Is the Hadith, “O Allah, strengthen Islam with the more beloved of these two men to You: Abu Al-Hakam ibn Hisham, or Umar ibn Al-Khattab,” authentic? If so, how does it reconcile with the Prophet asking for glory for Islam through a polytheist, and with Allah loving a polytheist and an oppressor, and with Allah loving someone whom His Prophet detests? And how could Allah love Abu Al-Hakam when he was a polytheist?

The supplication "O Allah, strengthen Islam" means to empower and support it, and to make it triumphant over disbelief. It does not mean that Islam is abject, for truth is never abject. Similarly, the description of believers as "weak" in "and you were weak" refers to their small numbers and limited resources, not to the well-known meaning of abjectness. Support and aid for the religion are not limited to believers; Allah may support the religion through a wicked person. As for the saying "the more beloved of the two men," it means the better and more excellent of them, and does not imply Allah's love for a disbeliever, for some evil is lesser than other evil, and people are like minerals.