And if it is said:

“The Muslim community denied the well-known and widely recognized explicit designation, so it would be all the more likely to conceal (1) a written document witnessed by only a small group.”

Furthermore, according to them, it would not have been permissible to defer the clarification until his final illness, nor would it have been permissible for him to refrain from writing the document because someone doubted. Had what he was to write in the document been something that had to be clarified and recorded, the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—would have clarified and written it, paying no heed to what anyone said, for he was the most obedient of all creation to Allah. It is therefore known that, since he did not write the document, writing it was not obligatory, nor did it contain any matter of religion that had to be recorded at that time. Had it been obligatory, he would have done so.

Even if Umar—may Allah be pleased with him—was uncertain about some matter that later became clear to him, or doubted certain matters, that would be no graver than the case of someone who issues fatwas and passes judgments on matters regarding which the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—had ruled otherwise, while exercising independent legal judgment and without knowing the Prophet’s ruling. For doubting the truth is less serious than confidently asserting its opposite.

All of this, [if it was] (2) based on a valid exercise of independent legal judgment, would amount at most to an error for which Allah does not hold one accountable. This is just as Ali ruled that a pregnant widow must observe the longer of the two waiting periods, even though the following is established in the authentic hadith collections: “When the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—was told that Abū al-Sanābil ibn Ba'kak had given Subay'a (3) al-Aslamiyya that ruling, the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—said, ‘The one who was mistaken was