Muhammad a Prophet For all Humanity
10. The Prophet in Makkah
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faith, which had been developing for some time
within his soul.
Well before ‘Umar had accepted Islam, when he
appeared to be in the forefront of the opposition to
the Prophet’s mission, some Muslims emigrated to
Abyssinia. Umm ‘Abdullah bint Abi Hathmah was
one of them. She tells her own story in these words:
We were setting off for Abyssinia. My
husband, ‘Amir, had gone to collect some of
his belongings. All of a sudden, ‘Umar ibn al-
Khattab, a man who had subjected us to
untold suffering and torment, came and stood
next to me. He had not up to that point
accepted Islam.” ‘Umm ‘Abdullah,” he said to
me, “are you going away somewhere?” “We
are,” I replied, “for you people inflict such
suffering upon us, and torment us so, that we
must go and seek a place for ourselves in
God’s land. We will keep going until God
releases us from our affliction.” “May God go
with you,” ‘Umar said, and tears were
running down his face as he was talking. I
had never seen him act like this before. Then
