As for the first case, an example is the account in the two Sahīh collections of his consulting his Companions about the captives of Badr, when Abū Bakr spoke. Muslim narrated in his Sahīh that Ibn ‘Abbās said:

“When the captives were taken on the day of Badr, the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said to Abū Bakr and ‘Umar: ‘What do you think should be done with these captives?’ Abū Bakr replied: ‘They are our cousins and fellow tribesmen. I think that ransom should be accepted from them, which would strengthen us against the disbelievers.’

“‘Umar said: ‘No, by Allah, O Messenger of Allah! I do not agree with Abū Bakr’s opinion. Rather, you should hand them over to us so that we may strike off their heads: hand ‘Aqīl over to ‘Alī so that he may strike off his head; hand al-‘Abbās over to Hamzah so that he may strike off his head; and hand so-and-so—a relative of ‘Umar—over to me so that I may strike off his head.’ Ibn Rawāhah proposed burning them. His Companions differed: some said, ‘Abū Bakr’s opinion is the right one’; others said, ‘ ‘Umar’s opinion is the right one’; and others said, ‘Ibn Rawāhah’s opinion is the right one.’

“He said: ‘The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—favoured what Abū Bakr had said and did not favour what I had said.’” He then related the remainder of the hadith (1).

As for the second case, on the day of al-Hudaybiyyah he consulted them about whether to raid the offspring of those who had assisted Quraysh, or to proceed to the Sacred House and fight whoever barred his way. This hadith is well known (2) among scholars of Quranic exegesis, the Prophet’s military campaigns and biography, and jurisprudence. Al-Bukhārī narrated it, as did Ahmad in his Musnad (3).

‘Abd al-Razzāq narrated to us from Ma‘mar, who said: Al-Zuhrī said: I was informed by ‘Urwah ibn