Umar’s Farahssa

The definition of the Arabic word ‘Farahssa’ is intuition. It is the ability to be able to read and judge a person’s personality/intensions, just by looking at their face. It is certainly a gift from Allah The Almighty and it was a gift He had bestowed upon Umar Ibn Al Khataab (radiAllahu Andu). In fact farahssa was seen as an art that could also be taught to people and it is narrated that Imam Muhammed Idris As-Shafiee travelled to Yemen in order to learn it.

Umar’s son Abdullah Ibn Umar (radiAllahu Andu) related that one day, he and his father were walking the streets of Makkah (before Umar’s acceptance of Islam). A handsome man walked in front of them. So Abdullah Ibn Umar (radiAllahu Andu) relates:

“My father looked at the man’s face and said “If my intuition is correct, this man was the the foretuneteller of his people.”"

By just looking at his face Umar Ibn Al Khataab (radiAllahu Andu) was able to read who and what this man was. They called him over and told him this. The man was amazed and exclaimed he was indeed the fortueteller of his people and that he had never witnessed any intuition like this before!

Abdullah Ibn Umar (radiAllahu Andu) relates that rarely was his father’s intuition wrong. He would always hit the target with this gift from Allah The Almighty. Umar then asked the man:

“Tell me the strangest thing that your Jinn (see glossary) has told you.”

The man replied, “My Jinn came to me and spoke to me about the coming of a Prophet.”

These along with a number of other incidents were part of the preparation of the great event of Umar Ibn Al Khataab (radiAllahu Andu) acceptance of Islam.