■ Who Was Sayyidah Fatimah bint Khattab (رضي الله عنها)?
An amazing woman from the golden days of Islam — Sayyidah Fatimah bint Khattab (رضي الله عنها)!
Her real name was Fatimah, and she was lovingly known as Umm Jameel. She was the real sister of none other than Sayyiduna Umar Ibn Khattab (رضي الله عنه) — yes, the mighty Umar we all know and love!
She married Sa’eed bin Zaid (رضي الله عنه), and together, they both embraced Islam early on.
And here’s the beautiful part:
Sayyiduna Umar’s (رضي الله عنه) journey to Islam actually began because of her!
You must have heard this famous story — after Sayyiduna Hamzah (رضي الله عنه) accepted Islam, Umar (رضي الله عنه) was furious. He decided to go straight to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to put an end to it all (astaghfirullah)!
But on the way, someone from the Makhzoom tribe stopped him and said,
“Why are you going to the Prophet ﷺ when your own sister and brother-in-law have already accepted Islam?”
Hearing this, Umar (رضي الله عنه) stormed towards his sister’s house. As he got closer, he heard the beautiful sound of the Qur’an being recited! Curious but furious, he barged in.
Fatimah (رضي الله عنها) quickly tried to hide the pages of the Qur’an and denied reading anything.
Umar (رضي الله عنه) was so angry, he beat both his sister and her husband brutally. Blood was flowing from Fatimah’s (رضي الله عنها) face, but she stood strong and said bravely:
“Umar! Do whatever you want. Islam has entered our hearts and it will never leave!”
Her courage melted his heart.
Seeing her bleeding but fearless, Umar (رضي الله عنه) calmed down and said,
“Let me read what you were reading.”
They handed him the pages of the Qur’an, and when Umar (رضي الله عنه) read those powerful verses, his heart trembled.
Within moments, he cried out:
“I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger.”
SubhanAllah, from that moment, the future second Caliph of Islam was born!
Sayyidah Fatimah (رضي الله عنها) migrated to Madinah with her husband.
She didn’t live very long after that; the exact date of her passing isn’t recorded, but she left behind one son named Abdur Rahman.
الراجی رحمۃَ ربّہِ العلٰی
و الفقیر الٰی حضرۃ النّبی المصطفیٰ ﷺ
محمد فرحان جمیل
Aal-e-Qutub Aal-e-Syed Abdullah Shah Ghazi 