#5 Umar ibn al-Khattab from The History of the Khalifahs by Jalal ad- Din as-Suyuti

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Sufyan ath-Thawri said: Whoever claimed that
‘Ali had more right to authority than Abu Bakr
and ‘Umar has made a mistake and has
accused Abu Bakr, ‘Umar and all the
Muhajirun and the Ansar of making a mistake.
Sharik said: No-one in whom there is any
good advances ‘Ali before Abu Bakr and
‘Umar.
Abu Usamah said: Do you grasp who Abu Bakr
and ‘Umar were? They were the father and
mother of Islam.
Ja‘far as-Sadiq said: I am quit of whoever
mentions Abu Bakr and ‘Umar with anything
but good.
The agreements of (the views of) cUmar
(with subsequent confirmatory revelations of
Qur’an)
Some of them make them amount to more
than twenty.
Ibn Mardawayh narrated that Mujahid said:
‘Umar used to hold a view and Qur’an would
be revealed with (confirmation of) it.
Ibn ‘Asakir narrated that ‘Ali said: In the
Qur’an there are some of the views of ‘Umar.
He narrated from Ibn ‘Umar as a
marfu‘ [hadith]: When people said one thing
and ‘Umar said another, the Qur’an would be
revealed with the like of what ‘Umar said.
The two Shaykhs narrated that ‘Umar said: I
agreed with my Lord in three things; I said,
‘Messenger of Allah, if only we were to take
the Station of Ibrahim as a place of prayer,’
and there was revealed, ‘… and take the
Station of Ibrahim as a place of
prayer.’ (Qur’an 2: 125). I said, ‘Messenger of
Allah, both good and bad people come to visit
your wives; if only you would order them to
wear hijabs,’ and the ayah of the hijab was
revealed. The wives of the Prophet, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, united in
jealousy, and so I said, ‘Perhaps his Lord, if
he divorces you, will give him in exchange
wives better than you, …’ and it was revealed
just like that (with exactly the same words,
see Qur’an 66: 5).
Muslim narrated that ‘Umar said, ‘I agreed
with my Lord in three things: in the hijab, in
the prisoners at Badr, and in the Station of
Ibrahim.’ In this hadith is a fourth instance.
In at-Tahdhib of an-Nawawi, ‘The Qur’an was
revealed in agreement with him on the
prisoners at Badr, on the hijab, on the Station
of Ibrahim and on the prohibition of wine.’ He
added a fifth instance and its hadith is in the
Sunan and the Mustadrak of al-Hakim that he
said, ‘O Allah, make clear to us about wine
with an explanation which relieves us from all
doubt.’ Then Allah revealed its prohibition.
Ibn Abi Hatim narrated in his tafsir that Anas
said: ‘Umar said, ‘I was in agreement with my
Lord in four things: this ayah was revealed,
“And certainly We have created man from an
extraction of clay,” (Qur’an 23: 12) and when
it was revealed I said, “So blessed be Allah
the best of creators,” and then it was revealed,
“So blessed be Allah the best of
creators.”’ (Qur’an 95: 8). Here he mentioned
a sixth instance. The hadith has another chain
of transmission from Ibn ‘Abbas which I have
narrated in at-Tafsir al-Musnad.
Then I saw in the book Fada’il al-Imamayn of
Abu ‘Abdullah ash-Shaybani that he said,
‘‘Umar agreed with his Lord in twenty-one
situations,’ and he mentioned these six
(aforementioned). He augmented as a seventh
the story of ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy. I say: Its
hadith is in the sahih traditions from him
(‘Umar). He said, ‘When ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy
died, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless
him and his family and grant them peace, was
invited to perform the funeral prayer over him
so he stood up for that. I rose up until I stood
up close to his chest and said, “Messenger of
Allah, is it over the enemy of Allah, Ibn Ubayy,
who said one day such-and-such?” Then, by
Allah, it wasn’t very long until it was revealed,
“And do not pray over one of them ever
…” (Qur’an 9: 84) to the conclusion of the
ayah.’
8. ‘They ask you about wine ...’ (Qur’an 2:
219) to the end of the ayah.
9. ‘O you who believe, do not approach the
prayer ...’ (Qur’an 4: 43) to the end of the
ayah. I say that the two of them, along with
the ayah from Al-Ma’idah, are one instance,
and the three are in the preceding hadith.
10. When the Messenger of Allah, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, increased in
seeking forgiveness for a people, ‘Umar said,
‘It is equal to them.’ Then Allah revealed, ‘It is
equal to them whether you seek forgiveness
for them …’ (Qur’an 63: 2) to the end of the
ayah. I say that this hadith has been narrated
by at-Tabarani from Ibn ‘Abbas.
11. When he, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, sought the advice of the
Companions about the expedition to Badr,
‘Umar was in favour of the expedition and so
it was revealed, ‘Just as your Lord brought
you out of your house by the truth …’ (Qur’an
8: 5) to the end of the ayah.
12. When he, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, sought the advice of the
Companions with respect to the story of the
slander (of ‘A’ishah) ‘Umar said, ‘Who married
you to her, Messenger of Allah?’ He said,
‘Allah.’ He said, ‘Do you think that your Lord
would conceal a defect of hers from you? Glory
be to You, this is huge slander!’ (Qur’an 24:
16). Then the revelation came down just like
that.
13. His story in the fast when he made love to
his wife after waking from sleep (before the
pre-dawn meal) – and that was forbidden in
the beginning of Islam – and so it was
revealed, ‘It is permitted to you on the night of
the fast …’ (Qur’an 2: 187) to the end of the
ayah. I say that Ahmad narrated it in his
Musnad.
14. His words, Exalted is He, ‘Whoever is an
enemy to Jibril …’ (Qur’an 2: 97) to the end of
the ayah. I say that Ibn Jarir and others
narrated it from many different narrators the
best of which is from ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abi
Layla that: A Jew met ‘Umar and said, ‘Jibril,
whom your companion mentions, is an enemy
to us.’ So ‘Umar said, ‘Whoever is an enemy
to Allah and His angels and His messengers
and Jibril and Mika’il, then truly Allah is an
enemy to the disbelievers.’ So it was revealed
on the tongue of ‘Umar.
15. His words, Exalted is He, ‘Then no! By
your Lord, they do not believe …’ (Qur’an 4:
65) to the end of the ayah. I say that its story
has been narrated by Ibn Abi Hatim and Ibn
Mardawayh from Abu’l-Aswad. He said: Two
men brought a dispute to the Prophet, may
Allah bless him and his family and grant them
peace, and he gave judgement between them.
The one who had judgement given against him
said, ‘Let us go to ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab,’ and
so the two of them went to him. The man said,
‘The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him
and grant him peace, gave judgement in my
favour against this man and he said, “Let us
go to ‘Umar.”’ ‘Umar said, ‘Is it like that?’ He
said, ‘Yes.’ So ‘Umar said, ‘Stay where you are
until I come out to you.’ Then he came out to
them wrapping his sword in his garment and
struck the one who had said, ‘Let us go to
‘Umar,’ and killed him. The other returned and
said, ‘Messenger of Allah, ‘Umar killed – by
Allah! – my companion.’ So he said, ‘I
wouldn’t have thought that ‘Umar would have
ventured to kill a believer.’ Then Allah
revealed, ‘Then no! By your Lord they do not
believe …’ to the end of the ayah. He declared,
there was to be no retaliation or compensation
for the blood of the man and declared ‘Umar
free from any wrong in his killing. There is
another connected text that supports this
story which I have related in at-Tafsir al-
Musnad.
16. Seeking permission to enter. That was
because his servant entered his room when he
was sleeping and he said, ‘O Allah, forbid
entrance.’ Then the ayah of seeking
permission to enter was revealed.
17. His saying about the Jews, ‘They are a
confounded people.’
18. His words, exalted is He, ‘Many of the first
ones and many of the latter ones.’ (Qur’an 56:
39-40). I say that Ibn ‘Asakir narrated it in
his Tarikh from Jabir ibn ‘Abdullah and that it
is in the Asbab an-Nuzul.
19. The lifting (abrogation) of the recitation of,
‘The older man and the older woman when
they commit adultery …’ to the end of the
ayah.1
20. His words on the Day of Uhud when Abu
Sufyan said, ‘Is so-and-so among the
people?” (‘Umar said) “We will not answer
him,’ and the Prophet, may Allah bless him
and grant him peace, agreed with him. I say
that Ahmad narrated its story in his Musnad.
He said: And one joins to this what ‘Uthman
ibn Sa‘id ad-Darimi narrated in his book ar-
Radd ‘ala’l-Jahmiyah by way of Ibn Shihab
from Salim ibn ‘Abdullah that Ka‘b al-Ahbar
said, ‘Woe to the king of the earth from the
King of heaven.’ Then ‘Umar said, ‘Except for
whoever takes himself to account.’ Ka‘b said,
‘By the One in Whose hand is my soul it is in
the Tawrah. You have carried it on (the words
of the verse) consecutively.’ Then ‘Umar fell
prostrate.
Then I have seen in al-Kamil of Ibn ‘Adi by
the route of ‘Abdullah ibn Nafi‘ – and he is
weak – from his father from ‘Umar that Bilal
used to say, when he called the adhan, ‘I
witness that there is no god but Allah. Come
to prayer.’ Then ‘Umar said to him, ‘Say after
it, “I witness that Muhammad is the
Messenger of Allah.”’ The Prophet, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘Say as
‘Umar said.’