Al-Zuhrī further related that Mālik ibn Aws ibn al-Hadathān al-Naṣrī said:

I was once with ʿUmar—may Allah be pleased with him—when he said to me, “Mālik, some people from your tribe, desert folk, have just arrived. I have ordered that a stipend be set aside for them; distribute it among them.” I replied, “Would that you had assigned the task to someone else.” He answered, “Take it, man.”

His chamberlain, Yarfaʾ, then came in and said, “Would you like ʿUthmān, al-Zubayr, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, and Saʿd to enter? They are seeking permission.” “Yes,” ʿUmar said, so they entered, gave the greeting of peace, and sat down.

After a short while Yarfaʾ returned and said to ʿUmar, “Shall ʿAlī and al-ʿAbbās come in?” “Yes,” he replied. They entered, greeted, and sat. Al-ʿAbbās said, “Commander of the Believers, judge between me and this oppressor—this wicked, treacherous betrayer!” The two of them traded insults. ʿUthmān and the others said, “Commander of the Believers, decide between them and relieve one of them from the other.”

ʿUmar said, “I adjure you both by Allah: do you know that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘We Prophets are not inherited from; whatever we leave behind is charity’?” They answered, “Indeed, he said that.”

He continued, “Then listen. Allah gave His Messenger a special portion of the fayʾ (state revenues gained without battle) that He gave to no one else. The Exalted said: ‘Whatever spoils Allah has turned over to His Messenger from them—you did not spur any horses or riding camels for it. Rather, Allah gives His messengers authority over whom He wills’ (Qurʾān 59:6). That share belonged exclusively to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Yet, by Allah, he did not keep it for himself or prefer himself over you; he distributed it among you until only this property remained.

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ would spend from that property on his family, providing their upkeep for a whole year; whatever was left he placed with the funds of Allah. I adjure you by Allah: do you know this?” They replied, “Yes.”

“Then Allah took His Prophet, and Abū Bakr said, ‘I am the trustee of the Messenger of Allah.’ He accordingly took charge of it, managing it just as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had managed it. But you two allege that Abū Bakr, in this matter, was a liar, a sinner, a treacherous betrayer—while Allah knows that he was truthful, pious, and rightly guided. After Allah took him, I said, ‘I am the trustee of the Messenger of Allah and the trustee of Abū Bakr.’ I have held it for the first two years of my caliphate, managing it