from the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and said: "Do you want to kill a man just because he says, My
Lord is Allâh?"
THE CONVERSION OF HAMZAH BIN 'ABDUL-MUTTALIB: In a gloomy atmosphere infested with  dark clouds of iniquity and tyranny, there shone on the horizon a promising light for the oppressed,  i.e.  the conversion of Hamzah bin A ' bdul -Muttalib in Dhul Hijjah, the sixth year of Prophethood. It is  recorded that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) was one day seated on the hillock of Safa when Abu
Jahl happened to pass by and accused the religion preached by him. Muhammad (Peace be upon him),  however, kept silent and did not utter a single word. Abu Jahl went on unchecked, took a stone and  cracked the Prophet' s head which began to bleed. The aggressor then went to join the Quraishites in  their assembly place. It so happened that shortly after that, Hamzah, while returning from a hunting  expedition, passed by the same way, his bow hanging by his shoulder. A slave-girl belonging to
A ' bdullah bin Jada'an, who had noted the impertinence of Abu Jahl, told him the whole story of the  attack on the Prophet (Peace be upon him) . On hearing that, Hamzah was deeply offended and  hurried  to Al-Ka'bah and there, in the courty ard of the Holy Sanctuary, found Abu Jahl sitting with a company  of Quraishites. Hamzah rushed upon him and struck his bow upon his head violently and said: "Ah!
You  have been abusing Muhammad (Peace be upon him); I too follow his religion and profess what he  preaches." The men of Bani Makhzum came to his help, and men of Bani Hashim wanted to render  help, but Abu Jahl sent them away saying: "Let Abu 'Ummarah alone, by Allâh I did revile his nephew  shamelessly." In fact, Hamzahs ' conversion derived initially from the pride of a man who would not  accept the notion of others humiliating his relative. Later on, however, Allâh purified his nature and he  managed to grasp the most trustworthy hand-hold (Faith in Allâh). He proved to be a source of great  strength to the Islamic Faith and its followers.
THE CONVERSION OF 'UMAR BIN AL-KHATTAB: Another significant addition to the strength of
Islam was the conversion of U ' mar bin A l-Khattab in Dhul-Hijjah, the sixth year of Prophethood, three  days following the conversion of Hamzah. He was a man of dauntless courage and resolution, feared  and respected in Makkah, and hitherto a bitter opponent of the new religion. The traditional account  reveals that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) once raised his hands in prayer and said:
"O Allâh! Give strength to Islam especially through either of two men you love more: U ' mar bin
Al-Khattab or Abu Jahl bin Hisham."
U ' mar, obviously, was the one who merited that privilege.
When we scrutinize the several versions that speak of U ' mar's conversion, we can safely conclude that  various contradictory emotions used to conflict with one another within his soul. On the one hand, he  used to highly regard the traditions of his people, and was habituated to the practice of indulgence in  wine orgies; on the other hand, he greatly admired the stamina of the Muslims and their relentless  dedication to their faith. These two extreme views created a sort of skepticism in himind and made  him  at times tend to believe that the doctrines of Islam could bear better and more sacred seeds of life,  that  is why he would always experience fits of outrage directly followed by unexpected enervation. On the  whole, the account of his conversion is very interesting and requires us to go into some details.
One day, U ' mar bin Al -Khattab set out from his house, and headed for the Holy Sanctuary where he  saw the Prophet (Peace be upon him) offering prayer and overheard him reciting the Sûrah Al-Hâqqah
(Chapter 69 — The Reality) of the Noble Qur'ân. The Words of Allâh appealed to him and touched the  innermost cells of his heart. He felt that they derived from unusual composition, and he began to  question his peoples  ' allegations as regard s the man-composed poetry or words of a soothsayer that  they used to attach to the Noble Qur'ân. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) went on to recite:
"That this is verily the word of an honoured Messenger (i.e. Gabriel or Muhammad (Peace be  upon him) which he has brought from Allâh). It is not the word of a poet, little is that you  believe! Nor is it the word of a soothsayer (or a foreteller), little is that you remember! This is  the Revelation sent down from the Lord of the ' Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that  exists)." 69:40-43
At that very moment, Islam permeated his heart. However, the dark layer of pre-Islamic tendencies,  the deep-seated traditional bigotry as well as the blind pride in his forefathers overshadowed the  essence of the great Truth that began to feel its way reluctantly into his heart. He, therefore, persisted  in his atrocities against Islam and its adherents unmindful of the pure and true-to-mans  ' nature  feeling