The Prophet (pbuh) said, "If there were a prophet after me, it would be Umar." He said the following about Hz. Abu Bakr; " If the belief of all people were put on one scale of a balance and Abu Bakr's belief on the other, his belief would outweigh."

-The Prophet (pbuh) said, "If there were a prophet after me, it would be Umar." He said the following about Hz. Abu Bakr; " If the belief of all people were put on one scale of a balance and Abu Bakr's belief on the other, his belief would outweigh." Why Hz. Umar but not Hz. Abu Bakr?

Dear Brother / Sister,

It is necessary to evaluate every statement in their own context. Therefore, the following issues about a statement are very important: "Who said it? To whom did he say it? Why did he say it? In what context did he say it?" When we do not understand them well, it is possible to misinterpret verses and hadiths.  

As a matter of fact, the Prophet (pbuh) praised not only Hz. Abu Bakr and Hz. Umar but also many Companions. For instance, he praised Hz. Ali too:

When the Messenger of Allah went to the Expedition of Tabuk in the 9th year of the Migration, he made Hz. Ali stay in Madinah to take care of Ahl al-Bayt but Hz. Ali felt sad since he could not take part in that expedition. Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah said to him,

"Do you not want to be in the position of Harun (Aaron) compared to Musa (Moses) related to me?"

Hz. Ali became very pleased with that compliment.

Somebody who reads this might say why the Prophet (pbuh) did not say it to Hz. Abu Bakr.

From this point of view, it will not be appropriate to evaluate the praises about Hz. Umar or the other Companions on their own and to decide accordingly. It is necessary to evaluate them as a whole.   

Ibn Abbas states the following about Hz. Abu Bakr and Hz. Umar: They are the Prophet’s "two apostles and viziers". (Ibn Kathir, Tafsir, 3, 143)

We can understand from the following hadith how much importance the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) gave to them about the state administration:

"Abu Bakr and Umar are like eyes and ears for me." (Munawi, Faydul-Qadir, 1/189) The Prophet (pbuh) expresses how he values the views of those two valuable consultants he regards as his ears and eyes as follows:

"If Abu Bakr and Umar express the same view during a consultation, I will never oppose it." (Haythami, Majmauz-Zawaid, 9, 53)

It is also narrated that the Prophet (pbuh) states the following about them:

"Praise be to Allah, who strengthened me with the two of you." (Usdul-Ghaba, 6, 10.)

Abdullah states the following for his father, Hz. Umar:

"Whenever Umar said, 'I think this should be like that' for something, that thing always turned out to be so." (Bukhari, Manaqib 35)

As Abdullah Ibn Umar stated, if Hz. Umar expressed a different view from others regarding an issue, the verse sent down about it always confirmed Hz. Umar’s view. (Ibn Hajar, Fathul-Bari, Cairo, 1959, 2/51).

As a matter of fact, in about fifteen cases, Hz. Umar said, "I wish it were like this" and verses in accordance with his wish were sent down. Tasattur (hijab), janazah prayer for munafiqs and how to treat the prisoners of war taken at the Battle of Badr are among them. Those verses, which are known as the compliance of divine revelation with Hz. Umar (see Ibn Hajar, Fathul-Bari 2, 51; Haythami ibid, 9, 67-69), show what a penetration, foresight and clear nature Hz Umar had. They prove how true the following praises of the Prophet (pbuh) about him are:  

"If there were a prophet after me, it would be Umar." (Tirmidhi, Manaqib ,48.)

"Allah placed the truth in Umar’s tongue and heart." (Tirmidhi, Manaqib 45; Haythami, ibid, 9, 66)

There are many narrations mentioning the capacity of Hz. Abu Bakr regarding the issue too. We regard it enough to mention only the following hadith of the Prophet (pbuh) regarding the issue here:

"Allah feels disturbed if Abu Bakr makes a mistake in his decisions." (Haythami, ibid, 9, 46).

The Prophet (pbuh), who praised each Companion with their different characteristics, indicated the four caliphs to come after him in their order of succession.

For more information, please click on the link given below;

What are the things that indicate the order of the caliphate of the four caliphs? Was it Hz. Ali's right to be the first caliph? Do the Companions not make any mistakes? Is it impossible for them to err?

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