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Did Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, prevent Abu Hurairah from narrating Hadith?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The hadith narrated by Muslim from Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) indicates that the Prophet (peace be upon him) sent Abu Hurairah to give glad tidings of Paradise to whoever testifies that there is no god but Allah, with certainty in it. Then, Umar met him, struck him between his breasts, and sent him back. He then argued with the Prophet that people might rely on this glad tidings and abandon good deeds, and the Prophet agreed with him.

Al-Nawawi mentioned that this hadith can be inferred to permit followers to advise their leader on what they deem beneficial, and for the leader to agree to it. Similarly, Al-Bukhari narrated that the Prophet said something similar to Mu'adh but feared that people might become complacent, so he did not command him to give them these glad tidings. Ibn Hajar stated that this incident is considered among the instances where Umar’s opinion agreed with the Prophet’s, and it shows the permissibility of exercising ijtihad (independent reasoning) in the presence of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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