The Book of Mosques and Places of Prayer-03b

The reciter: Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to us, and Isma'il ibn Iliyyah narrated to us from Sa'id ibn Abi Aribah. He said: And Zuhayr ibn Harb and Ishaq ibn Ibrahim both narrated to us from Shubabah ibn Suwar, who said: Shu'bah narrated to us, all of them from Qatadah, in this chain of narration, the same.

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
This is a great hadith spoken by the Commander of the Faithful, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, at the end of his life. He delivered a sermon on Friday and mentioned the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), what happened during his time, and his conduct (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him). He also mentioned Abu Bakr, and his intention was to praise their era and their time. Then he informed them that he saw in a dream that a rooster pecked him three times, and he interpreted this as the approach of his death (may Allah be pleased with him). It seems these pecks represented three days, and then the final peck would occur, and that was at the hand of the wicked Magian Abu Lu'lu'ah, the slave of al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah (may Allah be pleased with him).
And there are people who urge me to appoint a successor, meaning: appoint a caliph for us. But he (may Allah be pleased with him) did not see that as appropriate, and perhaps it was difficult for him to determine who among those in his time was most deserving of the caliphate. When a matter is difficult for a person, he must pause and not rush into anything, because rushing into something whose benefit is not established, even by mere assumption, is wrong, especially in this great matter, which is the caliphate of the Muslims. But he said (may Allah be pleased with him): , and he was truthful (may Allah be pleased with him), that Allah will not let His religion be lost, nor will He let the caliphate be lost for the Muslim community, because the community must have a leader. If there were no leader, the community would be in chaos, with no reins and no bridle. For this reason, it is said: "People do not succeed in chaos without their nobles." Even beasts must have a leader who guides them, as seen with hunters who hunt birds and gazelles and the like; they find that every group has a leader who guides them. Therefore, they strive to hunt the leader so that the group scatters and they can easily capture them.
The important point is that he (may Allah be pleased with him) anticipated that Allah would not let the affairs of the community be lost, and the matter turned out as he anticipated (may Allah be pleased with him). For the caliphate did not last but a short time until Uthman was appointed caliph (may Allah be pleased with him).
In this hadith, there are benefits:
"If I am hastened by a matter," meaning: if I die (may Allah be pleased with him), then the caliphate is a matter of consultation among these six men, of whom the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was pleased when he passed away. He pointed to them because of their presence. In my notes, it is stated that these six are Uthman, Ali, Talhah, al-Zubayr, Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, and Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf. These six are to consult among themselves and appoint a successor for the Muslims on whom their opinions agree. He did not give any of it to his son, despite the righteousness of Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) and his jurisprudence, but he saw that keeping it away from them was better and more appropriate, so that a precedent would not be set in Islam that people would follow. However, he (may Allah be pleased with him) granted Abdullah ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) presence, meaning he allowed him to attend with these six, due to his virtue, knowledge, and leadership, but he had no share in the decision. He said: "And I know that some people will criticize that decision. I have struck them with this hand of mine for Islam. If they do so..." He knew that some people would criticize this matter, meaning the matter of the caliphate, and would consider so-and-so and so-and-so more deserving of the caliphate than these men. He said: "I have struck them for Islam," which is an indication that these people do not have jurisprudence in the religion, nor do they have faith that has settled in their hearts. Therefore, they criticize the matter of the caliphate. Among them are, for example, the Rafidah, who followed in their wake, criticizing the caliphate of Abu Bakr, 'Umar, and Uthman, and considering these men to be oppressors and open sinners. Some of them even explicitly declare them disbelievers, because they usurped the caliphate from Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him). I have even seen a statement from some of the Rafidah that declares Ali ibn Abi Talib a disbeliever. They say: "These are disbelievers, and Ali is also a disbeliever." Why? They say: because he enabled these disbelievers to commit disbelief, and one who enables disbelievers is a disbeliever. So no one remains; if all the Rightly Guided Caliphs are disbelievers, then who is a Muslim?
He said (may Allah be pleased with him): "If they do that," meaning: if they criticize the caliphate and oppose the Muslims, "then if they do that, those are the enemies of Allah, the disbelievers, the misguided." Look at the three descriptions given to them: the first is "enemies of Allah," the second is "disbelievers," and the third is "misguided," refuge with Allah. So whoever criticizes the Islamic caliphate is a misguided disbeliever, an enemy of Allah, a disbeliever, and an oppressor. 'Umar said this in the presence of the Companions, while he was delivering a Friday sermon, and no one among the Companions stood up to say: "O Commander of the Faithful, why did you rule against them with this? They do not deserve it." This indicates that whoever criticizes the caliphate is an enemy of Allah, a disbeliever, and misguided. This is sufficient as a testimony that the Commander of the Faithful testified to these people's enmity toward Allah, disbelief, and misguidance in front of the Companions, and not one of them objected to him. If someone were to say: "No one stood up out of awe of 'Umar and fear of his severity," we say: This is a lie. 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was one who stopped at the Book of Allah and never transgressed it. Even a woman—she may have been an old woman or not—the important thing is that she objected to him, and he accepted it, and he was one of the most severe people in upholding the limits of Allah. If what he described these people with had been ambiguous to the Companions, they would have asked about it. And if it had been incorrect in the view of the Companions, they would have said: "O Commander of the Faithful, this is not correct." But it is correct.
And Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Whoever criticizes the caliphate of any of these men is more misguided than his own donkey." More misguided than his own donkey, and the donkey is the most misguided of beasts and the most dull-witted of beasts. It is used as a metaphor for dullness. .
He said: "Then I do not leave behind me anything more important to me than the Kalalah." Glory be to Allah! 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) does not leave anything more important to him than the Kalalah? Even though he bore the affairs of all the Muslims, and nothing was more important to him than the Kalalah, which is an individual ruling in an individual issue. But he wanted to understand the words of Allah, and that no verse from the Book of Allah should remain without him understanding it. The issue is not about giving this heir or depriving this heir; the issue is not understanding anything of the words of Allah. Look at the eagerness of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) to understand the Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. This Rightly Guided Caliph, who remained in the caliphate for ten years managing the affairs of the Muslims in a manner that is used as a model, said that he left nothing more important to him than the Kalalah, which he did not understand. And he consulted the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about it, in a consultation that says: . Allah is the Greatest! The questioner and the answerer, both were severe with each other in a severity that had no precedent. This one consulted the Messenger, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) answered him and was severe with him, to the point that he may have poked his finger in his chest and said: "O 'Umar, is not the verse of summer in the end of al-Nisa' sufficient for you?" Look at this speech. He poked his finger in his chest and said: "O 'Umar." This is an indication that it is strange that this should be difficult for 'Umar, who is 'Umar ibn al-Khattab. He did not say: "O this one," and he did not say: "Is it not sufficient for you," but he called him by his name and said: "How can this be difficult for you, O 'Umar? Is not the verse of summer in the Surah al-Nisa' sufficient for you?" And the answer is: It is sufficient, and it is clear, and Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has explained it, even mentioning in its end: .