and during that same period he was one of the finest people in his dealings and the most upright in conduct. Whenever a difficult case arose, he would gather the jurists of Madinah to consider it. He had appointed ten of them in particular and would not decide any matter without their counsel—or at least the counsel of whichever of them happened to be present. They were: ʿUrwah, ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUtbah, Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Hishām, Abū Bakr ibn Sulaymān ibn [Abī] Ḥathmah (1), Sulaymān ibn Yasār, al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad, Abū Bakr ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr ibn Ḥazm, Sālim ibn ʿAbd Allāh, ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿĀmir ibn Rabīʿah, and Khārijah ibn Zayd ibn Thābit. He also never departed from the view of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab. Saʿīd—who would visit none of the other caliphs—used, nevertheless, to come to ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz while he was in Madinah.

Ibn Wahb reported—through ʿAbd al-Jabbār al-Aylī, from Ibrāhīm ibn Abī ʿAblah—saying: “I reached Madinah while Ibn al-Musayyab and others were there, yet on that day ʿUmar outstripped them all in discernment (2)(3).”

Ibn Wahb also said: al-Layth narrated to me, reporting from Qādim al-Barbarī, that he once discussed with Rabīʿah ibn Abī ʿAbd al-Raḥmān a judicial ruling (4) issued by ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz during his governorship of Madinah. Rabīʿah exclaimed, “It is as though you are claiming he was mistaken. By Him in whose hand is my soul, he never erred at all.”

Multiple chains likewise establish from Anas ibn Mālik that he said, “I have never prayed behind any imam whose prayer more closely resembled that of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ than this young man”—meaning ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz—“during his tenure in Madinah.” They added: “He would perfect his bowing and prostration, yet he lightened the standing and the sitting (5).”

In another sound narration it is related that he would recite the tasbīḥ ten times in both his bowing and his prostration.

Ibn Wahb further reported: al-Layth related to me from Abū al-Naḍr al-Madanī, who said: “I once saw Sulaymān ibn Yasār coming out from the presence of ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz. I asked him, ‘Have you just come from ʿUmar?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘You teach him?’ He answered, ‘Yes.’ I then said, ‘By Allah, he is the most knowledgeable among you all (6).’”