One such instance was his ruling on the indemnity for fingers: he held that the amount should differ according to the usefulness of each finger. Yet Abū Mūsā and Ibn ʿAbbās—both of whom were far below him in learning—knew that the Prophet ﷺ had said, “These and these are equal,” meaning the thumb and the little finger. (1) When this sunnah later reached Muʿāwiyah d. 60 AH during his governorship, he judged accordingly, and the Muslims had no option but to follow that verdict. This was no fault on ʿUmar’s part, for the ḥadīth simply had not reached him.

Similarly, he used to forbid a pilgrim in iḥrām from applying perfume—both before entering iḥrām and before proceeding to Mecca for the final circumambulation after casting Jamrah al-ʿAqabah. This was the position of ʿUmar, his son ʿAbd Allāh, and other virtuous Companions. The ḥadīth of ʿĀʾishah, however, had not come to their attention: “I perfumed the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for his iḥrām before he entered it, and for his release from iḥrām before he circumambulated.” (2)