He believed this to be permissible so long as he thought his...

He believed this to be permissible so long as he thought his judgement did not impugn “benefit.” In this respect, one may note his position regarding the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah and his protestations against it.[^4] It is observable in regard to several other issues, including the call to ritual prayer ( al-adhan ) , where he exercised his free discretion by omitting the phrase, “Come to the best of deeds” ( hayya `ala khayr amal )[^5]; his position concerning the Prophet's legalization of mut'at al-hajj (“marriage during the pilgrimage”)[^6]; and other positions on independent legal Judgement.[^7] These two currents were both reflected in the assembly called by the Prophet on the last day of his life.

Al-Bukhari related in his Sahih the words of Ibn `Abbas: When death was upon God's Messenger, and at [his] house were men who included `Umar b. al-Khattab, the Prophet said, “Come! let me write you an epistle by which you will never go astray...” `Umar then said, “The Prophet is overcome with pain, but we [still] have the Qur'an . We count on God's Book.” Those present at the house disagreed and quarreled with each other.

And one of them said, “Approach that the Prophet may write you a letter by which you shall never go astray.” Another repeated what `Umar had said. When the inanities and the disputing persisted, the Prophet told them, “Leave!'[^8] This event alone suffices to show the chasm that separated the two currents, the true extent of their incompatibility and rivalry.

In order to depict the deeprootedness of independent legal judgement as a current, one may compare this event to the disagreement that erupted among the over Usamah b. Zayd's installation as army commander, despite the Prophet's explicit ordinance to that effect. The Prophet finally stepped outside to address the crowd: “O People! what is this talk surrounding my appointment of Usamah as commander. You contest his appointment now just as you previously did his father's.

But by God, the latter was as fit to command then as his son surely is now!”[^9] The two currents, whose rivalry began in earnest during the Prophet's own lifetime, were reflected in the Muslims' position regarding the thesis of the Imam's preeminence in the Mission after the Prophet. Those representing the devotional tendency (as opposed to the one for independent legal judgement) found in the Prophet's stipulation the reason for accepting this thesis without hesitation or readjustment.