The ruling on applying the title of the Rightly Guided Caliph to 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz
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Question:
Honorable Shaykh, is it permissible to apply the title of the five Rightly Guided Caliphs to 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him) and not to Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him), or is it an error to apply the title of the five to 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz?
Answer:
'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him) is undoubtedly a just and pious caliph, and the people loved him for his faith and truthfulness (may Allah be pleased with him) and his scrupulousness. However, Mu'awiyah is not included among the Rightly Guided Caliphs, nor is he included among the Companions. Mu'awiyah is better than 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz without doubt, because Mu'awiyah was a Companion. No one is included among the Companions [other than those who were]. 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz came after the knowledgeable ones, and he was a righteous man who struggled in the path of Allah and was just; there is no doubt in that. But he was not included among the Companions; he is not included among the Companions. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, is it permissible to apply the title of the five Rightly Guided Caliphs to 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him) and not to Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him), or is it an error to apply the title of the five to 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz?
Answer:
'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him) is undoubtedly a just and pious caliph, and the people loved him for his faith and truthfulness (may Allah be pleased with him) and his scrupulousness. However, Mu'awiyah is not included among the Rightly Guided Caliphs, nor is he included among the Companions. Mu'awiyah is better than 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz without doubt, because Mu'awiyah was a Companion. No one is included among the Companions [other than those who were]. 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz came after the knowledgeable ones, and he was a righteous man who struggled in the path of Allah and was just; there is no doubt in that. But he was not included among the Companions; he is not included among the Companions. Yes.
Source
شرح العقيدة الواسطية [ صالح الفوزان ] [ الشرح القديم ]، من علامات أهل السنة الاتباع وليس الابتداع — islamhouse.com (1:12:59)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.