After The Grand Event

Years Of Conquest

We have seen that the great event took place in the sixth year of Muhammad's Mission, which means that, after his conversion, `Omar remained with the Prophet, Allah's Peace and Blessings be upon him, for seven years before the great emigration to Yathrib started. During these seven years, `Omar struggled 1 very heavily, bitterly 2 and terribly 3 against Quraish, in defence of his Faith and his brethren's. He had to undergo various kinds of hardships, 4 and smile in the face of adversities 5 and atrocities 6 practised by the blockheaded 7 enemies among the Quraishites, who had rearranged their front in a final attempt 8 to put an end to this new Religion which had weakened them and destroyed their prestige 9 among all the other tribes of Arabia.

After his conversion, `Omar found himself in a conflict: 10 in his days of idolatory, he used to persecute and torment the new adherents of Islam for their religion; now, he could not forbear 11 to see a Muslim undergo any torment inflicted upon him by a disbeliever; moreover, he made up his mind to put the disbelievers in as much an adversity for their religion as they had put the Muslims in for theirs. And not only that. His real aim, besides, was to put himself in bitter clash 12 with the disbelievers, attacking them and, from them, receiving as much attack as could make him feel equal to his Muslim brethren even in their adversities. Justice in `Omar was, then, beginning to display 13 itself very discernibly: 14 this is the justice that would afterwards be part and parcel 15 of the overall 16 character of the great man: a justice the equal of which the whole world has never known.

Yet the effect of ` Omar's conversion in Makkah was not confined 17 to the public appearance of the Muslims to practise their religion, despite all the dangers they were exposed 18 to at the hands of the disbelievers. That effect extended 19 to comprise 20 other fields of propagation 21 in which `Omar played a very considerable 22 and successful role 23 Now, he was persistent 24 and daring enough to propagate Islam in public, so much so that a large number of people, who had had a longing 25 desire to adopt the new religion but had been afraid to declare that before, now had the courage, under the patronage 26 of `Omar, to decalre 27 their conversion 28 in public and join the community 29 of believers, their brethren. And the Muslims, then, found no interdiction 30 in gathering round Al-Ka'bah in rings defying the wrathful 31 and spiteful 32 looks of the leaders of Quraish who used to sit there.

Still in defence of their gods, and almost losing every hope of stopping the spread of the new religion, the leaders of Quraish took a step forward and decided to boycott 33 the Muslims, in an attempt to press upon them, that they might change their minds and hearts and go back to their fathers' religion, or, at least, that they might be compliant 34  in talking about their gods. But in vain. For two years, the Muslims had to undergo the hardships of this inhuman boycott. `Omar had to have his share of it, but nothing could be done to stop it. He, as well as all the Muslims, had to endure. 35 What filled him with anguish 36 was to see the Prophet, Allah's Peace and Blessings he upon him, suffer as much as the whole Muslim community and even more. `Omar knew that the Prophet could have lived as comfortably and luxuriously 37 as any king or emperor and even better, had he desired it. But Muhammad was the Messenger of Allah, and he had been chosen to spread out His message among blockheaded and hard-hearted people who were willing to sacrifice 38 everything they had to stop the spread of that Message. `Omar knew all that, and yet he used to cry his eyes 39 out whenever he saw the Prophet leading such a hard life, void 40 of all kinds of comfort and luxury enjoyed by all his enemies. `Omar never shed tears in his pre-Islamic days, but after his conversion, he was in the habit of bursting into tears 41 - as almost all true believers did - whenever he heard the words of Allah:

 

"Truly, the believers are those whose hearts are scared at the mention of Allah, and when His verses are recited to them, they increase in Faith, and on their Lord they do rely." [ The Glorious Qur'an: Chapter Al-anfal", Verse 2] He would also weep very bitterly whenever he would hear the warning and threatening 42 verses of the Qur'an recited before of by him, be cause he learnt from the Prophet how to live always in awe from Allah.

Again, in his Pre-Islamic days, `Omar's heart softened sometimes at certain circumstances: we have seen how he suppressed 43 his fury and was softened greatly when he saw his sister's face covered with blood on the day of the Great Event. After his conversion, his soft heart was such that he wept, and very bitterly, in most cases. This is why during his caliphate, 44 as we shall see later, he filled everybody with awe, and, at the same time, attracted everybody with his soft, kind and sympathetic 45 heart. This mixture of awe and softness gave him the unique quality of a man who was firm without being violent, and lenient 46 without being weak: another sign of the greatness of our man.

For seven years after his conversion, `Omar remained in Makkah, undertaking 47 the propagation of Islam, protecting the Muslims and stimulating 48 the abominable 49 feelings of the disbelievers by doing all that he wanted to do in the course of propagation in public. All these great deeds were concluded with a wonderful action he took when he decided to emigrate 50 to Madinah. He did not take his decision in secret, nor did he start his departure concealed under the guise 51 of darkness. He rather put on his sword, went to Al-Ka'bah where all the leaders of Quraish were seated as usual, performed the circumambulation seven times, then stopped, looked at his enemies and said:

"Misshapened 52 are the faces: Let anyone who wants his mother to lose him, his son to be orphanized 53 and his wife to be widowed 54 meet me beyond that valley. I am emigrating to Madinah." Nobody, of course dared to move a hand or leg. Very soon after, `Omar departed from Makkah, accompanied by Ayyash-ibn-Abi Rabi'ah, and both took their way to Madinah. The leaf of `Omar's Makkan role in his life was then turned to give way to a new leaf of more and more brilliance 55 in the life of our great man, as well as the life of the whole Muslim community.