Musnad Ahmad

Umar said: I agreed with my Lord on three matters, I said: O Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) , why don't we take the Maqam of Ibraheem as a place of prayer? Then the verse was revealed: ` And take you(people) the Maqam (place) of Ibraheem (Abraham) , and it was revealed like that.

I heard Hisham bin Hakeem bin Hizam reciting Sooratal-Furqan and he recited some words differently from how the Prophet of Allah had taught it to me. I wanted to argue with him, but I was praying. When I finished, I said: Who taught you this recitation? He said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ. I said: You are lying; by Allah, this is not how the Messenger of Allah ﷺ taught it to you. I took him by the hand and brought him to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and said: O Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) , you taught me how to recite Soorat al Furqaan, and I heard this man reciting some words in a way that was not the way you taught them to me. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: `Recite it, O. Hisham.” He recited it as he recited it before. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: `Thus it was revealed.” Then he said: `Recite it, O Umar.” So I recited it and he said: “Thus it was revealed.” Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “The Qur'an has been revealed in seven different ways.`

I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ feeling the pain of hunger and not being able to find enough to fill his stomach of inferior quality dates.

I agreed with my Lord, may He be glorified and exalted, in three matters - or my Lord agreed with me in three matters, I said: O Messenger of Allah, why don't you take the Maqarn of Ibraheem as a place of prayer? Then Allah revealed the verse: `And take you (people) the Maqam (place) of Ibraheem (Abraham) [or the stone on which Ibraheem (Abraham) stood while he was building the Ka'bah) as a place of prayer` (al Baqarah 2:125). And I said: Why don't you tell the Mothers of the Believers to observe hijab, for both righteous people and evildoers enter upon you? Then the verse of hijab was revealed. And I heard something about the Mothers of the Believers, so I talked to them and told them: You should stop bothering the Messenger of Allah ﷺ , or Allah will replace you with wives who are better than you and are Muslims. Then I came to one of the Mothers of the Believers and she said: O 'Umar, is it the case that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ cannot admonish his wives so that you come and admonish them? So I stopped, then Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, revealed the verse: “It may be if he divorced you (all) that his Lord will give him instead of you, wives better than you Muslims (who submit to Allah), believers, obedient (to Allah)...` [at­-Tahreerm 66:5)

I heard 'Umar bin al Khattab رضي الله عنه say: l heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, when he was in al­'Aqeeq: `Last night someone came to me from my Lord and said: Pray in this blessed valley and say, 'I intend to do 'umrah with Hajj.` Al-Waleed said: i.e., in Dhul­-Hulaifah.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said ­- and on one occasion Sufyan said: heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say ­ “Gold for silver is riba unless it is exchanged on the spot [lit. ‘this for that'), wheat for wheat is riba unless it is exchanged on the spot, barley for barley is riba unless it is exchanged on the spot, dates for dates is riba unless it is exchanged on the spot.”

I was present at Eid with ‘Umar, and he started with the prayer before the khutbah. He said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade fasting on these two days. The day of al-Fitr is the day when you break your fast, and on the day of al-Adha, eat the meat of your sacrifices.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Do not praise me as the Christians praised 'Eesa ibn Maryam عليه السلام. I am no more than a slave, so say: His slave and His Messenger.”

Can one of us sleep when he is junub? He said: “He may do wudoo’ and sleep if he wishes.” On one occasion Sufyan said: `Let him do wudoo’ and sleep.`

`Leave it, and it (its reward) will come to you or you will have them all (i.e., the reward of all of them).` On one occasion he said: He told him not to (buy it) and he said: “Do not buy it and do not take back your charity.`

from the Prophet ﷺ- that he said: `Follow Hajj with ‘Umrah and 'Umrah with Hajj, for doing that will eliminate poverty and sin as the bellows eliminate dross.`

I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: `Deeds are but by intentions and each man will have but that which he intended. If a man's migration was for the sake of Allah, then his migration was for that for which he migrated, but if his migration was to achieve some worldly aim or to take some woman in marriage, his migration was for that for which he migrated.`

as­-Subayy bin Ma'bad said: I was a Christian man and I became Muslim, and I entered ihram for both Hajj and 'Umrah (together). Zaid bin Soohan and Salman bin Rabee'ah heard me ­­­when I was entering ihram for both and said. He is more astray than his people's camel. Their words wounded me greatly, so I went to ‘Umar and told him. He turned to them and criticised them, then he turned to me and said: You have been guided to the Sunnah of your Prophet ﷺ, you have been guided to the Sunnah of your Prophet ﷺ.

‘Umar was told ­and on one occasion he said: Umar heard that Samurah was selling alcohol and he said: May Allah destroy Samurah. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: `May Allah curse the Jews, He forbade animal fat to them, so they rendered it and sold it.`

The wealth of Banu an-­Nadeer was among the fai' that Allah bestowed upon His Messenger ﷺ, for which the Muslims made no expedition with either cavalry or camelry (cf. al-Hashr 59:6). It was only for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and he used to spend from it on his family's annual expenses-and on one occasion he said: his annual food supply ­-and what was left he spent on horses and weapons in preparation for jihad for the sake of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted,

I heard 'Umar say to ‘Abdur­-Rahman bin ‘Awf, Talhah, az-­Zubair and Sa'd: We adjure you by Allah, by whom heaven and earth are sustained, did you know that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Our (Prophets’) property is not to be inherited and whatever we leave behind is charity.` They said: By Allah, yes,

`The child belongs to the (husband or master of the) woman.`

I said to 'Umar bin al Khattab رضي الله عنه , `And when you (Muslims) travel in the land, there is no sin on you if you shorten As­Salah (the prayer) if you fear that the disbelievers may put you in trial (attack you)` (al Nisa' 4:101]. But now the people are safe. He said: I wondered the same thing as you are wondering, and I asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about that. He said: “It is a charity that Allah has bestowed upon you, so accept His charity.`

I have come from Koofah, O Ameer al-­Mu'mineen, and I left behind in it a man who dictates the Mushaf From memory. ‘Umar got exceedingly angry and said: Who is he, woe to you? He said: 'Abdullah bin Mas'ood. ‘Umar began to calm down, and went back to normal, then he said: Woe to you, I do not know of anyone who is more qualified to do that than him, and I will tell you about that. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to stay up at night talking with Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه discussing some affairs of the Muslims. He stayed up talking with him one night, and I was with him. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ went out, and we went out with him, and we saw a man standing and praying in the mosque. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ listened to his recitation, and as soon as we recognised him the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: `Whoever would like to recite the Qur'an fresh as it was revealed, let him recite it according to the recitation of Ibn Umm 'Abd.` Then the same man sat and offered supplication (du'a') and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ started saying to him: `Ask, you will be given;ask, you will be given.” ‘Umar said: By Allah, I shall go to him tomorrow and tell hirm the glad tidings. I went to him the next morning to tell him the glad tidings, and I found that Abu Bakr had beaten me to it and given him the glad tidings. By Allah, I never competed with him to do good but he beat me to it.

I saw 'Umar kissing the Black Stone and saying; I am kissing you and I know that you are just a stone; if I had not seen the Messenger of Allah ﷺ kissing you, I would not have kissed you.

Umar addressed the people in al­-Jabiyah, and said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood as I am standing and said: `Treat my Companions kindly, then those who come after them, then those who come after them. Then there will come people who will swear oaths before being asked to swear and will give testimony before being asked to give testimony. Whoever among you would like to attain the best place in Paradise, let him adhere to the jama'ah (the main body of Muslims), for the Shaitan is with one and he is further away from two. No man should be alone with a woman because the Shaitan will be the third one present. Whoever feels pleased when he does a good deed and feels bad when he does an evil deed is a believer.”

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to stay up at night talking with Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه, discussing some affairs of the Muslims, and I was with him.

'Umar said: I never asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about anything more than I asked him about kalalah, until he poked me in the chest with his finger and said: `Is not ayatus-saif (the verse of summer, i.e., it was revealed in summer), which appears at the end of Sooratan-Nisa', sufficient for you?”

“The deceased is tormented in his grave because of the wailing over him.`

Asma’ sent me to 'Abdullah bin 'Umar, and she said: I have heard that you regard three things as haram: borders on garments, saddle cloths made of bright red cloth, and fasting the whole of Rajab. 'Abdullah said to me: As for what you have mentioned about Rajab, what about one who fasts continually? As for what you said about borders on garments, I heard 'Umar bin al-Khattab say: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: “Whoever wears silk in this world will not wear it in the Hereafter.`

We were with 'Umar between Makkah and Madinah, and we looked for the new crescent moon. I was sharp sighted and I saw it, and I started saying to ‘Umar, Don't you see it? He said: I will see it when I am lying in my bed. Then he started telling us about the people of Badr. He said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was showing us the places where they would fall (in battle), saying: “This is where So and so will fall in battle tomorrow, if Allah wills; this is where So and so will fall in battle tomorrow, if Allah wills.” And they started to fall in those places, I said: By the One who sent you with the truth, they did not miss those places; they fell in those places. Then he ordered that they be thrown into a well, and he went to them and said: `O So and so, O So and so, did you find what Allah promised you to be true? For I found what Allah promised me to be true.` 'Umar said: O Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) , are you speaking to people who are now dead? He said: `You do not hear what I am saying any better than they do, but they cannot answer.`

When 'Amr came back, Banu Ma'mar came to him and they referred their dispute with him concerning the wala' of their sister to 'Umar. 'Umar ­رضي الله عنه said, I will judge between you according to what I heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ . I heard him say: “What the son or father acquires goes to his agnates, no matter who they are.” So he ruled in our favour,

We met 'Abdullah bin 'Umar and discussed the divine decree (al qadar) and what others said concerning it. He said: When you go back to them, say; Ibn ‘Umar has nothing to do with you and you have nothing to do with him - three times. Then he said: ‘Umar bin al Khattab رضي الله عنه ­­ told me that whilst they were sitting with the Prophet ﷺ ­, a man came to him walking, with a handsome face and hair, wearing white clothes. The people looked at one another (as if to say): We do not know this man and he does not look like a traveller. Then he said: O Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) , shall I come to you? He said: `Yes.` So he came and put his knees against his knees and his hands on his thighs and said: What is Islam? He said: `To testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) , to establish regular prayer, to give zakah, to fast Ramadan and to go on pilgrimage to the House.` He said: What is faith (eeman)? He said: “To believe in Allah, His angels, Paradise and Hell, resurrection after death and the divine decree, all of it.” He said: What is ihsan? He said: `To strive for the sake of Allah as if you see Him, and even though you do not see Him, He sees you.` He said: When will the Hour come? He said: `The one who is asked about it does not know more than the one who is asking.” He said: What are its portents? He said: `When the destitute, barefoot, naked shepherds compete in constructing lofty buildings, and the slave women give birth to their masters.” Then he said: `Call the man to me.” They looked for him but they saw no trace of him. Two or three days passed, then he said: “O Ibn al­ Khattab, do you know who that was who asked about such and such?” He said: Allah and His Messenger know best. He said: `That was Jibreel who came to teach you your religion.` A man from Juhainah or Muzainah asked him: O Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) , what are we striving for? Is it something that is already decided or is it something that is evolving right now? He said:`For some-­thing that is already decided.` The man or one of the people said: O Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) , then why should we strive? He said: “The people of Paradise will be enabled to do the deeds of the people of Paradise and the people of Hell will be enabled to do the deeds of the people of Hell.` Yahya said: And that is how it is.

I asked Ibn 'Abbas about nabeedh made in earthenware jars. He said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade nabeedh made in earthenware jars or gourds, and he said: Whoever would like to regard as haram that which Allah, may He be exalted, and His Messenger forbade, let him regard nabeedh as haram, He said. and I asked Ibn az-­Zubair and he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade gourds and earthenware jars. He said: I asked Ibn 'Umar and he narrated from 'Umar that the Prophet ﷺ forbade gourds and varnished jars. My brother narrated to me from Abu Sa'eed that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade earthenware jars, gourds, varnished jars, unripe dates, and dried dates,

I dreamt that a rooster pecked me twice, and I can only interpret it as meaning that my death is near, and there are people who are telling me I should appoint someone to be my successor, but Allah will not cause His religion and the caliphate, with which He sent His Prophet ﷺ, to be lost. If death comes to me soon, then the caliphate is to be decided by these six men with whom the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was pleased when he died. Whichever of them you swear allegiance to, then listen to him and obey. I know that some people will object to this matter. I have fought them with my own hands in the defence of Islam. If they do that, then they are the enemies of Allah and misguided kafirs. I am not leaving behind anything more important to me than kalalah. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ never emphasised any issue to me since I accompanied him more than the issue of kalalah, and I did not ask him about anything more than I asked him about kalalah, until he poked me in the chest with his finger and said: “O 'Umar, is not ayatus­-saif (the verse of summer, i.e. it was revealed in summer), which appears at the end of Soorat an-Nisa', sufficient for you?` If I live I will issue a decree that will be so clear that those who read the Qur'an and those who do not read it will be able to make decisions concerning it. Then he said. O Allah, I call upon You to bear witness over the governors of the regions, for I only sent them to teach the people their religion and the Sunnah of their Prophet and to the divide the fai' among them and to be just to them and to refer to me concerning any difficult matter, O people, you eat two plants which I find to be nothing but repugnant. I remember the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, if he noticed their smell coming from a man in the mosque, he would issue orders that he taken by the hand and led out to al­-Baqee', Whoever must eat them, let him cook them to death.`

I heard 'Umar bin al-Khattab say to Talhah bin‘Ubaidullah: Why do I see you looking unkempt and dusty since the Messenger of Allah ﷺ died? Perhaps you were upset about your cousin becoming caliph? He said: Allah forbid! I am the most unlikely among you to feel like that, I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: `I know a word which, if a man says it when dying his soul will find rest and provision when it comes out from his body and it will be light for him on the Day of Resurrection.” I did not ask the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about it and he did not tell me it. This is what has been upsetting me. 'Umar said: I know what it is. He said: To Allah be praise! What is it? He said: It is the word that he said to his uncle: La ilaha illallah. Talhah said: You are right.

A Jewish man came to 'Umar and said: O Ameer al-Mu'mineen, you read a verse in your Book which, if it had been revealed to us Jews, we would have taken that day as a festival. He said: Which verse is it? He said: The verse: `This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My Favour upon you” (al Ma'idah 5:3]. 'Umar said: By Allah, I know the day on which this was revealed to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the hour at which it was revealed to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, on the afternoon of 'Arafah on a Friday.

`Allah and His Messenger are the guardians of the one who has no guardian, and the maternal uncle is the heir of the one who has no heir.”

“O ‘Umar, you are a strong man. Do not crowd others to touch the Black Stone, lest you harm the weak. If you find a gap, then touch it, otherwise turn to face it and say Lailaha illallah, and Allahu akbar.`

What is faith (eeman)? He said:“To believe in Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers, the Last Day and the divine decree, both good and bad,” Jibreel said to him: You have spoken the truth. He said: We were amazed that he asked him and then confirmed his answers as being correct. The Prophet ﷺ said: “That was Jībreel, who came to teach you your religion.`

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “When the night comes from here and the day departs from here, it is time for the fasting person to break his fast,” meaning the east and the west,

I was with ‘Umar and a man came to him and said:I have seen the new moon, the new moon of Shawwal. 'Umar said: O people, break the fast. Then he went to a vessel in which there was water and did wudoo’, and he wiped over his khuffain. A man said: By Allah, O. Ameer al-Mu'mineen, I only came to you to ask about this. Did you see any one else do this? He said: Yes, one who was better than me and the best of the ummah. I saw Abul­-Qasim ﷺ do the same as I have done, when he was wearing a Syrian jubbah with tight sleeves, he put his hand under the jubbah. Then 'Umar prayed Maghrib.

The Prophet of Allah ﷺ did not prohibit lizard (meat), but he found it off-­putting.

`O my brother, do not forget us in your supplication.` And he said later in Madinah: `O my brother, include us in your supplication.` ʼUmar said: I would not like to have instead of that everything on which the sun rises, because of him saying: `O my brother.”

What do you think about what we are striving for is it something already decided or something that is evolving now or something new? He said: “It is something already decided,` `Umar said: Then why don't we rely on what is already decided? He said: `Strive, O son of al-Khattab, for everyone will be helped; whoever is one of the people of bliss will strive for that bliss and whoever is one of the people of doom will strive for that doom.”

Some people say: what is this stoning? ín the Book of Allah it mentions flogging.But the Messenger of Allah ﷺ stoned after him. Were it not that some people would say that 'Umar added something to the Book of Allah that is not part of it, I would have written it the way it was revealed.

I saw 'Umar bin al-Khattab in Dhul­-Hulaifah praying two rak'ahs and I asked him (about that). He said: I am only doing what I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ do.

One of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ entered the mosque on a Friday, when 'Umar bin al Khattab رضي الله عنه ­ was addressing the people. 'Umar said: What time is this? He said: 'O Ameer al-Mu'mineen, I have just come from the marketplace. I heard the call and I did not do anything more than wudoo', 'Umar رضي الله عنه said: Wudoo’ too! You know that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to enjoin ghusl!

The mushrikeen used not to move on from Jam' (Muzdalifah) until the sun rose over (the mountain of) Thabeer, The Prophet ﷺ differed from them and moved on before the sun rose.

Umar bin al-Khattab told me that he heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: “I shall certainly expel the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula so that I will not leave anyone but Muslims.`

What time is this? He said: I was busy today and I did not go back to my family when I heard the call to prayer, so I did no more than doing wudoo’. ʼUmar said: Just wudooʼ, when you know that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to enjoin ghus!?

Umar bin al-Khattab told me: On the day of Khaibar, a group of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ came and said: So and so has been martyred. So and so has been martyred, until they came to a man and said, So and so has been martyred, but the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “No, I saw him in the Fire because of a cloak or 'aba'ah that he stole from the war booty.” Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “O son of al-Khattab, go and call out to the people that no one will enter Paradise except the believers.” So I went out and called to them, saying: `No one will enter Paradise except the believers.”

When I came to Madinah, sickness was occurring in the city and they were dying quickly. I sat with 'Umar bin al Khattab (رضي الله عنه) and a funeral passed by, Good things were said about (the deceased) and ‘Umar (رضي الله عنه) said: It is due. Then another (funeral) passed by; good things were said about (the deceased) and he said: It is due. Then a third funeral passed by: bad things were said about the deceased and ‘Umar said: It is due. I said: What is due, O Ameer al Mu'mineen? He said: I said what the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: `Any Muslim in whose favour four people testify, Allah will admit him to Paradise.` We said: Or three? He said: “Or three.` We said: Or two? He said: `Or two.” Then we did not ask him about one,

Umar bin al Khattab heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: `If you were to put your trust in Allah as you should, you would be given provision like the birds: they go out hungry in the morning and come back with full bellies in the evening.”

“Do not sit with the people who deny al-­qadar, or initiate any discussion with them.` 'AbdurRahman said on one occasion: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say.....