Hadith of Umar and prophecy

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A famous recorded oral tradition among Muslims (Arabic: Hadith) is about Umar, a famous contemporary of the prophet Muhammad. Although the narration is prominently quoted and referred to, it is not given any formal name, in contrast to other hadith such as the Hadith of the pond of Khumm or the Hadith of Qur'an and Sunnah

1 Narration
2 Muslim view
- 2.1 Sunni view
- 2.2 Shi'a view
3 See also
4 Reference
5 External link

[edit] Narration

According to the report, Muhammad said:

"If a prophet were to succeed me, it would have been 'Umar bin al-Khattab" .^[1].

[edit] Muslim view

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In Muslim view, the most notable thing about this hadith is that it is Umar that is receiving the merit. Umar would later become the second Sunni Caliph, while Shi'a regard him as a usurper of Ali's rights, who was the first Shi'a Imam.

[edit] Sunni view

Sunni Muslims give this hadith enough credibility to have included it in Sunan al-Tirmidhi, the hadith collection that they regard as fifth in strength of their Six major Hadith collections.

Sunni view this hadith as evidence of Umar's extraordinary qualities, and are known to quote it to that effect on occasion when they iterated his merits.

Sunni Muslims believe that no prophets or messengers will ever come after Muhammad. However, some people quote the hadith as an argument for the Muslim doctrine of the Seal of the Prophets, the doctrine that states that there will come no more prophets after Muhammad [2] [3] [4] [5] [6].

[edit] Shi'a view

Shia Muslims dismiss the narration as a unauthentic (Arabic: Maudu') late fabrication by the Banu Umayyad Sunni Caliph dynasty, fabricated only in order to give honour to the people that helped them establish their dynasty, and to diminsh and trivialize honours given to people that fought their dynasty.

In particular, Shi'a view this hadith as being a replica of the hadith of position, a hadith that both Shi'a and Sunni regard as among the most reliable, included in the most trusted Sunni hadith collection, the Sahih Bukhari. In that hadith, a very similar merit is given to Ali, the first Shi'a Imam. Shi'a view this hadith as an effort to trivialize the merit given to Ali, a merit that was widely regarded as authentic. Shi'a also view the fact that the author of Sahih Bukhari choosing to not include this hadith in his collection, while choosing to include the hadith about Ali in his collection as evidence for their case, arguing that a Sunni hadith collection would never pass on a hadith giving a merit of this magnitude, unless there where doubts regarding its validity^{[citation needed]}.

However, Shi'a still use the hadith in argumentations against Sunnis, especially in the subject of the Shi'a concept of religious leadership (Arabic: Imamah). In those discussions, when Shi'a get accused of attribution to many merits on their leaders (Shi'a Imams), to the point of apparently attributing them with prophetic virtues, Shi'a counter with narration and also with the Hadith of Umar and foretelling, in order to remind the Sunni that they give the same merit for Umar, and hence should not falsely accuse shias of such things.