a business. And he was very successful at it, to travel to Syria, to Yemen and trade and he became very wealthy. He became wealthy men of Quraysh. And also he was a wrestler. That’s something he used to join in compitition in سوق الكعف[40:40] and he was unbeatable. In Jahiliyah because of the nature of the Umar Ibn Khattab, Umar was not a person who would do something with a half hearted effort. He would put full throttle into every thing. He was very committed, disciplined person and he would go ahead with what he believes. He doesn’t sit on the side lines on the margins to get involved. Therefore, in Jahiliyah he was one of the most effective men of the Quraysh in the inquisition against the Muslims. He was one of toughest in his persecution of the Muslims. Because that’s the nature of the Umar Ibn Khattab. He goes full ahead with what he believes and don’t sit on the sidelines. So he used to torment, he used to torture this slave girl. He would lash her with this whip and then when he would get tired he would sit down, and what would he tell him? “Listen I didn’t stop because I feel sorry for you, I stopped because I am tired.” She would respond back and say,”It is Allaah who made you stop,” that’s the Emaan of this slave. And it was unacceptable to the minds of many of the Muslims that one day Umar could become Muslim.

One day when Umar Ibn Khattab was walking down in the streets of Mecca he saw one of the Sahaabiya who was on her way to Abyssinia. She was making a Hijrah to al-Habasha. So Umar Ibn Khattab said,’are you living?’. She said,’yes, because you have oppressed us and persecuted us. We are going to travel in the land of Allaah in order that we can practice our Religion freely.’ What did Umar Ibn Khattab say? He said,[’صاحبكم الله’] “may Allaah be with you”. This statement was contrary to the nature of Umar Ibn Khattab. Umar Ibn Khattab showing compassion to a Muslim? So when Mo’aim Ibn Abdullah came back he was with the Sahaabiya. She told him what happened. He said that it appears that you are hoping for Umar Ibn Khattab to become a Muslim? She said, yes. He said, okey let me tell you, “the donkey of his father would become a Muslim before he does”. He is telling that you woman go with your emotions, don’t, Umar Ibn Khattab is not going to become a Muslim. But she was right and he was wrong. But this is to show you that, they didn’t see it possible that one day this man can become a Muslim. But Hidayah is in the hands of Allaah Subhanahu Wata’ala. You never know who going to embrace Islam.

How did he become Muslim?
There was one incident that was narrated by his son Abdullah. He said,’ one day a handsom man walked infront of us, so my father looked at him. He looked at his face and said,”if my intituition is right this man was a [كاهن] a fortune teller for his people” this is what you call a Farasa [فراسة] is the art of reading the face and Umar Ibn Khattab had that ability. It’s a gift from Allaah. You look into the face of some body and you read their personality. And Umar Ibn Khattab was good at Farasa. So by just looking at face of this man he never met him before, he read his face and he said,’this man used to be fotune-teller of his people’ so they called the man. and he said I have never seen something like this before, he was amazed. Umar Ibn Khattab told him to tell him about himself. By the way this issue of Farasa was seen as an art. They say that ash-Shafi’e wen to Yemen to learn Farasa. So its some kind of art to be taught, and it appears in some kind of culture like for example Chinese culture, they have some sort of different virsion of Farasa reading the face. But Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam says [أتقوا فراسة المؤمن فإن هو يرى بنور الله] ‘beware from the Farasa of believer because he can see by the light of Allaah.’ So it’s a gift that is given by Allaah to certain people and Umar Ibn Khattab had it. So Umar Ibn Khattab called the man and the man said yes, I was the fortune teller of my people. Abdullah Ibn Umar Ibn Khattab said, “rarely the intituition of my father would go wrong.” It was always on target. So Umar Ibn Khattab told him tell me the strangest thing that your jinn told you. Because these are the people the fortune tellers deal with jinns. [They were dealing with jinn.] so Umar Ibn Khattab is asking about strangest thing that you heard from your jinn. So he said my jinn came to me, he mentions this rhyming words. Spkeaing about coming of a prophet. Umar Ibn Khattab said yes that’s true. One day the man was sacrificing for the idols next to Ka’aba I heard a very loud voice. And this voice was saying something similar there is a prophet was coming and then Umar Ibn Khattab said immediately after that Muhammad sallalahu alaihe wa salam claimed to be a Prophet.

So these were hints, that were coming to Umar Ibn Khattab to prepare him. To prepare him for Islam, so this was the thing that happened in the beginning. Another important incident was what happened between him and this Sahaabiya when his heart was feeling soft because see that he was getting closer to Islam. The stance was changing, one day while the Mushrikeen were discussing how to deal with the problem of Muhammad sallalahu alaihe wa salam? They said,’who will volunteer to kill him?’ Umar Ibn Khattab said I will. They said you are the one for it. So Umar Ibn Khattab carries his sword in the middle of very hot day in Mecca. He was walking down the streets towards [دار الارقم] he was told that Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam is meeting his Sahaaba there. And this is after many of Sahaaba already have made Hijrah to Abyssinia, so Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam was left with small group of Sahaaba, Hamza Ibn Abdul Muttalib, Abu Bakr Siddique radhiAllahu anhu, and few other Sahaaba. So Umar Ibn Khattab was heading straight down in the streets of Mecca and you can see eveil in his eyes. One of th campanions who was practicing Islam in secrete saw Umar Ibn Khattab and he realized that there was something wrong. So he told him where are you aheading? Umar Ibn Khattab said, “to this man who has disunited our people, and who has made fools out of us, and who has cursed our gods, I am going to kill him.” So the companion told him, it seems that you are too confident in yourself. You think that Bani Abd Manaf [بنى عبد مناف] family of Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam are going to let your walk on the face of the earth after you killed their man? it was a trible system. Umar Ibn Khattab was upset so, they started an argument. And then Umar Ibn Khattab told this man, he said,’I think that you have became Muslim, I am sure if you became Muslim I am going to start by killing you first. ’. The Sahaabi felt that, [the whole reason why the Sahaabi was discussing with Umar Ibn Khattab because he wants to divert him from his objective].he wants to save Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam. So when he felt that there is no hope, he carried on discussion with Umar Ibn Khattab this way, he told Umar Ibn Khattab,’well before you go to Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam why don’t you take care of your house hold first?’ Umar Ibn Khattab said,’what did you mean?’ he said,’your sister and her husband, they have became Muslims.’ This Sahaabi though he said this, when every other argument did not work. The sister of Umar Ibn Khattab was Muslim in secret and so was her husband Saeed Ibn Zayd. What the Sahaabi did was put the sister of Umar Ibn Khattab and her husband in a big trouble. He exposed them but why would he do that? He did that to save Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam. So it shows you anything and everything can be sacrificed for the safety of Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam. [Everything] So now Umar Ibn Khattab changed his coarse and he went straight to the house of his sister. He got next to the door, he heard them reciting Qur’an. Fatimah bint Khattab and her husband Saeed bin Zayd. Saeed bin Zayd is the cousin of Umar Ibn Khattab. And he is one of the ten who were given the glad tidings of Jannah. And they were being taught Qur’an by Khbaab bin Arat. When he knocked at the door and they saw that its Umar Ibn Khattab Khbaab Ibn Arat immediately went into hiding and Fatimah she hide the Scroll of Qur’an under her thigh. Umar Ibn Khattab came in and he said what was that humming sound that I heard? They said, it was nothing we were just talking. He said, don’t lie to me. What was that noise and have you became Muslims? Saeeb Ibn Zayd said, well what if Islam is better than your religion? At that point Umar Ibn Khattab attacked Saeeb ibn Zayd he threw him to the ground and then he sat on top of him. And Fatimah saw that she came to defend her husband Umar Ibn Khattab he struck her and it came on her face and she started to bleed. She then said,”you enemy of Allaah, you hit me just because I believed in Allaah? Whether you like it or not I bear witness and I testify that there is no god but Allaah and that Muhammad sallalahu alaihe wa salam is Messenger of Allaah do whatever you want”. When Umar Ibn Khattab saw this strength eminating from his sister and this confidence and he saw that blood on her face. He regretted what he did because it was unacceptble in their custom to hit a woman in such a manner. So he felt sorry for what he did to his sister. So he moved away from Saeed and sat down. He said .”hand me over your scrolls”. She said,”I won’t” Umar Ibn Khattab said,”what you said has struck a chord in my heart and I promise you that I will return the scrolls to you safely.” She said,”you are a Mushrik and you are in state of impurity so you have to make Ghussal [غسل] first.” Umar Ibn Khattab went and he made Ghussal he bathed himself, [they make him bath]. Then she gave him the scrolls. Umar Ibn Khattab radhiAllahu anhu started to recite the ayaat in the scroll.

بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم طه ما انزلنا عليك القراءن لتشقى الا تذكرة لمن يخشى تنزيلا ممن خلق الارض والسماوات فى العلى الرحمان على العرش استواى له ما فى السماوات وما فى الارض وما بينهما وما تحت السرآء من تجهر بالقولى فانه يعلم السراء واخفاء الله لا اله الا هو له الاسمآء الحسنى
“ Ta Ha. We have not sent down the Qur’an unto you to be occasion for you for your distress but only as an admonition to those who fear Allaah. A revelation from Him Who created the earth and heavens on high. Allaah the Most Gracious is firmly established on the throne. To Him belongs whats in the heavens and the earth and all between them and all beneath the soil. If you pronounce the words aloud it is no matter for verily He knows what is secret and what is yet more hidden. Allaah there is no god be He to Him belongs the Most beautiful names.” When Umar Ibn Khattab recited these ayaat he said,”is this what Quraysh was against? The one who has spoken these words needs to be worshipped.” [دلونى على محمد][54:19] where is Muhammad sallalahu alaihe wa salam ? they told him where Muhammad sallalahu alaihe wa salam was meeting the Sahaaba. Umar Ibn Khattab radhiAllahu anhu he goes to Dar ul Arqum and he knocks on the door. The Sahaaba peek and see that’s Umar Ibn Khattab so they all sit down. Hamza looks at them and asks whats wrong with you? They say, its Umar Ibn Khattab. What did Hamza say? He said so what if its Umar Ibn Khattab? See no one can see that but Hamza [the rest were sitting]. No body wanted to open the door. No one wanted to deal with Umar Ibn Khattab. But the Hamza is the one who can handle that. He was the knight of Qurayh. He said,”so what if its Umar Ibn Khattab if he came for good, then he is welcome, if he came for evil, then we will kill him with his own sword.” because remember Umar Ibn Khattab was hanging his sword on his neck. Hamza opens the door and they [he and another Sahaabi] hold Umar Ibn Khattab by his arms and they bring him to Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam says, [أرصيد] leave him alone. So Hamza and the other Sahaabi leaves Umar Ibn Khattab. Now Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam even though he was short than Umar Ibn Khattab but when Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam wants that strength he has strength of thirty men. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam grabs Umar Ibn Khattab by his clothes and pulls him towards himself and says,” why did you come here son of Khattab? Aren’t you going to stop fighting Islam until Allaah destroys you” Umar Ibn Khattab said,’O Messenger of Allaah I have came here for no reason other than beleiving in Allaah and His Messenger.’ Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam made Takbeer [الله اكبر] now none of the other Sahaaba were there, they were not seeing what was happening they were hiding when they heard the Takbeer of Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam the whole place erupted in Takbeer, they could not believe it and it was so loud that they had to immediately disperse, because everybody else could hear. Khbaab Ibn Arat when Umar Ibn Khattab was reading the scrolls so he said I want to go and meet Muhammad sallalahu alaihe wa salam he came out of hiding and he said, ‘O Umar Ibn Khattab I think that Allaah has accepted the Du’a of Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam’. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam had made a du’a [اللهم اعزة الاسلام احب الرجلين اليك عمر بن هشام او عمر بن الخطاب] Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam said O Allaah honour Islam with one of the two men the most beloved to them احب الرجلين اليك عمر بن هشام او عمر بن الخطاب either Umar Ibn Khattab or Umar Ibn Hisham. Who is Umar Ibn Hisham? Abu Jahl [ابوجهل]. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam made du’a O Allaah honor Islam with one of the two, the one whom you love most, Abu Jahl or Umar Ibn Khattab. Why did Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam made du’a specific for these two men? Because there strength would turn into strength for Islam. Abu Jahl was a leader of his people he was a very wise man. you know people have this impression of Abu Jahl as being a monster. No abu Jahl was a strong man who was a straight forward person, he was committed to his objectives. He was a hard worker and he was very wise and intelligent. So people gave him a name and his real name is Umar Ibn Hisham. His name is not Abu Jahl [his real name is Umar Ibn Hisham] but because of his wisdom, he was given the name [ابوالحكم] Abu al-Hakam the father of wisdom. Now Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam gave him the name Abu Jahl the father of Ignorance. Why? Because no matter how wise you are, no matter how intelligent you are, if your intelligence would not leads you towards Islam then you have no intelligence whatsoever. If your mind doesn’t take you to believe in [لا اله الا الله و ان محمد رسول الله] then you have no mind. No matter how intelligent people think you are if you do not use your intellect take it towards Islam then you don’t have intellect whatsoever. And that would be admission of Kuffaar on the Day of Judgment. [وقالوا لو كن نسمعوا او نعقل ما كن فى اصحاب السعير] “if we had any understanding or hears could hear we would not be here we have no understanding whatsoever.” So Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam gave him the name Abu Jahl. Allaah Azza wajal accepted the Du’a of Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam and chose Umar Ibn Khattab radhiAllahu anhu.
There is another incident that happened with Umar Ibn Khattab and that brought him closer to Islam. Umar Ibn Khattab in his days of Jahiliyah used to be a heavy drinker. He used to love his wine. And he had [نض ماء][59:31] [Nudima] are your drinking partners. One night it was very late. He went around to the pubs of Mecca all them were closed, first pub no body was there, second pub nobody was there. He didn’t find any of his drinker partners because its already too late. So he decided as there was nothing else to do, why not go and make Tawaf [طواف]. So he goes to the Ka’ba, nothing better to do so he goes to the Ka’ba and who does he see there? This late hour at night nobody there who does he see? Muhammad sallalahu alaihe wa salam is praying. At this late hour when everybody is sleep Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam is standing infront of Ka’ba making Ruko’ah and Sujood. Umar Ibn Khattab said well why don’t I strike fear in the heart of Muhammad sallalahu alaihe wa salam, so its me and him alone. So what he does, he goes behind the Ka’ba so Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam can’t see him and he slides between al-Ka’ba and the Cloth of the Ka’ba. Ka’ba is covered in a cloth so Umar Ibn Khattab is standing in between Ka’ba and the cloth. And he began to sneak around the Ka’ba so Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam cannot see him until he made it right infront of Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam. but Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam cannot see him because he is hiding behind the cloth of Ka’ba. What Umar Ibn Khattab wanted to do is to ambush Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam. but when he gets there he was in the hearing range of Ayaat of Qur’an. Now the people of Qurayh used to intentionally plugged there ears so that they cannot hear Qur’an. Now Umar Ibn Khattab is right there within range, Umar Ibn Khattab is listening attentively to the Ayaat of Qur’an. Umar Ibn Khattab said to himself,”these must be the words of a poet wonderful words” [it must be words of a poet] Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam was reciting the [سورة الحاقة] Surat al-Haaqa and the exact next Ayaah after this tought came to mind of Umar Ibn Khattab was [وما هو بقول شاعرقليلا ما تؤمنون] “These are not the words of a poet but little did you believe”. Umar Ibn Khattab was shocked and he immediately said, “these must be words of a [kahin] fortune teller how did he know what was in my heart?” the next ayaah was [ولا بقول كاهن قليلا ما تذكرون] “these are not the words of a fortune teller little do you remember” Umar Ibn Khattab just froze in his tracks these must be words of Allaah. So Allaah was preparing Umar Ibn Khattab for important role that he will going to play in the future. That he would be the second best of all of the Sahaaba.

صلى الله على سيدنا محمد وعلى اله و صحبيه وسلم تسليما كثيرا

Monday April 27, 2009
3rd Jumada I 1430.