Posted by msk2000 on 11/22/07 17:41

Then she admitted, 'Yes, we are Muslims and we believe in Allah and
His Messenger and you can do what you like!'
Seeing her faith and courage, 'Umar suddenly felt sorry for what he
had done and said to his sister, 'Let me see what I heard you reading
just now so that I may understand just what it is that your Prophet
has brought. Fatimah gave the scroll to him after he had washed to
make himself clean and pure before touching it, and had promised to
give it back to her afterwards.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
"Ta Ha We have not revealed unto thee (Muhammad) this Koran For thee
to be distressed, but only as a reminder Unto him who fears a
Revelation from Him who created the earth and the high heavens; the
Beneficent One Who is established on the Throne; To Him belongs
Whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth And all that is between
them, and All that is underneath the soil.
If Thou speakest aloud Be thou loud in thy speech,


yet Surely He knows the secret (thought) And that yet more hidden.
Allah There is no god but He To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names".
(Koran xx: 1-8) . As he read, 'Umar suddenly knew that these were the
most beautiful words he had ever heard and that this religion must be
the true one. With his sword still in hand, he went straight to the
Prophet's house and knocked loudly at the door. One of the Prophet's
closest followers looked out. There stood 'Umar who was known for his
courage and strength. When he saw 'Umar so excited and with his sword
in hand, he was afraid for the Prophet's life. But the Prophet (pbuh)
asked him to allow 'Umar to come in and to leave them alone together.
The Prophet (pbuh) asked 'Umar why he had come, to which he replied:
'I have come to swear that there is no god but Allah and that you,
Muhammad, are the Messenger of Allah.' As he spoke these words, his
hand still held the sword with which he had intended to kill the
Prophet (pbuh). This same sword' would now be used to defend the
Prophet (pbuh) and the faith of Islam


At that time, whenever Muslims wanted to perform the ritual
encircling
of the Ka'bah, known as tawaf they had to do it secretly and in fear.
'Umar, however, was very courageous. As soon as he had declared his
faith, he went directly to the Ka'bah and in broad daylight made the
circling of the Sacred House before the astonished people of Mecca.
No
one dared to say anything. But now the leaders of Quraysh became even
more alarmed and began to see Islam as a threat to the whole life of
the city of Mecca. They grew more and more furious as the numbers of
Muslims increased until finally they, too, decided as 'Umar once had,
that the Prophet (pbuh) would have to be killed.
On hearing of these plans, Abu Talib, the Prophet's uncle,
immediately
sent a message to all the sons of 'Abd al-Muttalib, asking them to
protect their nephew, and this they agreed to do. When Quraysh
realized that they could not kill the Prophet (pbuh) because of this
protection,
they decided instead to avoid him and his followers completely. A
declaration to this effect was hung at the Ka'bah. It stated that no
one in the city was allowed to have anything to do with the Prophet
(pbuh) and his people, or even to sell them any food or drink
whatsoever.
At first the Muslims found some support among the Bani Hashim, the
branch of Quraysh to which the Prophet (pbuh) belonged. Some of these
people were not Muslims but showed loyalty to their kinsmen by
suffering along with them. However, life grew more and more difficult
and food was scarce. The hatred of the rest of Quraysh for the
followers of the Prophet (pbuh) grew so great that when his
companions
tried to buy supplies from a caravan passing near to Mecca, Abu
Lahab,
one of the Muslims' worst enemies, offered ten times the price of the
goods to the merchant. By doing this he managed to stop the Muslims,
from buying what they desperately needed. During the years of this
terrible treatment, a wonderful thing happened.
Instead Of Islam becoming weaker, it grew stronger. Allah sent more
and more Revelations. It was as though the Muslims were being
strengthened and cleansed by the hardships they suffered and were
being tested in their faith. Each year at the time of the pilgrimage
to Mecca, people came from all over Arabia. These pilgrims saw the
terrible cruelty and injustice of Quraysh towards the Muslims, and
many of them were sorry for the Prophet's followers. Quraysh began to
feel ashamed of their harsh treatment, especially as many of the
Muslims were their cousins and close relatives. Finally, at the end
of
three years, they were convinced that the time had come to put an end
to the persecution of the Muslims, and they decided to take down the
notice hanging at the Ka'bah. To their astonishment, the sheet of
paper had been completely eaten up by worms, all except the words,
'In
Your Name, O Allah', which had been written at the top of the paper.

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