Someone asked me about the sons of ʿUmar (Allāh be pleased with him). It did not seem to make sense that he had three sons called and two called Zayd. Was this even true? Yes, it is true. It may seem puzzling to us, but this phenomenon is not limited to ʿUmar. For example, ʿAlī (may Allāh be pleased with him) named two daughters Zaynab. So why would a custom amongst the Companions seem so foreign to us? What has changed? Before answering this question, let us first look at the progeny of ʿUmar (may Allāh be pleased with him).

The Family of ʿUmar

• His wife, Zaynab bint Maẓʿūn gave him ʿAbdullāh, our Mother Ḥafṣāh, and ʿAbduraḥmān.
• His wife, ʿUmm Kulthūm bint Alī, granddaughter of Allāh’s Messenger ﷺ, gave him Zayd and Ruqayyah.
• His wife, ʿUmm Kulthūm bint Jarūl, gave him another Zayd and ʿUbaydullāh.
• His wife, Jamīlah bin Thābit, gave him ʿĀṣim.
• His slave-girl, Lahīyah, gave him the second ʿAbduraḥmān.
• His slave-girl, of uncertain name, gave him the third ʿAbduraḥmān.
• His slave-girl, Fakīhah, gave him Zaynab
• Others have been mentioned.

Two Glaring Facts

Naming one’s different children with the same name is not so strange if one notices that the mothers were different. Now for the two uncomfortable facts which the modern liberal Muslim who changes the facts of religion to suit his western idol will not like.

1. ʿUmar had multiple wives. He was a polygamist! Just like many Companions. Just like Allāh’s Messenger ﷺ. The finer points of polygamy is of no consequence to the liberal who either makes an argument that it is in effect not allowed “in our times” or categorically forbidden. To these worshippers of the west, me calling Allāh’s Messenger ﷺ a polygamist is way worse than any filthy cartoon. A cartoon can even be justified in their freedom of speech, but not stating the fact that the Qurʾān allows polygamy and Allāh’s Messenger ﷺ and his Companions practiced it.
2. ʿUmar had slaves. The irony is that the western idolaters concoct a fantasy that it was ʿUmar who abolished what the Qurʾān permitted. They are so shameless and bereft of intelligence that they overlook that a slave in Madīnah martyred ʿUmar. So clearly ʾAbū Luʾluʾ was a time traveller from preislamic times who came and killed him.

Hidden Heresies

We are not obliged to name children with the same names. We are not obliged to have multiple wives. We are not obliged to own slaves. However, these examples bring some more serious issues to the fore.

What we are obliged to do is to revere the Companions and not admire the western lifestyle over their ways. We are obliged to submit to the Qurʾān and Sunnah, at least with our hearts, when we are not able to do so with our limbs, or there is scope for abstention.

Those who cannot do so really need to set some time aside for introspection. If they refuse to seek a cure for their spiritual cancers then their irreverent attitude towards the Companions makes them worse than the Shias, even if they carry the label Sunni. If they insist of putting western ideology above the Qurʾān, then they should ask if they are honest in carrying the label Muslim.

سليمان الكندي

@sulayman_Kindi