Musnad Ahmad

I am going to ask you about something, so do not hide it from me. [Ka`b said: By Allah I will not hide anything I know. ‘Umar said: What do you fear most for the ummah of Muhammad (ﷺ)? He said: Misleading leaders. `Umar said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) told me about that in private and informed me of it.

I heard `Abdullah bin `Umar say: `Umar said: Send me a doctor to examine this wound of mine. So they sent for an Arab doctor who gave ʼUmar nabeedh, and the nabeedh was mixed with blood when it came out of the stab wound that was beneath his navel. I [Ibn ‘Umar) called another doctor from among the Ansar, from the tribe of Banu Mu`awiyah. He gave him milk to drink and it came out of the wound solid and white, The doctor said to him: O Ameer al Mu’mineen, give your final instructions, `Umar said: The man from Banu Mu`awiyah has spoken the truth. If you had said anything else I would not have believed you. The people wept for him when they heard that, but he said: Do not weep for us; whoever wants to weep, let him leave. Did you not hear what the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said? He said: `The deceased is tormented by his family`s weeping for him.` Because of that, `Abdullah did not approve of any weeping if one of his sons or anyone else died.

l heard `Umar bin al Khattab say: The people of Jahiliyyah used not to move on from Jam` until they saw the sun shining on (the mountain of) Thabeer, and they would say: Shine Thabeer, then we will move on swiftly. So the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) moved on before the sun rose.

I passed by Hisham bin Hakeem bin Hizam when he was reciting Sooratal-Furqan during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), I listened to his recitation and he was reciting in a manner different from the way in which the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had taught me to recite it. I was about to interrupt him whilst he was praying, but I waited until he finished his prayer, and then I tied his garment around his neck. I said to him: Who taught you this soorah that you are reciting? He said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) taught it to me. I said to him: You are lying by Allah! He taught me this soorah that you recited. I brought him to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and said, `O Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), I heard this man reciting Sooratal-Furqan in a way different to the way you taught it to me, and you taught me Sooratal-Furqan, The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Let him go, O `Umar: Recite it, O Hisham. So he recited it to him as I had heard him recite it. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, `Thus it was revealed.` Then he said to me, `Recite it,” so I recited it and he said, “Thus it was revealed.` Then the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) is said: `This Qur`an has been revealed in seven different ways, so recite it in the way that is easiest for you.” It was narrated from al Miswar bin Makhramah and `Abdur-Rahman bin Abdul-Qari that they heard Umar bin al Khattab say: I passed by Hisham bin Hakeem bin Hizam when he was reciting Sooratal-Furqan during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). I listened to his recitation and he was reciting in a way different from the way in which the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had taught me to recite it. I was about to interrupt him whilst he was praying, but I waited until he said the tasleem, and when he had said the tasleem,... and he narrated a similar report.

`Umar said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Whoever among you is seeking Lailatul Qadr, let him seek it in the odd-numbered nights of the last ten days of Ramadan.`

Why don`t you appoint a successor? He said: If I do not do that, one who is better than me did not do it either, namely the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ); if I do that, one who is better than me did it too, namely Abu Bakr.

I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: “Action is but by intention and each person will have but that which he intended. So whoever migrated for the sake of Allah and His Messenger, then his migration was for the sake of Allah and His Messenger, whoever migrated for some worldly purpose or for the sake of a woman whom he could marry, his migration was for the purpose for which he migrated.”

Wear izars and rida`s and wear shoes, but take off boots and pants; throw away the stirrups and jump onto your mounts. You should wear rough clothes and practise archery, and keep away from luxury and the dress of the non-Arabs, Beware of silk, for the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade it and said: `Do not wear silk except this much` - and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) gestured with two fingers.

Beware of overlooking the verse of stoning and (do not let) anyone say: “We do not find two hadd punishments in the Book of Allah, for I saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) stone after he was gone.

an old man who was guarding the coast told me: I met Abu Salih, the freed slave of `Umar bin al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) and he said, `Umar bin al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) told us that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “There is no night in which the sea does not approach the land three times and ask Allah for permission to flood it, but Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, restrains it.`

I asked Ibn `Umar about his wife whom he divorced. He said: I divorced her when she was menstruating, and I told ‘Umar about that, and he told the Prophet (ﷺ) , who said: `Tell him to take her back, then when she becomes pure, he may divorce her when she is pure.” He said: So I took her back, then I divorced her when she was pure. I said: Was that divorce that you gave her when she was menstruating counted as such?` He said: Why wouldn`t I count it? It must be counted even if I failed and acted foolishly.

Abu Umamah put on a new garment, and when it reached his collarbone he said: Praise be to Allah Who has clothed me with that which conceals my `awrah and with which I may beautify myself in my life. Then he said: I heard `Umar bin al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) say: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: `Whoever gets a new garment, and puts it on and says, when it reaches his collarbone, `Praise be to Allah Who has clothed me with that which conceals my ‘awrah and with which I may beautify myself in my life,` then takes the garment that is worn out or that he took off - and gives it in charity, will be in the care of Allah, may He be exalted, and under the protection of Allah in life and in death, in life and in death, in life and in death.`

I asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) : O Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), if one of us wants to sleep before doing ghusl when he is junub, what should he do? He said: `Let him do wudoo’ as for prayer, then sleep.”

I was with al-Bara` bin `Azib and `Umar bin al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) in al-Baqee, looking for the new moon, when a rider came and was met by `Umar (رضي الله عنه), who said: Where have you come from? He said: From the Bedouins. He said: Have you sighted the moon? He said: Yes. ‘Umar said: Allah Akbar! Verily one man`s (testimony) is enough for the Muslims. Then ‘Umar got up and did wudoo`, and he wiped over his leather slippers, then he prayed Maghrib. Then he said. This is what I saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) do. Abun-Nadr said. He was wearing a jubbah with tight sleeves, and he brought his arm out from beneath it and wiped over his leather slippers.

A man called Bairah bin Asad went out from Tahiyah, migrating , and he reached Madinah a few days after the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) died ‘Umar (رضي الله عنه) saw him and realized he was a stranger, so he said to him. Who are you? Are you from Oman? He said: Yes. He took him by the hand and brought him to Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) and said: This man is from the land of which heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying: `I know a land called Oman at the edge of the sea, in it is a tribe of the Arabs who, if my envoy goes to them, they will not shoot arrows or throw stones at him.”

`Allah, may He be blessed and exalted - says: `Whoever humbles himself before Me like that” – and he turned his palm down towards the ground like that, very close to the ground - ` I will raise him in status like this` - and he turned his palm up towards the heaven and raised his hand like that.

l was sitting beneath the minbar of `Umar (رضي الله عنه) when he was addressing the people, and he said in his khutbah:I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: “What I fear the most for this ummah is every knowledgeable hypocrite with a smooth tongue.”

`And (remember) when your Lord brought forth from the Children of Adam, from their loins` , `Umar (رضي الله عنه) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) being asked about it and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: `Allah created Adam, then He passed His right hand over his loins and brought forth from him his offspring and said: I have created these for Paradise and they will do the deeds of the people of Paradise. Then He passed (His hand) over his loins and brought forth from him his offspring and said: I have created these for Hell and they will do the deeds of the people of Hell.” A man said: O Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), why then should we strive? The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: `When Allah creates a person for Paradise, He causes him to do the deeds of the people of Paradise until he dies doing one of the deeds of the people of Paradise and is admitted to Paradise thereby. And when He creates a person for Hell, He causes him to do the deeds of the people of Hell until he dies doing one of the deeds of the people of Hell and is admitted to Hell thereby.”

What time is this? He said:O Ameer al-Mu’mineen, I came back from the market and as soon as I heard the call to prayer, I did no more than wudoo,’ and came here. ‘Umar said: Just wudooʻ. when you know that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to enjoin us to do ghusl?

I circumambulated (the Ka’bah] with `Umar bin al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) and he touched the corner, Ya`la said: I was next to the House and when I reached the western corner which is next to the Black Stone, I took his hand to touch it and he said: What is the matter with you? I said. Aren`t you going to touch it? He said: Did you not do tawaf with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) ? I said: Yes indeed. He said: Did you see him touch these two western corners? I said: No. He said: Don`t you have a good example in him? I said: Yes indeed. He said: Then stop bothering about that.

l brought some dinars of mine and wanted to exchange them. Talhah bin ‘Ubaidullah met me and we agreed to an exchange. Then he took them and said: Wait until my storekeeper comes - Abu `Amir said. From al-Ghalal (a place). And he said concerning it. All of it should be ‘Take this’ and `take this` . - I asked ‘Umar bin al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) about that and he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: `Silver for gold is riba, unless it is exchanged on the spot, 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 ribu unless it is exchanged on the spot.”

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: `The deceased is tormented because of the weeping of his family over him.”

I came to Umar bin al Khattab with some of my people and he starting giving to each man of Tayy two thousand, and he ignored me, I tried to come in front of him and he turned away from me, then I came from the direction he was facing and he turned away from me. Then I said: O Ameer al-Mu`mineen, do you recognize me? He smiled and leaned backwards, then he said: Yes, by Allah! I know that you believed when they disbelieved, and you came when they turned away, and you remained loyal when they betrayed. The first sadaqah (zakah) that brightened the face of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and the faces of his Companions was the sadaqah of Tayy that you brought to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) Then he began to apologize, then he said: I am only giving to people who are extremely poor and they are the leaders of their tribes and have responsibilities.

I heard `Umar bin al-Khattab say: Why are we running now and uncovering our shoulders (in tawaf) when Allah has caused Islam to prevail and has eliminated kufr and its people? Whatever the case, we will never give up something that we did at the time of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).

When I came to Madinah, sickness was occurring in the city. `Abdus-Samad said: They were dying quickly. I sat with `Umar bin al-Khattab and a funeral passed by. Good things were said about (the deceased) and ‘Umar said: It is due. Then another (funeral) passed by: good things were said about (the deceased) and he said: It is due, Then another 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 say 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.

Whilst `Umar bin al-Khattab was delivering a khutbah, a man came and sat down, `Umar said: Why are you coming late to Jumu’ah? The man said: O Ameer al-Mu`mineen, as soon as I heard the call I did wudoo`, then I came. `Umar said: Only wudoo? Didn`t you hear the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: `When one of you goes to Jumu’ah, let him do ghusl`? Abu Salamah narrated that Abu Hurairah (...) told him that whilst ‘Umar was delivering the khutbah... and he narrated a similar report.

Ask `A`ishah about that. So he asked `A`ishah and she said: Ask Ibn `Umar (...). So he asked Ibn `Umar, and he said: Abu Hafs told me that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: `Whoever wears silk in this world will have no share of it in the Hereafter.”

Learn from me three things, for I fear that the people will not come to me (before I die). As for me, I did not pass any judgement regarding kalalah and I did not appoint any successor to be in charge of the people after me, and every slave of his said: No by Allah besides Whom there is no god- if I had the entire world and all that is in it, I would give it as a ransom from the terror of what lies before me, even before knowing the outcome. As for what you say about me being in charge of the believers` affairs, by Allah I wish that I could get out of it without gaining or losing anything. As for what you said about me accompanying the Prophet (ﷺ) of Allah, that is true.

‘Umar wrote to AbuʼUbaidah bin al-Jarrah : To whom should I pay his diyah? ‘Umar wrote back telling him that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to say: “Allah and His Messenger are the mawla (guardian) of the one who has no mawla, and the maternal uncle is the heir of the one who has no heir.”

I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: `The loyalty (wala`) of a freed slave (to his former master) is passed on to the one who inherits his wealth, father or son.”

I saw `Umar go to the Black Stone and say: By Allah, I know that you are a stone and cannot cause harm or bring benefit. Were it not that I saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) kiss you, I would not have kissed you. Then he leant down and kissed it.

I came to Madinah and met Aslam, the freed slave of `Umar bin al-Khattab. I said. Tell me(a report)from `Umar. He said: I cannot, I am afraid that I will add or subtract something. If we said to ‘Umar, Tell us something from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), he would say: I am afraid that I may add or subtract a letter. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Whoever tells a lie about me will be in Hell.`

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Whoever says in a marketplace, There is no God but Allah alone, with no partner or associate, His is the dominion, to Him all praise is due, all goodness is in His hand, He grants life and death and He has power overall things,` Allah will record for him one thousand thousand good deeds and will erase from him one thousand thousand bad deeds, and will build a house for him in Paradise.`

On the day of Khaibar, a group of the companions of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: So and so is a martyr, So and so is a martyr, until they passed by a man and said: So and so is a martyr. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: `No, I saw him being dragged to Hell because of a cloak that he stole from the booty. Go out and call out to the people, “No one will enter Paradise except the believers.` So I went out and called out: No one will enter Paradise except the believers.

No, by my father. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Stop it! whoever swears by anything other than Allah has committed an act of shirk.`

Were it not for the fact that I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say. `We want to extend our mosque,” I would not have added anything to it.

Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, sent Muhammad (ﷺ) with the truth, and He sent down with him the Book. One of the things that were revealed to him was the verse of stoning. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) stoned after him. Then he said: We used to recite, `Do not forsake your real father (and attribute yourself to someone else), for this is an act of kufr, if you do that, or it is an act of kufr to forsake your real father (and attribute yourself to someone else).` And the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: `Do not praise me as the son of Maryam was praised; rather I am a slave, so say: His slave and His Messenger.` Perhaps Ma`mar said: `As the Christians praised the son of Maryam.”

I heard the people saying something so I decided that I should talk to you. They are saying that you are not going to appoint a successor. He lowered his head for a while, then he looked up and said: Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, will protect His religion. If I do not appoint a successor, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) did not appoint a successor either; if I do appoint a successor, Abu Bakr appointed a successor. By Allah, once he mentioned the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and Abu Bakr, I realized that he was not going to regard anyone else as equal to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and that he was not going to appoint a successor.

‘Umar sent word to me... and he mentioned the hadeeth. I said to you both]: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: `We are not to be inherited from and what we leave behind is charity.`

When Abu Bakr died, people wept for him. `Umar said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: `The deceased is tormented because of the weeping of the living.”

When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) died and some people apostatised, ‘Umar bin al-Khattab said: O Abu Bakr, how can you fight the people, when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “I have been commanded to fight the people until they say La ilaha illallah (There is no god but Allah), and whoever says La ilaha illallah, his wealth and his life are protected from me, and his reckoning will be with Allah`? Abu Bakr said: I will most certainly fight those who separate prayer and zakah, for zakah is what is due on wealth. By Allah, if they withhold from me a small she-goat that they used to give to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), I will certainly fight them for withholding it. ʻUmar said: By Allah, as soon as I saw that Allah had opened Abu Bakr`s heart to the idea of fighting I knew that he was right.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: `We are not to be inherited from; what we leave behind is charity.`

‘Umar sent for me... and he mentioned a similar hadeeth. He said: The wealth of Banun-Nadeer was among the fai` that Allah granted to His Messenger for which the Muslims made no expedition with either cavalry or camelry (cf. al-Hashr 59:6). He allocated some of it for his family`s maintenance for one year, 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.

`When night comes and day departs and the sun sets, the fasting person may break his fast.”

I wanted to ask `Umar something but I did not find a chance, so I waited for two years. Then when we were in Marraz-Zahran, he went to relieve himself, then he came after relieving himself and I poured water for him, I said: O Ameer al-Mu`mineen, who are the two women who helped one another against the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)`? He said: `A`ishah and Hafsah. ` As mentioned in the Qur`an: `If you two (wives of the Prophet (ﷺ)) turn in repentance to Allâh. (it will be better for you), your hearts are indeed so inclined to oppose what the Prophet (ﷺ) likes); but if you help one another against him (Muhammad (ﷺ)). then verily, Allâh is his Maula (Lord, or Master, or Protector), and Jibril (Gabriel). and the righteous among the believers, and furthermore, the angels are his helpers` (surah at-Tahreem 66:3)

I heard `Umar say: Do not make women`s dowries too expensive, for if it were a sign of honour in this world or a sign of piety in the Hereafter, the most likely of you to do it would have been the Prophet (ﷺ). But he did not give any of his daughters in marriage or marry any of his wives for more than twelve Ooqiyyah, Furthermore, you say during your campaigns. So and so was killed as a martyr, So and so died as a martyr, but perhaps he loaded his mount`s back with gold and silver, hoping to do trade. So do not say that; rather say as Muhammad said: “Whoever died for the sake of Allah is in Paradise.”

`I have seen a dream, in which I saw myself being pecked by a rooster twice, and I think it signals my death. The people are telling me to appoint a caliph after me. Allah will not cause His caliphate or His religion to be lost, or that with which He sent His Prophet (ﷺ). If I die, then the caliphate is to be decided by a council of these six men with whom the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was pleased when he died, then whichever of them you swear allegiance to, listen to him and obey. I know that there are some men then who will seek to undermine this matter, and I have sought them with these two hands of mine in support of Islam. It they do that, then those are the enemies of Allah, the misguided disbelievers. By Allah, I am not leaving behind anything of more concern to me than kalalah. I asked the Prophet (ﷺ) of Allah about it and he never spoke to me in such a harsh manner as he did with regard to that, to such an extent that he poked me in the chest or side with his hand or his finger and said: `O `Umar: The verse at the end of Soorah an Nisa’ that was revealed in summer is sufficient for you.” If I live, I will pass a judgement concerning it that no one who reads Qur`an or who does not read Qur`an will dispute. Then `Umar said: O Allah, bear witness concerning the governors of the regions; I sent them to teach the people their religion and the Sunnah of their Prophet (ﷺ), and to divide the sai` among them, and to judge between them on a fair basis, and whatever they found difficult they were to refer to me. Then he said: O people, you eat two plants that I think are nothing but distasteful, this garlic and onion. At the time of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), I would see that is the smell of these things was found on a man, he would be taken by the hand and led out to al-Baqee`. Whoever must eat them, let him cook them to death.ʻUmar said this in a khutbah on Friday, and was stabbed on Wednesday 26 Dhul Hijjah.

It was the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), i.e., tamattu` (in Hajj), but I am afraid that they will have intimate relations with them (their wives) beneath the Arak trees, then they will bring them for Hajj.

I saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) doing wudoo after relieving himself, and wiping over his leather slippers (khuff), then praying.

I heard ‘Iyad al-Ash`ari say: i was present at al-Yarmouk and we had five commanders over us: Abu `Ubaidah bin al-Jarrah, Yazeed bin Abi Sufyan, Ibn Hasanah, Khalid bin al-Waleed and `Iyad - and this `Iyad was not the one who narrated reports to Simak. - `Umar (رضي الله عنه) said: If fighting occurs, then your commander is Abu `Ubaidah. So we wrote to him, saying: We are facing death; and we asked him for reinforcements. He wrote to us, saying: I have received your letter asking for reinforcements and I can tell you about who has the greatest support and the most ready troops. Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, ask Him for support, for Muhammad (ﷺ) was caused to prevail on the day of Badr with fewer than your numbers. When this letter of mine reaches you, fight them without referring back to me. So we fought them, and we defeated them, pursuing and killing them for four parasangs, and we acquired wealth (booly). They discussed the issue (of booty) and ‘Iyad suggested to us that we should give ten for every head. And Abu ʼUbaidah said: Who will compete with me (in a horse race)? A young man said: I will, if you don`t get angry. Then he beat him, and I saw the two braids of Abu ‘Ubaidah flying as he raced behind him on an Arabian horse.