Death of Umar ibn al-Khattab

In 23 AH Abu Lu'lu'a, a slave of al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba, stabbed the caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab (may God be pleased with him) in the market of Medina. Abu Lu'lu'a was a Christian, according to al-Tabari. ¹

When Umar was struck, he asked his son Abd Allah who had killed him. He told him that it was Abu Lu'lu'a, a slave of al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba. Umar praised God that his death had not come at the hands of a man who had prostrated to God in one prostration. ²

al-Suyuti relates that Umar told his companions that the slave had threatened him before that, when Abu Lu'lu'a said that he would make him a mill that people would talk about. He relates that Umar left Mina, halted at al-Abtah, and prayed to God to take him without losing or neglecting, and that he was killed before the end of Dhu al-Hijja. ³

al-Tabari's index places the account in the fourth volume, in 23 AH. ⁴

The speaker recounts that Abu Lu'lu'a, a Persian man, complained to Umar about a daily tax his master took from him, which he said was seven dirhams (needs_source). Umar asked him his trade; he said carpenter, smith and stonemason, and Umar judged that the tax was not much ^{5 6}.

He recounts that Umar heard Abu Lu'lu'a was making a wind-powered mill, and then heard that Abu Lu'lu'a had threatened to make him a mill that the whole world would talk about. Umar took the threat seriously ^{7 8}. He recalls that Abu Lu'lu'a used to pass Persian captives in the days of Qadisiyya (partly unclear) ⁸.

He recounts Umar's dream, in which someone pecked him three times, and then a foreign boy stabbed him three times at the dawn prayer while he was straightening the rows ^{9 10}.

He says the assailant killed nine worshippers and wounded thirteen before he was seized (needs_source) ¹¹. He recounts that Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf (may God be pleased with him) threw a cloak over the assailant, who then stabbed himself and died ¹².

He remarks that three of the four caliphs were killed, yet the creed and its ideas remained ¹³. He says that as soon as Umar fell, he named the six men for the council ¹³.