68 — ʿAbd Allāh narrated to us: My father narrated to me: Yazīd ibn Hārūn narrated to us: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Salama informed us, from ʿAbd al-Wāhid ibn Abī ʿAwn, from al-Qāsim ibn Muhammad, from ʿĀʾisha, who used to say:

“The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away, and the Arabs apostatized, while hypocrisy reared its head in Medina. Had the firmly rooted mountains suffered what befell my father, it would have shattered them. By Allah, they never differed over any matter without my father stepping forward to take his share in it and bear its hardships in the service of Islam.”

She would also say:

“Anyone who saw ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb knew that he had been created to be a great asset to Islam. By Allah, he was a resolute, capable leader, a man without equal, who had prepared a match for every challenge.”