in a fury and went straight to the house, pounding on the door. It was the custom of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that when one or two penniless men embraced Islam he would attach them to a Muslim who had means, so that they might share his surplus food. Two such men had been placed with my sister’s husband.
When I knocked they asked, “Who is it?” I replied, “ʿUmar.” They scrambled to hide from me, for they had been reading a written sheet which they now left— or perhaps forgot— in front of them. My sister rose to open the door. I shouted, “Enemy of your own soul! Have you abandoned our faith?” and I struck her on the head with whatever was in my hand. Blood flowed and she wept, saying, “Son of al-Khattab, do what you will, for I have indeed left your religion.”
I went in and sat on the couch, my gaze falling on the sheet. “What is this?” I demanded. “Hand it to me.” She answered, “You are not one of its people. You are ritually impure, and this is a scripture that none but the purified may touch.” I persisted until she passed it to me. I opened it and read: “In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.” Each time one of Allah’s Names met my eye I was seized with awe and dropped the sheet, then collected myself and picked it up again. I read: “Whatever is in the heavens and on the earth glorifies Allah,” and I continued until the words: “Believe in Allah and His Messenger” (Surah al-Hadid 57:1-7). Then I declared, “I bear witness that there is no god but Allah.”
They rushed out, raising the takbīr, and said, “Rejoice! The Messenger of Allah ﷺ prayed on Monday: ‘O Allah, strengthen Your religion with the one You love more of these two men—Abū Jahl or ʿUmar.’” They directed me to the Prophet ﷺ, who was in a house at the foot of al-Ṣafā. I went there and knocked. “Who is it?” they asked. “Ibn al-Khattab,” I said. Because they knew how harsh I had been toward the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, no one dared open the door until he said, “Open for him.”
They opened, and two men took me by the arms and led me to the Prophet ﷺ. He said, “Release him,” then seized the front of my tunic, pulled me to himself and said, “Submit, son of al-Khattab! O Allah, guide him.” I pronounced the testimony of faith, and the Muslims raised a takbīr that echoed through the ravines of Mecca. Until then they had been in hiding, and from that moment on, whenever I wished to see someone beat or be beaten I saw it, yet none of it touched me. So I went