must observe whichever of the two waiting periods ended later. Abū al-Sanābil ibn Ba'kak issued the same ruling during the lifetime of the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him. Thus, when “Subay'a al-Aslamiyya came to him and mentioned this to him, he said, ‘Abū al-Sanābil was wrong. Rather, your waiting period has ended, so marry whomever you wish’” (1). Her husband had died in Mecca during the Farewell Pilgrimage.

If judging by personal judgment is a sin, then the sin of those other than Umar—such as Alī and others—is graver. The sin of one who, on the basis of personal judgment, deemed it lawful to shed Muslims’ blood is graver than that of one who judged a particular case according to his personal judgment. If, however, some personal judgments are correct and others mistaken, then Umar—may Allah be pleased with him—had a greater share of what was correct than anyone else: his judgments contained more that was correct than those of others, while the judgments of others contained more error than his. Even if every exercise of personal judgment were correct, the correct judgment (2) that brings greater benefit is better and more virtuous than one whose benefit is lesser; and Umar’s judgments—may Allah be pleased with him—brought greater benefits to the Muslims.

On every supposition, therefore, Umar surpassed those Companions who exercised personal judgment in whatever was praiseworthy, while he was less blameworthy than they in whatever was objectionable. Further evidence of this is the report authentically established in the two Sahih collections from the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—that he said:

“There were indeed inspired men among the nations before you. If there is any such person in my Ummah, it is Umar.” (3)

It is well known that the judgment of one granted inspired insight is superior to that of someone who is not. Nothing ranks above it except an explicit text, which was the position of al-Siddīq, who received directly from the Messenger. We grant that al-Siddīq was superior to Umar, but Umar was superior to all the rest.