434 - Abd Allāh narrated to us, saying: My father narrated to me, saying: Ibn Abī Adī—meaning Muhammad—narrated to us, from Humayd, from Anas, who said: Umar said:

“I agreed with my Lord, Mighty and Majestic, on three matters—or: my Lord agreed with me on three matters. I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, if only you would take the Station as a place of prayer!’ Then Allah, Mighty and Majestic, revealed: ‘And take the Station of Abraham as a place of prayer’ [al-Baqara: 125].

“And I said, ‘If only you would screen off the Mothers of the Believers, for both the righteous and the wicked enter your presence.’ Then the verse concerning the screen was revealed.

“Something concerning the Mothers of the Believers reached me, so I went to them one by one, saying to them, ‘You must stop troubling the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, or Allah will replace you with wives better than you.’ Eventually, I came to one of the Mothers of the Believers, who said, ‘O Umar, is the Messenger of Allah not sufficient to admonish his wives, that you should admonish them yourself?’ So I stopped. Then Allah, Mighty and Majestic, revealed: ‘Perhaps his Lord, if he divorces you, will give him in your place wives better than you—submitting to Allah, believing, devoutly obedient’ [al-Tahrīm: 5], and the rest of the verse.”