ʿĀmir al-Shaʿbī related that when Umar wanted to establish the dīwān, he said, “With whom should I begin?” ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf replied, “Begin with yourself.” Umar said, “You have reminded me. I witnessed the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) begin with Banū Hāshim and Banū al-Muṭṭalib.” So Umar began with them, then with those nearest to them among the clans of Quraysh, clan by clan, until he had included all of Quraysh. He then proceeded to the Anṣār (Helpers) and said, “Begin with the clan of Saʿd ibn Muʿādh from al-Aws, then with those closest, and then those next closest, to Saʿd.”
When the people’s order in the dīwān had been established according to their various lines of descent connected to the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace), Umar differentiated between them in their stipends according to their precedence in Islam and their closeness to the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace). Abū Bakr held that they should receive equal stipends and did not consider precedence a basis for distinction. This was also the view of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib during his caliphate, and it was adopted by al-Shāfiʿī and Mālik. Umar, however, held that distinction should be based on precedence in religion. This was also the view of ʿUthmān after him, and it was adopted by Aḥmad, Abū Ḥanīfah, and the jurists of Iraq.
Umar once debated Abū Bakr when he had given the people equal stipends. He said, “Would you treat equally one who undertook the two migrations and prayed toward both qiblas, and one who embraced Islam in the year of the Conquest out of fear of the sword?” Abū Bakr replied, “They acted only for Allah, and their reward is with Allah. This world is merely a means of reaching one’s destination.” Umar then said, “I will not place on the same footing one who fought against the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) and one who fought alongside him.”
When Umar established the dīwān, he gave precedence on the basis of precedence in Islam. He allotted 5,000 dirhams annually to each of the early Muhājirūn (Emigrants) who had taken part in Badr. Among them were ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, Ṭalḥah ibn ʿUbayd Allāh, al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām, and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf. He allotted himself 5,000 dirhams along with them, and included al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, al-Ḥasan, and al-Ḥusayn with them because of their close relationship to the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace). It is also said that he gave al-ʿAbbās preferential treatment and allotted him 7,000 dirhams, while he allotted 12,000 dirhams to ʿĀʾishah. He also included Juwayriyyah bint al-Ḥārith and Ṣafiyyah bint Ḥuyayy with them. It is said, however, that he allotted 6,000 dirhams to each of the two.
He allotted 3,000 dirhams to every man who had emigrated before the Conquest, and 2,000 dirhams to every man who had embraced Islam after the Conquest. He allotted to young boys among the children of the Muhājirūn and Anṣār the same stipends as those who had embraced Islam at the Conquest.
He allotted 4,000 dirhams to Umar ibn Abī Salamah al-Makhzūmī because his mother, Umm Salamah, was the wife of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace). Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaḥsh said to him, “Why do you favor Umar over us when our fathers emigrated and took part in Badr?” Umar replied, “I favor him because of his close relationship to the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace). Then let whoever seeks redress bring a mother like Umm Salamah.”
He allotted 4,000 dirhams to Usāmah ibn Zayd and 3,000 dirhams to ʿAbd Allāh ibn Umar. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Umar said, “You allotted 4,000 dirhams to Usāmah and 3,000 to me, even though I witnessed what Usāmah did not.” Umar replied, “I gave him more because he was dearer to the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) than you were, and his father was dearer to the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) than your father was.”