It is common belief of all Ahlul Sunnat that Umar was a very brave man. Hence, Qadi Sulaiman Patyalvi has mentioned in his book that the Holy Prophet (S) stated about the bravery and courage of Umar. The writer is surprised that when there was no bravery and courage in Umar, why has the Qadi confidently attributed it to him?

I have discussed in detail that Umar was not at all brave and there was no need to repeat my discussion again, but after seeing the biography of Qadi it was necessary to write afresh about the Caliph’s alleged bravery and courage. Readers are requested to pay attention to the following:

I have represented previously that during the age of Ignorance, Umar was going to display a feat of courage, but it was postponed as narrated before. When Umar came to know that Muhammad Ibn Abdullah is the Messenger of Allah (S) who wanted to establish a new religion, he became very angry and was suffering from anger and sorrow for six years, till the day he came out of his house with a sword to kill the Messenger of Allah (S).

On the way, someone said to him: “You are going to kill Muhammad (S) but children of Zahra (s.a.) will take revenge from you.” Upon this, he gave up the idea of killing and returned home. It seems that he dared to kill the Holy Prophet (S) in ire and fury, but when his anger calmed down, his courage also calmed down. In the period of Ignorance, his sole deed of courage was going to be committed, but after practical wisdom, he forgot everything.

After converting to Islam, his greatest feat was that after performing Hajj, he migrated from Mecca to Medina openly without caring for the infidels of Mecca and this speaks of his great courage! But the fact is that his maternal uncle, Abu Jahl guaranteed his safety, so no one could harm him and in this condition he migrated openly and it cannot be called any kind of courage.

In the same way is the matter connected to his going to Mecca. Its detail is that when after a few years, the Holy Prophet (S) wanted to send him to the infidels of Mecca with a message, he refused to take it and stated that the reason of his refusal was that since Abu Jahl was not alive anymore, ‘the people of Mecca would kill me.’ Thus, neither his walking from Mecca to Medina was an act of bravery, nor his refusal to go to Mecca.

As for his martial exploits, he did not participate in the Battle of Badr because his maternal uncle, Abu Jahl had come to fight against the Holy Prophet (S); so how could he participate in the battle against his uncle? Secondly, he fled from the battlefield in Uhud to save his life, leaving the Holy Prophet (S) wounded.

In his own words: ‘I was scampering away like a mountain goat.’ Besides, he refused to confront Amr Ibn Abde Wudd in the Battle of Khandaq and in the Battle of Khaybar, he hid himself from Marhab and Harith for two days and did the same in the Battle of Hunayn. We cannot find any evidence in Quran, traditions and History that Umar or Abu Bakr ever caused an injury to anyone or were ever injured in a battlefield.

Whenever such a time arrived they used to flee from there. When this is the reality, why has Qadi Sulaiman Patyalvi praised Umar’s bravery? The truth is that Umar was not brave or courageous at all, but it was all a result of his obstinacy. If Umar had courage, he would not have beaten a lady.

The greatest sin committed by him was the severe blow to Lady Fatima (s.a.) that caused miscarriage. After that, Fatima fell ill and finally passed away. It is clear that a brave man can never stoop so low.

To beat a woman is an act of cowardice and to behave mercilessly with the Lady of Paradise? Leave alone Muslims, even infidels cannot commit such an ugly deed.

We should know that Umar had no courage at all, but he was a very bad tempered man and Ahlul Sunnat believe that Umar was very brave and courageous because of his hot temper. Brave people cannot be a hot tempered. They are always kind and merciful, but Umar was not concerned with kindness and mercy. He behaved harshly with everyone, whether he was a Muslim or infidel.

An example of his real temperament is that when the prisoners of Badr were brought to Medina, he advised the Prophet to kill them all in such a way that each Muslim soldier would kill his relative by his own hands. The Prophet turned away his face from this advice and did whatever he felt appropriate. If the Prophet had acted according to Umar’s ugly opinion, people would have blamed Islam.

It is clear that Umar’s opinion shows hot temperament. What a shame that Umar did not do anything during the actual battle; but when prisoners were brought to Medina, he roamed the city with his sword. This was not an act of bravery. But regretfully, his sword could not come out from the sheath in the battles of Khandaq, Uhud, Khaybar and Hunayn. Now decide for yourself whether attribution of bravery to Umar by Qadi Sulaiman Sahab is lawful or not?