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The false story of Umar, may Allaah be pleased with him, burying his daughter alive

Question

There is a rumor here that the story of how, in the times of Jaahiliyyah (pre-Islamic Age of Ignorance) ‘Umar, may Allaah be pleased with him, killed his own daughter, is not true and such an incident never took place. Is this true? If not, in which authentic book that we can rely on is the incident of ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, killing his daughter in pre-Islamic times recorded?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

We could not confirm the authenticity of the story of ‘Umar  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him burying his daughter alive, despite its widespread publicity, in any of the references of history, biography, and the other Islamic resources and books we have at hand. Moreover, we do not see any benefit in searching for the authenticity of this story. Even if the story is proved authentic, then it will have no negative effect on ‘Umar  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him since embracing Islam expiates all the previous sins.

Allaah Knows best.

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