The Context of the Prophet's Will: A Sunni Perspective by Shaykh Umar Ramadhan (Part 1 of 4)

Shaykh Umar Ramadhan argued that although there are solitary narrations the Prophet wanted to record something, it was not related to succession. He reasoned that the issue of succession is so great that the Prophet would have insisted because it would have been his duty to convey the message. However, according to the narration when the Prophet asked for a pen and paper Umar ibn Khattab said that he was unwell and that the book of God is sufficient guidance. When his companions began arguing the Prophet said it was not appropriate for them to raise their voices and ordered them to leave. If he wanted to write something so fundamental to the wellbeing of the Muslim Ummah, he would have corrected Umar ibn Khattab as he had done on previous occasions and persisted. Thus, the Prophet wanted to convey something personal, and not something which had been revealed to him regarding the leadership after him. The final revelation of the verses of the Quran which occurred a few days prior to the incident stating, ‘We have not missed anything from the book’, supports this view and provide a justification as to why Umar ibn Khattab insisted that the book of God is enough. (1 of 4)