I have a question regarding 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar. He is considered one of the most rigorous of the Companions in emulating the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), but when it came to the wording of the tashahhud, he said, "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner," and then he added, "I added this from myself," or something to that effect. How could he do this, being the most rigorous of people in emulating the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and say, "I added this from myself" to an act of worship?

The questioner : I have a question regarding 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar. He is considered one of the most rigorous of the Companions in emulating the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), but when it came to the wording of the tashahhud, he said, "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner," and then he added, "I added this from myself," or something to that effect. How could he do this, being the most rigorous of people in emulating the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and say, "I added this from myself" to an act of worship?

The Shaykh : This is an argument for us, not against us.

The questioner : How is it an argument? I am asking how 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar adds this addition and says, "I added this from myself" to an act of worship?

The Shaykh : I am telling you this is an argument for us because he said "from myself" without specifying it. If he had specified it, we could have said about it what we said about the other one. But since he said he added it from himself, we apply the general rules to this addition. If we accept it, we accept it; otherwise, we reject it. It is not like what I mentioned to you earlier, whether by you or someone else, or someone of lower status. First, in terms of culture and enthusiasm for prayer, is it possible that he would testify to anything other than what I testified to for him? Is that not so? But this does not mean he is infallible, otherwise we would equate him with the Messenger. Therefore, when he said "I added this from myself," we do not add it because this was his independent legal reasoning (ijtihad), and we left it to him. I have other examples for him, but I am saying that this hadith he narrated from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is undoubtedly one where he saw the Prophet in one of two states: either he excused it or he took it from her, as he used to do one of two things. What is the default position regarding Ibn 'Umar in this matter? The default is not, as you said about him, "I added this from myself." The default is that he was a follower. This is the assumption for all the Companions, let alone the most enthusiastic in following the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). So if it is established for us that he was mistaken, erred, or exercised independent legal reasoning in a certain issue, this does not negate the default position we adopt regarding the Companions in general, let alone someone like him, let alone an action of his that appears to contradict the general practice of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) . What about when we see others sharing this understanding with him? And what about when we do not see anyone, and we have not read about any of his companions or fellow Companions contradicting him in his action? Therefore, when you look at the issue from all angles, as I hinted to you earlier, the action of Ibn 'Umar here remains an argument, so we must resort to it.

The questioner : Meaning, 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar did not do this except that he saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), even though he is the narrator of the hadith . So do we say that 'A'ishah, who completed the prayer while traveling, is the narrator of the hadith ?

The Shaykh : They are not comparable, may Allah reward you.

The questioner : Why?

The Shaykh : Because you know the Sunnah in this issue, but you do not know the Sunnah in the issue of letting the beard grow. You must distinguish between the two matters. There is no action from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he let his beard grow absolutely. If that were the case, the comparison would be as we criticized Ibn 'Umar, we would criticize the Lady 'A'ishah here. Ibn 'Umar did not contradict the action of the Prophet; he contradicted our understanding. 'A'ishah contradicted the action of the Prophet and her narration and the narrations of the other Companions. There is a great difference between the two matters.

The questioner : Meaning, we understand that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took from his beard based on the action of 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar.

The Shaykh : Yes, and the rest of the Companions and the Salaf, as we said.

The questioner: I understand you.

The Shaykh : But I want you to note with me that the examples you are mentioning now are completely different from our topic. First, the athar of Ibn 'Umar "I added from myself," may Allah reward you, we do not take it as a basis for the action of the Lady 'A'ishah, may Allah reward her for it, we do not take it as a basis. Why? As for the action of Ibn 'Umar in saying "I added," that is sufficient for us as an answer. As for the action of 'A'ishah, her action not only contradicts her narration, but it contradicts the action of her Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and contradicts hadiths such as the command of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) when they said, "What is the matter with us shortening the prayer when we are led by you?" He said . So for the sake of 'A'ishah, her independent legal reasoning, and her contradiction of her narration , and so on, and her contradiction of the verbal and practical hadiths, we do not abandon these decisive texts just because she did this. We say this is her action and she has the reward for it, and as for us, those proofs are sufficient, especially what she narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that the obligatory prayer is like this.

The questioner: May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh: And you as well, if Allah wills.

The questioner : The action of Ibn 'Umar in raising his hands in the funeral prayer.

The Shaykh : This is what I referred to earlier. We have other examples from Ibn 'Umar. We do not follow Ibn 'Umar in everything. Did we follow him in the incidents we mentioned? No, and this is one of them. Because the description of the prayer of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) has been transmitted to us, and this raising was never transmitted from him (peace and blessings be upon him), just as is the case in the prayer of the two festivals. So we say here what we said about his statement "I added from myself," because the description of the prayer that was transmitted does not include this. Nevertheless, I want to draw the attention of our brothers that suppose... Thank you, Professor, for what you have given us.