The acceptance of Islam by Umar (may Allah be pleased with him)

Aslam, the freed slave of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), narrates: Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Would you like me to tell you how I accepted Islam?" The narrator says: We said: "Yes." He said: "I was the harshest of people in opposing the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). On an intensely hot day I was passing along one of the roads of Makkah when a man from Quraysh saw me and asked: 'O Ibn al-Khattab, where are you going?' I said: 'I am going to that man.' He said: 'O Ibn al-Khattab, this matter has already entered your own house, and you are talking like this?' I asked: 'What has happened?' He said: 'Your sister has gone over to that man.'" Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) says: "I went back in a state of anger and knocked at my sister's door. It was the practice of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that when someone who owned nothing accepted Islam, he would entrust one or two such people to another man who would spend on them. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had entrusted two of his companions to my sister's husband." Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) says: "I knocked at the door, and it was asked: 'Who is it?' I replied: 'It is I, Umar bin al-Khattab.' At that time they were reading a piece of writing that was before them. When they heard my voice, they got up, hid somewhere in the house and left the writing where it was. When my sister opened the door for me, I said: 'O enemy of your own self, have you abandoned your religion?'" Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) says: "I picked something up and struck my sister on the head with it. My sister began to weep and said to me: 'O Ibn al-Khattab! Do whatever you are going to do; I have accepted Islam.' Then I went forward and sat on the bed, and there, in the middle of the doorway, was a scroll. I asked: 'Why is this scroll here?' My sister said to me: 'O Ibn al-Khattab! Keep yourself away from us, for you have not taken the ritual bath (ghusl) after major impurity, nor have you purified yourself, and none may touch this except the purified.' I kept on insisting with her until she gave me that writing, and in it was written: 'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.'" Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) says: "When I read the words al-Rahman al-Rahim, I thought: where has this word come from? Then I came back to myself and began to read: 'Whatever is in the heavens and the earth glorifies Allah, and He is the Almighty, the All-Wise,' until I reached this point: 'Believe in Allah and His Messenger, and spend out of that in which He has made you successors.'" Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) says: "I said: 'I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is the Messenger of Allah.' Those people came rushing out, raised the takbir and rejoiced at this. Then they said to me: 'O Umar bin al-Khattab, receive the glad tidings that on Monday the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) supplicated, saying: "O Allah, grant strength to the religion through whichever of the two men is more beloved to You: Umar bin al-Khattab or Abu Jahl bin Hisham." We hope that this is the result of the supplication the Messenger of Allah made for you.' I said: 'Tell me where the Messenger of Allah is.' When they realised I was sincere, they directed me to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the house in which he was staying. I came and knocked at the door. The people asked: 'Who is it?' I replied: 'Umar bin al-Khattab.' They knew of my fierce opposition to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and they did not know that I had accepted Islam, so none of them dared to open the door for me, until the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to them: 'Open the door for him; if Allah Almighty has intended good for him, He will guide him.'" Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) says: "The door was opened for me, and two men took hold of me by both sides until I came near the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to them: 'Let him go.' They let me go, and I sat down in front of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took hold of the collar of my shirt and then said: 'O Umar bin al-Khattab! Accept Islam. O Allah! Grant him guidance.' I said: 'I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that you are the Messenger of Allah.'" Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) says: "The Muslims raised the takbir so loudly that the sound was heard in the roads of Makkah. Before that they numbered seventy, and whenever someone accepted Islam, people would beat him and he would beat them." Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: "I came to a man and knocked at his door. He asked: 'Who is it?' I replied: 'Umar bin al-Khattab.' He came out to me, and I said to him: 'Do you know that I have changed my religion?' He asked: 'Have you really done so?' I replied: 'Yes.' He said: 'You should not have done that.' Then he went into his house and shut the door." Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) says: "Then I went to another man from Quraysh. I called out to him loudly, and he came out. I asked him: 'Do you know that I have changed my religion?' He asked: 'Have you really done so?' I replied: 'Yes.' He said: 'You should not have done that.' Then he went into the house and shut the door. I said: 'What is this? Nobody beats me and nothing is said to me.' A man said: 'Do you want everyone to know about your acceptance of Islam?' I replied: 'Yes.' He said: 'When the people are sitting in the Hatim, go to so-and-so and tell him, as a matter between you and him: Do you know that I have changed my religion? For that man cannot keep anything hidden.'" Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) says: "I went to that man while the people were gathered around the Ka'bah, and I spoke to him in a whisper: 'Do you know that I have changed my religion?' He said: 'Have you really done so?' I replied: 'Yes.' Then he called out at the top of his voice: 'Listen! Umar has changed his religion!'" Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) says: "Those people attacked me, and they kept on beating me and I kept on beating them, until my maternal uncle came. He was told that Umar had changed his religion, so he stood by the Ka'bah and called out at the top of his voice: 'Listen! I grant protection to my sister's son; no one is to lay a hand on him.'" Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) says: "Then those people moved away from me." Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) says: "I saw that every Muslim was being beaten, and I thought: What is this? People are beaten, yet nobody beats me and nothing is said to me. When the people were sitting near the Ka'bah, I came to my maternal uncle and said: 'Listen to me! I return to you the protection you gave me.' He said: 'Do not do that,' but I did not accept what he said. After that I too kept being beaten and I kept beating, until Allah Almighty made Islam prevail."
Al-Bazzar recorded it. Its chain contains a narrator, Usamah bin Zayd bin Aslam, who is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: When Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) accepted Islam, he said: "Who is the greatest talebearer among the people?" The people said: "It is so-and-so." The narrator says: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came to him and said to him: "I have accepted Islam; do not tell this to anyone." That man went out dragging his lower garment, with one end of it on his shoulder, and said: "Listen! Umar has changed his religion!" Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I said: "You are lying; I have accepted Islam." Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was wearing a shirt. Some people from Quraysh got up, came to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and began fighting him, and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) fought them, until Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) fell down and they fell upon him. A man came and said: "Why are you beating him? Do you think that Banu Adi will leave you and this man alone? You are beating a man who has chosen for himself to follow Muhammad." Then the people moved away from Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). The narrator says: I asked my father (Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him)): "Who was that man?" He said: "He was al-As bin Wa'il al-Sahmi."
Al-Bazzar recorded it, and Tabarani recorded it in abridged form. The narrators of this narration are thiqat (trustworthy), except that the narrator Ibn Ishaq is a mudallis (one who conceals defects in the chain).

Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that he came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah! In every gathering I used to sit in during the days of disbelief, I will announce Islam." Then he came to the mosque, where people from the various clans of Quraysh were sitting in circles. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) began announcing Islam and bore witness that there is no god but Allah and that Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is the Messenger of Allah. The polytheists attacked and began beating Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) began beating them. When they became too many for Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), a man rescued Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). (Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) says:) I asked Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him): "Who was the man who rescued you from the polytheists?" Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "That was al-As bin Wa'il al-Sahmi."
Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, and its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: When Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) accepted Islam, the polytheists said: "Now those people have become our equals." Then Allah Almighty revealed this verse: "O Prophet, sufficient for you is Allah, and those of the believers who follow you are sufficient."
Al-Bazzar recorded it, and Tabarani recorded it in abridged form. Its chain contains a narrator, al-Nadr Abu Umar, who is matruk (abandoned).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: When Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) accepted Islam, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) struck him on the chest with his hand three times and said: "O Allah! Remove whatever rancour is in Umar's chest and replace it with faith." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said these words three times.
Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, and its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).