the wind?”

Abū Hurayrah said:

“Word of this reached me while I was at the rear of the company, so I urged my mount on until I caught up with him and told him what the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—had instructed people to do when the wind blows.”

These were matters he did not know until they were conveyed to him by people who were not his equals. In other matters, the relevant Sunnah never reached him, and he passed judgments or gave legal opinions at variance with it. For example, he ruled that the blood money payable for fingers varied according to their usefulness. Yet Abū Mūsā and Ibn ʿAbbās—both far below him in knowledge—knew that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—had said:

“This one and this one are equal,” meaning the thumb and the little finger.

This Sunnah reached Muʿāwiyah—may Allah be pleased with him—during his rule, and he judged accordingly. The Muslims had no choice but to follow it. This was no fault in ʿUmar—may Allah be pleased with him—since the hadith had not reached him.

Likewise, he, his son ʿAbd Allāh—may Allah be pleased with them both—and other people of virtue used to forbid pilgrims from applying perfume before entering the state of consecration, and before proceeding to Mecca after stoning the pillar at al-ʿAqabah. They had not received the hadith of ʿĀ’ishah—may Allah be pleased with her:

“I applied perfume to the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—for his consecration, before he entered that state, and for his release from it, before he performed circumambulation.”

He also used to instruct anyone wearing a leather sock to wipe over it until he took it off, without