Applying the title of the Fifth Caliph to 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz
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Question:
Shaykh Ahmad ibn Matar asked: Is it permissible to call Caliph 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz the Fifth Caliph? And why do we say that this is specific to the Companions?
Answer:
No, we do not call him the Fifth Caliph. As for expressing satisfaction with him, there is nothing wrong with it. One may express satisfaction with 'Umar and with the scholars; there is no prohibition, because it falls under the category of supplicating for satisfaction with this scholar or this benefactor, so there is no harm in that.
Shaykh Ahmad ibn Matar asked: Is it permissible to call Caliph 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz the Fifth Caliph? And why do we say that this is specific to the Companions?
Answer:
No, we do not call him the Fifth Caliph. As for expressing satisfaction with him, there is nothing wrong with it. One may express satisfaction with 'Umar and with the scholars; there is no prohibition, because it falls under the category of supplicating for satisfaction with this scholar or this benefactor, so there is no harm in that.
Source
شرح لمعة الاعتقاد [ صالح الفوزان ]، بداية من قوله : وقد أمرنا بالاقتفاء لآثارهم، والاهتداء بمنارهم — islamhouse.com (58:04)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.