Allah bless him and grant him peace—say:

“I came together with Abū Bakr and Umar; I entered together with Abū Bakr and Umar; and I went out together with Abū Bakr and Umar.”

Thus, I truly expected Allah to place you alongside your two companions (1).’

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and Abū Bakr would confer at night about the affairs of the Muslims.

In matters over which Umar and Alī disagreed, Umar’s view was generally the stronger one, such as the case of a pregnant woman whose husband had died and the question of a man declaring his wife forbidden to himself, as noted earlier.

There can be no doubt that the legal doctrine of the people of Medina is stronger than that of the people of Iraq. The people of Medina generally follow Umar and Zayd, while the people of Iraq follow Alī and Ibn Masūd.

When Umar expressed a view, he would consult Uthmān, Alī and others about it. Alī’s position when shared by this group carries greater weight than his position alone. As Alī’s judge, Ubayda al-Salmānī, said to him:

“Your view alongside Umar, when the community was united, is dearer to us than your view alone amid division.”

Ibn Masūd said:

“Whenever Umar opened a door for us, we would enter through it and find it easy. He was presented with the inheritance cases involving a husband and both parents, and a wife and both parents. He ruled that the mother should receive one-third of the remainder. Uthmān, Alī, Ibn Masūd and Zayd subsequently followed his ruling.”

Saīd ibn al-Musayyib was, by consensus among the Muslims, among the most learned of the Successors. Umar’s legal judgments formed the mainstay of his jurisprudence, and Ibn Umar would ask him about them. It is also recorded in al-Tirmidhī, from