Al-Wāqidī related: Maʿmar narrated to us, from al-Zuhrī, that ʿUmar embraced Islam after the Prophet ﷺ had taken refuge in the house of al-Arqam, and after forty—or somewhat more than forty—men and women had already entered the faith. When ʿUmar accepted Islam, Gabriel descended and said, “O Muḥammad, the dwellers of heaven rejoice at ʿUmar’s conversion.”

Yūnus ibn Bukayr reported, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, that ʿUmar’s conversion occurred after the party of Companions who emigrated to Abyssinia had departed. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥārith told me, from ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿĀmir ibn Rabīʿah, from his mother Laylā, who said:

“ʿUmar was one of the harshest people toward us after we had accepted Islam. When we were getting ready to set out for Abyssinia, ʿUmar came to me while I was mounted on a camel and about to depart. He asked, ‘Where are you going, O Umm ʿAbd Allāh?’ I replied, ‘You have persecuted us because of our religion, so we are going forth into the land of Allah where we will not be harmed while worshipping Him.’ He said, ‘May Allah accompany you,’ and went on his way. My husband, ʿĀmir ibn Rabīʿah, then arrived, and I told him of the gentleness I had just witnessed from ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb. He said, ‘Do you hope that he will become Muslim?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ He replied, ‘By Allah, he will not accept Islam until al-Khaṭṭāb’s donkey does’—meaning how severe his hostility was toward the Muslims.”

Yūnus also transmitted, from Ibn Isḥāq: At that time the Muslims numbered a little over forty men and eleven women.