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Who she is:
She was Fatima bint al-Khattab Ibn Nufail Ibn Abd al-Uzza. Fatima was brought up in the house of Al-Khattab ibn Nufayl al Makhzumi, one of the most noble and elite houses of Quraish. Her brother was Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Caliph of Islam. She was married to Sa'id ibn Zayd, may Allah be pleased with him.

Her Husband's Father
Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl, who was Sa’ids’s father, was the origin from which the blooming and fruitful branch, namely Fatimah, originated from. During the pre-Islamic era, he was not upon the way of Quraysh, for he set out for himself a straight path that kept him away from all of Quraysh’s reprehensible beliefs and conducts.

Asmaa bint Abi Bakr said that she saw Zayd ibn 'Amr ibn Nawfal reclining his back on the Ka’bah saying, "O Quraysh! By Him in whose hand is my soul! None from among you is upon the religion of Ibraheem except me."

Al-Bukhaari, an-Nasaai and al-Baghawi also reported that Zayd would save the new born baby girls from being buried alive and would say to whoever wanted to kill his daughter, "Do not kill her, I will pay for the expenses for raising her."
Ibn Ishaaq added: And he would say, "O Allah if I had known the dearest face to you, I would have worshiped you through it. But I do not know. He would then prostrate upon his palm."

Moosa ibn U’qbah said in al-Maghazi: "I heard one of those I am pleased with saying that Zayd ibn Amr used to reproach the Quraysh for slaughtering animals for others beside Allah."

Al-Bukhaari reported on the authority of Saleem ibn ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar, who narrated from his father, that he said: "Zayd ibn ‘Amr went to Syria asking about the (true) religion. The Jewish and Christian scholars informed him that the true religion is the religion of Ibraheem and (at that time) Zayd was neither a Jew nor a Christian. He held up his hand and said, "O Allah! I make you my witness that I am upon the religion of Ibraheem.’"

UHe also narrated the hadeeth about his famous meeting with a Jew who told him: "Do not follow our religion lest you have a share of Allah’s wrath", and his meeting with the Christian who told him, "Do not follow our religion lest you have a share of the curse of Allah".

Al–Fakihi also reported on the authority of 'Amr ibn Rabee’ah that he said: "I met Zayd ibn ‘Amr while he was outside Makkah heading towards Hira, and he said, "Amr I have parted ways with my people and followed the religion of Ibraheem and Ismaa’eel. Ibraheem used to pray facing that house (meaning the Ka’bah). And I am expecting a Prophet from the descendants of Ismaa’eel and then from the descendents of ‘Abdul-Muttalib. I do not think that I will remain alive till his emergence so that I can believe in him and testify to his truthfulness and that he really is a Prophet."

Amr ibn Rabee’ah added, "When I embraced Islam, I conveyed his salutation to the Prophet (peace be upon him). He returned the salutation and invoked Allah to bless him. He then said, "I saw him in Paradise dragging his coat tails."

Al–Baghawi reported on the authority of Ibn ‘Umar who said that Saeed ibn Zayd and ‘Umar asked the Messenger of Allah (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon hi) as to whether it was permissible to invoke Allah’s forgiveness for Zayd ibn 'Amr and he answered in the affirmative.

At–Tayalisi reported in his Musnad that Sa’eed ibn Zayd asked the Prophet, peace be upon him: "My father is as you have already seen and been informed. Can I ask Allah to forgive him?" The Prophet (peace be upon him) said "Yes, and he will be resurrected on the Day of Judgment as a nation in himself."

Embracing Islam
Sa'id embraced Islam at the hands of the honorable companion, Khabbab Ibn al-Arat, may Allah be pleased with him, Sa'id went back to his wife Fatima and told her about the new faith. She was impressed and no sooner did he finish his speech than she embraced Islam as well.

Khabbab used to pay frequent visits to them in order to teach them the Glorious Qur'an and the tenets of Islam. They concealed their belief lest they might be put into torture at the hands of Umar, who meditated eradicating Islam and slaying the Prophet.

Her bravery
Umar was sitting down in the company of some Qurayshi chiefs in deep discussion within the courtyard of Ka’bah. They were troubled by the spread of Muhammad’s call, the increase of his followers and their steadfastness. They hated them for not believing in their idols, such as al-Laat, al-‘Uzza, al-Manaat and others. ‘Umar, then a non-Muslim, became extremely enraged. He stood up from the gathering and decided there and then to kill Muhammad and spare the Quraysh from the embarrassment that his religion had caused them.

On his way to the Prophet a man from Banoo Makhzoom met him and saw the rage in his face. He asked ‘Umar where he was going.
Umar answered, "To Muhammad ibn 'Abdillah! I want to kill him and free the Arabs from his trial!"
The man then told him, "Do think that the clan of ‘Abd al-Manaaf would leave you if you kill him?!... Put your own house in order first!"
Umar asked in utter amazement and extreme rage, "What do you mean and whom do you mean?"
The man answered," Your sister Fatimah and your brother-in-law Sa’eed ibn Zayd. They have followed Muhammad."
Umar then said, "Woe onto them from me!"

He then changed his direction and headed for the house of his sister Fatimah, holding his sword and raging like a furious bull and roaring like a lion. Until that moment the call to Islam was done secretly, except for a few companions who used to pronounce their Islam openly, such as Abu Bakr, the young Ali, Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas, and as-Zubayr ibn al-Awwaam, may Allah be pleased with all of them. The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, allowed this secrecy in order to protect the faith, safeguard the lives of the new Muslims and prevent anything that may impede the progress of Da’wah. This was because it was necessary for the success of the movement. One of these conveyers of the teachings of the Prophet, peace be upon him, was Khabbaab ibn Al-Aratt. He would learn from the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and would teach Sa’eed and Fatimah whatever he had learnt.

When Umar arrived at the house of his sister and brother-in–law, at the entrance he heard some murmuring but could not understand its wordings properly. He violently knocked on the door and shouted. Khabbaab quickly ran towards a corner of the house and hid. Fatimah hid the script of the Qur’aan that they were reading and her husband rushed to open the door for Umar. They had realised that it was Umar by his violent knocking and they recognized in his voice signs of imminent danger and confrontation.

He asked, "What was this murmuring I heard?"
They denied that there was any murmuring.
He then addressed them harshly and threatened them of terrible consequences if he found out that they were really following the religion of Muhammad,peace be upon him.

It was then that Fatimah confronted him boldly and said in a loud and clear voice without fear that she and her husband had accepted Islam and testified that there is no deity worthy of being worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

All of a sudden Umar began beating Sa’eed and threw him onto the floor. When Fatimah ran to defend her husband, Umar gave her a brutal slap on her face and she began bleeding. It was the sight of his sister’s blood that brought about an illuminated ray of light into Umar’s heart and removed the veil of disbelief from his heart. He went to Sa’eed and lifted him off of the floor and then moved towards his sister and wiped the blood off her face.

He then began speaking to Sa’eed and his sister in a friendly way until she brought out the script which contained the beginning of Surah Taha, Chapter 67. When ‘Umar wanted to hold this script, she prevented him and told him "You are impure. You have to do ablution first". He quickly did as she requested. Fatimah’s brave and courageous stand, the purity of her soul and conscience revealed to us her strong personality, especially in the way she faced Umar ibn al-Khattaab. He then read the script. It contained some portion of Surah Ta-ha having read up to Allah's saying: "For every soul to receive its reward by the measure of its endeavor."(Taha:15)

He commented, "What honorable words!" Upon hearing 'Umar's comment, Khabbab ibn al-Arat appeared from his hiding place saying, "O 'Umar, I hope that the Prophet's supplication be answered as he invoked to Allah saying, "O Allah! May you support Islam with the closest one to you either Abu Jahl Ibn Hisham or Umar Ibn al-Khattab. The latter was the closest one."

Umar then left for the house of Arqam where prophet Muhammad was. Umar reached the House of Arqam and knocked on the door. One of the Companions looked through a crack in the door and became terrified and worried. In utter confusion and worry he said, "Messenger of Allah, it is the son of al-Khattaab!"

The Messenger of Allah perceived the truth of the situation by the light of Prophethood, as he had just recently made a sincere invocation in favour of one of the two ‘Umars. The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, then commanded that the door be opened for Umar. When the door was opened by the courageous Ibn ‘Abbaas, the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, walked towards Umar, while all those who were present moved back. He grabbed Umar by the collars of his garment, pulled at it strongly and said, "O, son of al-Khattaab! What are you waiting for? It is time you embraced Islam!"
Umar, with humility and submission attested," I testify that there is no deity worthy of being worshipped except Allah and that you, Muhammad, are the Messenger of Allah."

It was Fatima's bravery and unshakable faith that changed the course of life of her brother. It was her defiance in the face of his explosive temper that brought her brother to a standstill and made him reevaluate his life and discover a new faith.

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