UMAR BIN AL KHATTAB: Worthy Of Prophethood?-Part I

There is a famous fairy tale with regards to Umar ibn al Khattab amongst a large number of those people who deem themselves to be from Ahl ul Sunnah today:

They allege that The Holy Prophet Mohammad (SAW) said:

لو كان بعدي نبيّ لكان عمر

"If an Apostle/Prophet (Nabi) were to succeed me, it would have been 'Umar bin Khattab." (Tirmidhi)

References of this Hadith from Ahl ul Sunnah books are as follows:

1- Musnad Ahmed ibn Hanbal Vol.3 P.163 Hadith No.17336

2- Fadaail al Sahaba by Ahmed ibn Hanbal, Vol.1 P.346 Hadith No.498, P.356 Hadith No.519, P.436 Hadith No.694

3- Al Jaamia al Kabeer by Al Tirmidhi, Vol.6 P.59 Hadith No.3686

4- Al Mustadrak by Al Haakim Nishapuri Vol.4 P.38  Hadith No.4551

5- Al-Mo3jam al Kabeer by Al-Tabarani Vol.17 P.310 Hadith No. 857

  The purpose of this research  is to analyze this tradition attributed to the Holy Prophet of Islam in light of:

1-    Logic / Aql and the Message of Qur’an al Kareem and Tafseer

2-    Technical Critique of the hadith literature (advanced as proofs) using Science of Hadith (ilm al jerah wal ta’3deel)

3-    Contrasting Merits of Prophethood viz a viz Seerah of Umar ibn al Khattab to establish if the person with the alleged virtue even meets the criteria of such a lofy statement.

The arguments presented are all backed from reliably well referenced sources of the Ahl ul Sunnah wal Jamaat and where needed (for sake of brevity) the reader has been referred / encouraged to read other documents for further enlightenment.

Logical (Aqli) Arguments against this Fairy Tale / Hadith

1- If Umar had such a high rank then he should have become the immediate successor/caliph of prophet (s) instead of supporting Abu Bakr at Saqifa.

2- This is a lie because Umar himself declared at Saqeefa that Abu Bakr was superior to him and others. Certainly the honor/rank of Prophethood is above Abu Bakr's status!

3- Umar himself declared at various occasions that "If Ali had not been there, Omar would have perished". A person with qualities of prophets does not utter such things

4- Umar’s ancestory is one of zina / adultery and incest (i.e mahram family members committing adultery with each other!!). The product of such a union is called a Zanim  and is criticized and called base-born by Quran. In Islamic law such a person is not even eligible to become the Caliph.

Those who knew Umar in Mecca and later Medina -sometimes- called him Son of Sahhaak. Who was Sahhaak? And why did they call him the son of Sahhaak? Sahhaak was Omar’s grandmother, she was an Ethiopian female slave and used to be known as a prostitute!!

Now I shall give the details of Umar bin Khattab’s lineage and family from the respected books of Ahlul sunnah:

LINEAGE AND NAME

Ibn Katheer in “Al-bidaya wal Nihaya V 7 P 150” writes:

…He is Umar bin Al-Khattaab bin Nufail bin Abdul Aziz bin Riyaah bin Abdullah bin Qurt bin Ruzaah bin Oday bin Kaab bin Lu’ay bin Ghaalib bin Fahr bin Malik bin Al-Nasr bin Kunana bin Khuzaima bin Mudraka bin Il’yas bin Mudh’ar bin Nizar bin Ma’d bin Adnan Al-Qarashi, Abu Hafs al-Adawi,the one nicknamed Al-Farooq. It is said that the ‘People of the Book’  (Ahlul Kitab!) gave him that name…”

In Seerat Ibn Katheer V1 Page 153 we read:

Zaid bin Umar bin Nufail mentioned: Al-Khattab, the father of Umar bin Al-khattab, was also his uncle and his maternal brother. The reason being, Umar bin Nufail, after the departing of his father, took his father’s wife. She had conceived Al-khattab’s siblings with Nufail…

UMAR’S WETNURSE

In the Sunni book A’laam al-Nisa – kuhala – V 1 P 237 we read:

Hubaa Al-Madaniyyah: she frequently married, and the women in Madina used to call Hubba, Eve, the mother of humanity, because she taught them many forms of sexual intercourse and she gave a name to each, of which was ‘grunt’, ‘sieve’ and ‘snort’…..

According to Muhmmad bin Al Saeb Al Kalbi , the most famous sunni "ancestory (shajra al ansaab) expert" in islam , and also according to Abu Makhnaf Lut bin Yahya al Azadi who narrated this fact in his well known book "Al Salaba fi Ma'rifat al Sahaba.” (The Strong Knowledge of the Companions)" and in his other book "Al Tankih fi al Nasab al Sarih (The Review of the Certified Lineage)" , the lineage of Omar's ancestors is full of incestuous relations .

Again lets have a look at Umar's wet-nurse/breast-feeding mother :

He was breast-fed by Hubba .A woman who married a lot and loved sex inspite of her big age . She taught the woman of her city many sex positions and names of them.

Sunni Sources for this:

1- "Kitab al Madina al Munawwara" (The book of al Madina) for his author : Ibn Shubba .[V. 1 ,P.237]

2- "A'laam al Nisaa'" (The Known Women ) for his author : Omr Kahhala .[V. 1 ,P.237]

3- "Jamharat al Amthal"[V. 1 ,P.562]

4- "Majma' al Amthal" [V. 1 ,P.2049]

These books narrate details about Hubba which are so vulgar and indecent that I don't wish to mention them any further in this article, for obvious reasons.

Let us now also give some more facts from Ibn al Qutaybah al Daynoori from his book “Al Ma3aarif” on Umar’s family/lineage:

[1] Khattab bin Nufail was from Quraish.

[2] His mother (named SAHHAAK) was from "Qabila-e-Fahem".

[3] She was Nufail's wife.

[4] When Nufail died, Nufail's son "UMRO bin NUFAIL" married her (SAHHAAK) !!

[5] Then SHE gave birth to a son called "ZAID".

[6] Khattab's & Zaid's mother was "SAME" !!

[7]Zaid was the "FATHER" of "SAEED"

[8] SAEED is from the well known ASHRA_E_MUBASHRA list of the NASIBIS!

Sunni Reference:  Al-Ma'arif---page,77 chap---zikr-e-umer, by--Ibne Qutaiba Daynoori

UMAR AND HOMOSEXUALITY (from sunni sources):

1) The prophet curses the womanish (transvestite) and ordered the muslims to expel them from their houses .And Omar expelled one from his house....

(One really wonders What this transvestite/womanish person was doing in Omar's house?!!)

Sahih Bukhari

Volume 8 : Book 82 : Hadith 820 :   Narrated by Ibn 'Abbas: The Prophet cursed the effeminate men and those women who assume the similitude (manners) of men. He also said, "Turn them out of your houses." He turned such-and-such person out, and 'Umar also turned out such-and-such person.

Sunni References :

- Al Bukhari in his Sahih [V.8 P.28]

- Sunan al Bayhaqi [V.8 P.224]

- Majma' al Zawaed by al Haythami [V.6 P.273]

- Majma' al Zawaed by al Haythami [V.8 P.103]

2) What Sunni Scholars said about Umar :

Jalal al Din al Sayuti in his book Hawaashi al Kamous :

"... And this ailment was in a group of pan-arabs .One of them was our master Omar ."

What was this ailment ?

Al Fadel ibn al Athir , who is one of the great sunni scholars , has said :

"And the Rafida claimed that Omar is an homosexual .They lied ! . But he had an ailment that it's only cured by the semen of men"

UMAR AND ZOOSEXUALITY (FROM SUNNI SOURCES)

Al Ma'la bin Asad told us : Wahib bin Khaled told us : from Yahya bin Sa'ed : from Salem bin 'Abdillah : Omar bin al Khattab used to enter his hand in the mule's asshole and say :"I am afraid to be asked on what happens to you ."

Sunni References:

- "Kanz el Ummal" for Al Muttaki al Hindi

- "Tarikh al Khulafa'" (The History of the Caliphs) [V.1 , P. 139 ]

- "Al Tabaqat al Kubra" (The High Classes)[V. 3 , P. 268 ]

- "Al Muntazem (until 257Hijri)" [V.4 , P. 141 ]

In Arabic the above vulgarity is as follows:

( وأخرج عن سالم بن عبد الله أن عمر كان يدخل يده في دبرة البعير ويقول إني لخائف أن اسأل عما بك ) ( تاريخ الخلفاء ج: 1 ص: 139 )

( قال أخبرنا المعلى بن أسد قال أخبرنا وهيب بن خالد عن يحيى بن سعد عن سالم بن عبد الله أن عمر بن الخطاب كان يدخل يده في دبرة البعير ويقول إني لخائف أن أسأل عما بك ) ( الطبقات الكبرى ج: 3 ص: 286 )

( قال ابن سعد وأخبرنا المعلى بن أسد قال حدثنا وهيب بن خالد عن يحيى بن سعيد عن بن عبدالله أن عمر بن الخطاب كان يدخل يده في دبرة البعير ويقول إني لخائف أن أسأل عما بك ) ( المنتظم (حتى 257هـ) ج: 4 ص: 141 )

- عن سالم بن عبد الله أن عمر بن الخطاب كان يدخل يده في دبر البعير ويقول: إني خائف أن أسأل عما بك

(ابن سعد، كر)

One of the foremost shining attributes of a Prophet (s) or their inheritors / successors is their knowledge and the knowledge of a prophet is superior to all according to Ahl al Sunnah. In this department Umar is worse than even women sitting in homes. Umar made numerous mistakes in implementing laws in opposition to Islamic law and Sunnah. Eg:

- Bidah of banning muta al nisa and hajj

- Bidah of tathweeb in adhaan

- Bidah of declaring triple pronouncement of talaq in one sitting as final talaq

- Bidah of congregational tarawih prayer

- Speaking against Tayamum and being unaware of its laws

- Being away from mosque in time of prayers in the life of Prophet Mohammad (s) and engaging in worldly things.

- Bidah of racism and tribalism in the name of Kufu and Quraishi Nobility system!

- Banning narration and notation of Prophet Ahadith and persecution of Sahaba who did this.

- Making the murtad Muawavia ibn Abu Sufyan (l.a), the father of Yazeed (l.a) as the governor of Syria.

- Doing tahreef in Adhan by removing "hayya ala khayr el amal" which was part of adhan since 5 A.H in prophet's time.

- Bidah in distribution of Islamic funds of bayt al maal under the non Islamic method of tribal favoritism.

- Having the worst manners, harshest behavior and resorting to violence towards critics and people in general. This was a complaint which sahaba made to Abu bakr when he nominated Omar as his successor on death bed.

-  Casting doubts of severe nature on the prophet hood of Rasoolallah (S) at various occasions including the infamous incident of Al Hudaybia Treaty.

- Refusing the Caliphate of Imam Ali a.s and his Wilayah as ordained by Prophet (s) on various occasions including the last sermon at Ghadeer Khumm

- Calling the Prophet "insane" and invoking anger of prophet (s) on his deathbed when he demanded pen and paper to write wasiyyah.. angering prophet (s) so much that he had to shout at him and his colleagues to get out of his sight!

- Announcing to burn the house of Prophet's daughter Fatima al Zahra a.s at the event of Saqeefah and declaring to her on her face that he does not care if that meant burning of herself and her kids Hassan and Hussain a.s. Fatally injuring the daughter of the Prophet (s) at Saqeefah by banging the door against her and piercing her lungs...resulting in her death from the wound ...within 6 months of this incident at the young age of 18. It is to be noted that Sayyeda al Zahra a.s refused to speak to both him and Abu Bakr till her death and willed that these two not be allowed on her funeral!

- Assisting Abu Bakr in depriving the prophet's daughter (s) from her property of Fadak

- Bidah of reducing 5 takbeers of salat al janaazah to 4

- Bidah of adopting the title of Ameer al Momineen for himself when this was neither give to him by the Quran or the Holy Prophet (s) of Islam. On the contrary Imam Ali a.s who was given this title along with many others was deprived and not even consulted on day of saqeefah!

- Bidah of allowing khula for woman (ie. divorced sought by woman) without presence of a legal authority! (see muwatta of malik)

- Bidah in introducing a slavery system in which it was prohibited to keep Arabs as slaved and only non-Arabs could be made slaves

- Fabrication of alleging the Quran to contain the verses of Rajam (stoning to death)

All these bidahs and sins and many other more (which are not being written for the sake of brevity) are very clearly and well referenced in the books of Hadith and History and Tafseer within the Ahl ul Sunnah wal Jama’h. If the reader is keen to gain further information on these matters, they should refer to our other publications.  

Nevertheless, these and other shocking facts are enough to show that this man was not even near the dust of the feet of the honor, rank, grace and knowledge of the lofty position of prophethood.

....................................................................to be continued ( Read Part II )