or rejected—except for those of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. If his intent is to impugn (1) Ahl al-Sunnah as a whole, this is no refutation of them. If, however, his intent is to say that ‘Umar erred on a particular issue, they regard no one but the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—as immune from being allowed to persist in error. Moreover, ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb—may Allah be pleased with him—made fewer errors than ‘Alī—may Allah be pleased with him.

The scholars compiled the jurisprudential issues on which the position of either man was weak, and they found (2) that weak positions were more numerous among the rulings (3) of ‘Alī—may Allah be pleased with him. One example is his ruling that a widow must observe whichever of the two waiting periods is longer, even though the established Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—which accords with the Book of Allah, requires that she become lawful to marry upon giving birth. This was also the ruling issued by ‘Umar and Ibn Mas‘ūd—may Allah be pleased with them both—(4).

Another example is his ruling that a woman married without a stipulated dowry loses her right to a dowry if her husband dies. Ibn Mas‘ūd and others, however, ruled that she is entitled to the customary dowry of women comparable to her (5), as members of Ashja‘ narrated from the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—concerning Birwa‘ bint Wāshiq (6).

More contradictory positions have been reported from ‘Alī on questions of divorce, the status of an umm al-walad (a bondwoman who bore her master a child), inheritance shares, and other matters than have been reported from ‘Umar.

If, however, by tamattu‘ he meant converting Hajj into ‘umrah, this is a matter of dispute among