The Incident of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه Accepting Islam
Source: Fatāwā Amun Pūrī by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amun Pūrī
The Question
What is the reality of the story commonly narrated about Sayyidunā ʿUmar رضي الله عنه accepting Islam?
The Answer
The popular story found in Ṭabaqāt Ibn Saʿd (3/202) and Sunan al-Dāraquṭnī (1/123) states that:
- ʿUmar رضي الله عنه set out with a sword intending to kill the Prophet ﷺ.
- Someone informed him about his sister’s household having accepted Islam.
- When he reached there, he found his sister and brother-in-law as Muslims, which led him to read verses of the Qur’an, and eventually accept Islam.
Authenticity of This Report
- The chain is weak and munkar.
- Qāsim ibn ʿUthmān al-Baṣrī has been declared “not strong” (laysa bi’l-qawī) by Imām al-Dāraquṭnī.
- Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī رحمه الله graded the story as severely munkar (denounced).
(Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl: 3/375)
The Authentic Reason for ʿUmar’s Islam
The true reason behind ʿUmar’s conversion to Islam was the duʿāʾ of the Prophet ﷺ:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“O Allah! Strengthen Islam with (the acceptance of Islam by) one of the two men most beloved to You: ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb or Abū Jahl ibn Hishām.”
This duʿāʾ was answered in favor of ʿUmar رضي الله عنه.
(Sunan al-Tirmidhī: 3681 — sanad ḥasan; the ḥadīth is ṣaḥīḥ)
Conclusion
- The famous story of ʿUmar رضي الله عنه setting out with a sword and encountering his sister is weak and unreliable.
- The authentic cause of his Islam was the duʿāʾ of the Prophet ﷺ, which Allah ﷻ accepted by guiding ʿUmar to Islam.
