“Draw close to those who obey Allah and listen to what they say, for truths are made manifest to them.”

These truths which ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb, may Allah be pleased with him, said become manifest to the obedient are matters that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, discloses to them. It is thus established that Allah’s allies receive communications and have hidden matters disclosed to them. The best of these people in this community after Abū Bakr is ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb, may Allah be pleased with them both, for the best of this community after its Prophet is Abū Bakr, followed by ‘Umar.

An authentic report specifically identifies ‘Umar as one who receives inspiration in this community. Whoever might be supposed to receive inspiration or communications in the community of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ‘Umar is superior to him. Nevertheless, ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, would do what was incumbent upon him: he would assess whatever came to him against what the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had brought. Sometimes it agreed with that, and this was counted among ‘Umar’s virtues, as when the Quran was revealed in agreement with his views on more than one occasion. At other times it differed, and ‘Umar would retract his view, as he did at al-Hudaybiya, when he had favored fighting the polytheists. The account is well known in al-Bukhārī and elsewhere.

For “the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, set out to perform ‘umrah (the lesser pilgrimage) in the sixth year after the Hijrah, accompanied by approximately fourteen hundred Muslims. These were the people who pledged allegiance to him beneath the tree. Following negotiations between himself and the polytheists, he concluded a peace agreement with them, undertaking to return that year and perform ‘umrah the following year. He agreed to conditions in their favor that entailed a degree of humiliation for the Muslims in