The close servants of Allah do include men who receive divine inspiration, as established in the two Sahīh collections, where the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Among the nations before you there were men who received divine inspiration. If there is anyone like that in my community, it is ‘Umar.”

This hadith indicates that ‘Umar ranks first among those who receive divine inspiration in this community. Yet Abū Bakr is superior to him, for he is the consummately truthful one. A person who receives divine inspiration—even though he is inspired and inwardly addressed from Allah Most High—must test this against the Quran and Sunnah, for he is not infallible. As Abū al-Hasan al-Shādhilī said:

“We have been guaranteed protection from error in what the Quran and Sunnah have brought, but we have not been guaranteed protection from error in spiritual unveilings and inspiration.”

For this reason, ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb would always yield to the Book of Allah. Abū Bakr al-Siddīq would explain to him matters that contradicted what occurred to him, as he did at al-Hudaybiyyah, on the day the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, died, when fighting those who withheld zakat, and on other occasions.

‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb would consult the Companions: sometimes he accepted their judgment, and sometimes they accepted his. At times he would express an opinion, and a Muslim woman would refute it and explain the truth to him; he would then accept her correction and abandon his opinion, as happened when he set a limit on the marriage dowry. At other times he would hold an opinion, then be reminded of a hadith from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, whereupon he would act upon it and abandon his opinion. On numerous matters, he learned aspects of the Sunnah from people of lesser standing than himself. He would express an opinion and be told, “You are right,” yet reply, “By Allah, ‘Umar does not know whether he has reached the truth or missed it.”

If this was the case with the foremost of those who receive divine inspiration, then everyone whose heart speaks to him from his Lord, until the Day of Resurrection, is below ‘Umar. None of them is infallible; rather, all of them are liable to error, even though