Hajj al-Tamattu’)...

Hajj al-Tamattu’); and if we follow the Sunnah of our Prophet, peace be upon him, he, peace be upon him, did not put off ihram till he had sacrificed the animal.”[^5] Al-Arnaut says: إسناده صحيح على شرط الشيخين Its chain is sahih upon the standard of the two Shaykhs. ^6 But, what exactly was this self-confessed “innovation” of ‘Umar in the Hajj rites? Imam al-Nasai (d.

303 H) records the answer: أخبرنا محمد بن علي بن الحسن بن شقيق قال أنبأنا أبي قال أنبأنا أبو حمزة عن مطرف عن سلمة بن كهيل عن طاوس عن بن عباس قال سمعت عمر يقول والله إني لأنهاكم عن المتعة وإنها لفي كتاب الله ولقد فعلها رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم يعني العمرة في الحج Muhammad b. ‘Ali b. al-Hasan b. Shaqiq – my father – Abu Hamzah – Mutarrif – Salamah b.

Kuhayl – Tawus – Ibn ‘Abbas: I heard ‘Umar saying, “I swear by Allah, I forbid you from Hajj al-Tamattu’ while it certainly is in the Book of Allah and the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, practised it.” He meant the performance of ‘Umrah during Hajj.[^7] ‘Allamah al-Albani says: صحيح الإسناد It has a sahih chain ^8 Interesting, isn’t it? Allah commands Hajj al-Tamattu’ in His Book, and His Messenger performed it and also “commanded” his Sahabah with it.

But, ‘Umar arrogated to himself the authority to countermand the Order of his Lord, and to proscribe the Sunnah of his Prophet! Surprisingly, he personally admitted that his action was an innovation in the Hajj rites. Yet, he pressed ahead with it. Even more unbelievable was the instruction of Abu Musa to his followers to abandon the Qur’an and Sunnah in favour of ‘Umar’s bid’ah?! This incident reveals how audacious the senior Sahabah were in trampling upon the Laws of Allah as they wished.

They easily abandoned the Qur’an and Sunnah, just to satisfy their rulers. People like ‘Umar too saw nothing bad in supplanting the Laws of Allah with his own “innovations”; and he did not bat an eye-lid doing so. In any case, our main interest is to establish that ‘Umar was an innovator; and, all praise be to Allah, he too personally confirmed that explicitly.[^9] Another senior Sahabi whose bid’ah became apparent was ‘Uthman b. ‘Affan, the third Sunni khalifah.