than the disgrace of the Hereafter. O Allah, grant him sincerity and faith, and remove from him drowsiness whenever You will.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then said, “ʿUmar is with me and I am with ʿUmar; after I am gone, the truth will be with ʿUmar.” (The chain of transmission and the text of this report are, however, highly unusual.)

A report on his ﷺ instruction that Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq should lead all the Companions in prayer while they were present, and that the Prophet ﷺ later came out and prayed behind him on some occasions, establishing him as the imam for himself and for those who followed.

Imam Aḥmad related: Yaʿqūb narrated to us, my father narrated to us, from Ibn Isḥāq, who said:

Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī told me: ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abī Bakr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Hishām related to me, from his father, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Zamʿah ibn al-Aswad ibn al-Muṭṭalib ibn Asad, who said:

“When the illness of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ grew intense and I was with him along with a number of Muslims, he called Bilāl for the prayer and said, ‘Instruct someone to lead the people in prayer.’ I went out and found ʿUmar among the people, while Abū Bakr was absent, so I said, ‘Stand, O ʿUmar, and lead the people in prayer.’ ʿUmar stood up, and when his voice grew loud—the Messenger of Allah ﷺ could hear him, for ʿUmar’s voice carried—the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Where is Abū Bakr? Allah and the Muslims will not accept anyone else; Allah and the Muslims will not accept anyone else.’ So Abū Bakr was sent for, and he arrived after ʿUmar had led that one prayer and then led the people in prayer.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Zamʿah said: ʿUmar later said to me, ‘Woe to you, son of Zamʿah! By Allah, I only led the prayer when you told me to because I thought the Messenger of Allah had ordered it; had I not thought so, I would never have done it.’ I replied, ‘By Allah, the Messenger of Allah did not order me; but when I did not see Abū Bakr, I judged you the most entitled of those present to lead the prayer.’

Abū Dāwūd likewise narrated it from Ibn Isḥāq: ‘al-Zuhrī narrated to me.’ Yūnus ibn Bukayr also transmitted it from Ibn Isḥāq: ‘Yaʿqūb ibn ʿUtbah told me, from Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Zamʿah,’ and so on.

Abū Dāwūd further said: Aḥmad ibn Ṣāliḥ narrated to us; Ibn Abī Fudayk narrated to us; Mūsā ibn Yaʿqūb narrated to me, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Isḥāq, from Ibn Shihāb, from ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUtbah, that ʿAbd Allāh ibn Zamʿah related this account to him.

He said: When the Prophet ﷺ heard ʿUmar’s voice—ʿAbd Allāh ibn Zamʿah said—the Prophet ﷺ came out until he extended his head from