The Assassination of ‘Umar – Part 2

Part one can be viewed here.

As soon as he said Takbîr, I heard him say, “The dog has killed or eaten me,” when the murderer stabbed him. A non-Arab infidel came carrying a double-edged knife and stabbed everyone he passed by on the right and left, stabbing thirteen people out of whom seven died. When one of the Muslims saw that, he threw a cloak on him. Realizing that he had been captured, the non-Arab infidel killed himself. ‘Umar took the hand of ‘Abdur-Rahmân b. ‘Auf and let him lead the prayer.

Those who were standing by the side of ‘Umar saw what I saw, but the people who were in the other parts of the Mosque did not see anything, but they lost the voice of ‘Umar and they were saying, “Subhân Allâh! Subhân Allâh!” ‘Abdur-Rahmân b. ‘Auf led the people a short prayer. When they finished the prayer, ‘Umar said, “O Ibn ‘Abbâs! Find out who attacked me.” Ibn ‘Abbâs kept on looking here and there for a short time and then came back and said, “The slave of Al-Mughîrah.” At that, ‘Umar said, “The craftsman?” Ibn ‘Abbâs replied, “Yes.” ‘Umar said, “May Allah destroy him. I only treated him well. All praises are for Allâh who has not caused me to die at the hand of a man who claims to be a Muslim. No doubt, you and your father (Al-Abbâs) used to love to have more non-Arab infidels in Al-Madînah.” Al-Abbas had the greatest number of slaves. Ibn ‘Abbâs said to ‘Umar. “If you wish, we will do it.” He meant, “If you wish we will kill them.” ‘Umar said, “You are mistaken (for you cannot kill them) after they have spoken your language, prayed towards your Qiblah, and performed Hajj like yours.”

Points to note

• Some narrations mention that the one who threw the cloak over the assassin was a person named Hattân Al-Tamîmî Al-Yarbû’î from the Muhâjirûn.
• A narration from Ibn Shihâb describes how ‘Umar bled heavily and fainted. He was carried to his house, where he remained unconscious for a while. When he awoke and saw the people around him, the first thing he said was, “Have the people prayed?” When he was told that they had, he said, “There is no place in Islâm for those who leave the prayer.” He then performed ablution and prayed, with his wound bleeding heavily. This, coupled with the fact the first thing ‘Umar did was appoint an imâm in his place, all goes to show the importance and status of the salâh, as well as the nobleness of ‘Umar.
• This narration also mentions that ‘Umar feared he had done some wrong to someone in the community, but when Ibn ‘Abbâs informed him it was the unbeliever who had stabbed him, and when Ibn ‘Abbâs saw everyone crying as if they had lost their own children, ‘Umar became relieved that this situation was not because of any injustice on his part. This shows the piety and taqwâ of ‘Umar.

Continued inshâ Allâh.