Mukhtasar Muslim

Ma’dan bin Abi Talhah narrates that Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) delivered a sermon on Friday and mentioned the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and Sayyiduna Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him), and said: I saw in a dream that a rooster pecked me three times. I interpret this as meaning that my death is now near. Some people say to me that you should appoint your successor and caliph, and surely Allah Almighty will not ruin His religion, nor His caliphate, nor that which He sent the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) with. If my death comes soon, then the caliphate will remain among those six people with whom the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was pleased until his death, through consultation. And I know that some people criticize those whom I myself struck with this hand of mine for the sake of Islam. Then if they do so (i.e., consider that criticism valid), they are enemies of Allah and disbelieving deviants. And after me, I do not leave anything as difficult as the matter of kalalah. I did not ask the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) about anything as many times as I asked about kalalah. And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not show me such strictness in any matter as he did in this, until he poked me in the chest with his finger and said: O Umar! Is not that verse sufficient for you which was revealed in the summer at the end of Surah An-Nisa: “They ask you for a legal verdict. Say: Allah directs (thus) about al-Kalalah: If a man dies, leaving no child but (only) a sister, she shall have half of what he left...” (An-Nisa: 176). And if I remain alive, I will give such a verdict about kalalah that everyone will judge accordingly, whether he has read the Qur’an or not. Then Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O Allah! I make You a witness over those people to whom I have given the governance of lands (i.e., deputies, governors, and scholars). I have sent them only so that they may do justice, teach people the matters of religion, teach them the way of your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), distribute the spoils of war among the people, and if they face any difficulty in any matter, they should ask me about it. Then, O people! I see that you eat two plants, and I dislike them—they are onions and garlic. And I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that when their smell came from any person, by the order of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), he was taken out of the mosque towards Baqi’. Now, if anyone eats them, he should cook them well (so that their smell is eliminated).