I went out looking for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ before I became Muslim, and I found that he had reached the mosque before me. I stood behind him and he started to recite Sooratal-Haqqah, and I was amazed by the way in which the Qur'an was composed. I said: By Allah, this man is a poet as Quraish said. Then he recited: `That this is verily, the word of an honoured Messenger [i.e. Jibreel (Gabriel) or Muhammad which he has brought from Allah]. It is not the word of a poet, little is that you believe!” [al-Haqqah 69:40-41]. I said: (He is a) soothsayer. He said: “Nor is it the word of a soothsayer (or a foreteller), little is that you remember! This is the Revelation sent down from the Lord of the 'Alameen (mankind, jinn and all that exists). And if he (Muhammad ﷺ) had forged a false saying concerning Us (Allah). We surely would have seized him by his right hand (or with power and might), And then We certainly would have cut off his life artery (aorta), And none of you could have withheld Us from (punishing) him...” [al-Haqqah 69:42—47]. lle said: Then I felt an overwhelming attraction to Islam.
It was narrated from Shuraih bin 'Ubaid and Rashid bin Saʼd and others that when ‘Umar bin al-Khattab reached Sargh, he was told that there was a widespread plague in Syria. He said:
I have heard that there is a severe plague in Syria. I said: If my time comes, and Abu ‘Ubaidah bin al-Jarrah is still alive, I appoint him as my successor, And if Allah asks me why I appointed him as my successor to lead the ummah of Muhammad ﷺ , I will say: I heard Your Messenger ﷺ say: `Every Prophet has a close confidant and my close confidant is Abu 'Ubaidah bin al-Jarrah.` The people objected to that, and said: What about the prominent figures of Quraish? meaning Banu Fihr. Then he said: If my time comes, and Abu 'Ubaidah has died, then I appoint Mu'adh bin Jabal as my successor, and if my Lord, may He be glorified and exalted, asks me why I appointed him as my successor, I will say: I heard Your Messenger say:`He will be gathered on the Day of Resurrection as a leader of scholars.`
A boy was born to the brother of Umm Salamah, the wife of the Prophet ﷺ and they called him al-Waleed. The Prophet ﷺ said: “You have called him by the name of your pharaoh, for there will be among this ummah a man who is called al-Waleed and he will be worse to them than Pharaoh was to his people.”
Some men of good character, among whom was ‘Umar, testified before me, and the best of them in my view was ‘Umar, that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ used to say: `There is no prayer after 'Asr prayer until the sun sets, and there is no prayer after Fajr prayer until the sun rises.`
It was narrated from al-Harith bin Mu'awiyah al-Kindi, that he travelled to meet ‘Umar bin al-Khattab and ask him about three things. He came to Madinah and ‘Umar asked him:
What brought you here? He said: (I came) to ask you about three things. He said: What are they? He said: A woman and I may be in a confined space and the time for prayer comes, but if we both pray she will be standing next to me, and if she prays behind me she will have to go out of the space, ‘Umar said: Put a cloth to serve as a screen between you and her, and let her pray alongside you if you wish. (And I asked) about the two rak'ahs after 'Asr and he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ told me not to do them. He said: (And I asked) about stories (for preaching), because they wanted me to tell them stories. He said: Whatever you want. It was as if he did not want to tell him not to do that. He said: I only wanted to follow what you say. He said: I am afraid that if you tell them stories (for preaching), you will think that you are better than them, then you will tell them stories and think that you are better than them, until you imagine that you are as far above them as the Pleiades, then Allah will put you that far beneath their feet on the Day of Resurrection.
I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: “Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, forbids you to swear by your fathers,` 'Umar said: By Allah, I never swore by them since I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbid it, and I never uttered (such words) whether I was swearing an oath or describing someone else doing so.
It was narrated from ʼUmar bin al-Khattab رضي الله عنه and Hudhaifah bin al-Yaman رضي الله عنه that the Prophet ﷺ did not take zakah on horses or slaves.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood before us as I am standing before you, and said: `I urge you to show respect to my Companions, then those who come after them, then those who come after them, then lying will become so widespread that a man will start to give testimony before he is asked to do so.Whoever among you wants to attain a spacious abode in Paradise, let him adhere to the jama'ah (main body of Muslims), for the Shaitan is with the one who is alone, but he is further away from two. And no one of you should be alone with a woman for the Shaitan will be the third one present. The one who is pleased with his good deeds and upset by his bad deeds is a believer.`
'Umar said: We were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on a journey and a man said: No, by my father. Another man said: “Do not swear by your fathers.` I turned and saw that it was the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ died and Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه became (caliph) after him, and some of the Arabs apostatized,ʻUmar رضي الله عنه said: O Abu Bakr, how can you fight the people when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: `I have been ordered to fight the people until they bear witness that there is no god except Allah. Whoever bears witness that there is no god except Allah has protected his wealth and his life from me, except in cases dictated by Islamic law, and their reckoning will be with Allah`? Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه said: by Allah I shall certainly fight the one who separates prayer and zakah, for zakah is what is due from wealth. By Allah, whoever withholds from me a goat that they used to give (in zakah) to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, I shall fight them for withholding it. 'Umar said: By Allah, as soon as I realized that Allah had opened the heart of Abu Bakr to fighting, I realized that it was the right thing to do.
Umar bin al-Khattab travelled to Syria for the second time and when he approached it, he and those who were with him heard that the plague was widespread therein. His companions said to him: Go back and do not enter it, for if you enter it when (the plague) is in it, we do not think that you should leave it. So he set off, heading back to Madinah, and he stopped to rest at the end of that night. I was the closest of the people to him, and when he woke up, I woke up with him and followed him, and I heard him say: They turned me away from Syria after I had got close to it because the plague was there. It would be a good idea to go to Madinah and finish some work that I have to do there, then I will go and enter Syria and stay in Homs, for I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: “On the Day of Resurrection, Allah will resurrect from it seventy thousand without any reckoning or punishment, and their place of resurrection will be between the olive trees and the garden at al-Barth al Ahmar near (Homs).`
It was narrated from 'Uqbah bin ‘Amir that he went out with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on the campaign to Tabook, and one day the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sat talking to his companions and said:
“Whoever gets up when the sun has risen and does wudoo’. and does it well, then stands and prays two rak'ahs, his sins will be forgiven him and he will be as his mother bore him.` 'Uqbah bin 'Amir said: I said: Praise be to Allah Who has blessed me by enabling me to hear this from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. 'Umar bin al-Khattab رضي الله عنه, who was sitting in front of me, said to me: Are you surprised by this? The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said something even more amazing than this before you came. I said: What was it, may my father and mother be sacrificed for you? 'Umar said. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: `Whoever does wudoo’ and does it well, then lifts his gaze towards heaven and says, “I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner or associate, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger,` the eight gates of Paradise will be opened for him and he may enter by whichever of them he wishes.`
I visited 'Umar and he reached out and hit his wife. He said : O: Ash'ath, learn from me three things that I learned from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: Do not ask a man why he hit his wife, do not sleep until you pray Witr - and I forgot the third thing
I heard 'Umar bin al-Khattab رضي الله عنه say in his khutbah that he heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: ` Whoever wears silk in this world will not be clothed with it in the Hereafter.`
Umar bin al-Khattab رضي الله عنه told me: he heard the Prophet ﷺ `A rider will travel through the streets of Madinah, then he will say: There used to be many believers here.`
Al-Qasim bin Abil-Qasim as-Saba'i narrated from a preacher who was addressing the troops in al-Qustanteeniyyah, that he heard him narrate that Umar bin al-Khattab رضي الله عنه said:
O people, I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: `Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him not sit at a table where alcohol is being passed around; whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him not enter a bathhouse unless he is wearing a waist wrapper; and whoever (among women) believes in Allah and the Last Day, let her not enter bathhouses (at all).”
I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: “Whoever shades the head of a fighter (mujahid), Allah will shade him on the Day of Resurrection; whoever equips a fighter until he has all that he needs, will have a reward equal to his until he dies (Yoonus said: or returns); whoever builds a mosque in which the Name of Allah may He be exalted, is remembered,Allah will build for him a house in Paradise.` ,
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ shared out (some booty) and I said: O Messenger of Allah, others are more deserving of this than them: ahlus-suffah. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: `You are giving me the choice of having you ask importunately or regard me as a miser, and I am not a miser.`
You should note that I have not said anything about kalalah and I have not appointed anyone to succeed me. Whoever of Arab captives are present when I die, are to be freed although they are among the wealth of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted. Sa'eed bin Zaid said: Why don't you suggest a man among the Muslims so that the people may follow your advice? Abu Bakr did that and the people followed his advice and trusted him. ‘Umar said: I have noticed too much greed and ambition, and I will leave this matter to be decided by these six people with whom the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was pleased when he died. Then ‘Umar said: If one of the two men were still alive, I would have referred to this matter to him and I would have trusted him: Salim the freed slave of Abu Hudhaifah and Abu 'Ubaidah bin al-Jarrah.
Some righteous men, including ‘Umar - and the most righteous of them in my view was 'Umar - confirmed when I was present that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: `There is no prayer after Fajr until the sun rises and there is no prayer after 'Asr until the sun sets.`