The First Caliph of RasulAllah ﷺ - PART 6 (Ruling on Religious Matters)

Ruling on Religious Matters

When an issue was presented to him to resolve, he would look in the Book of Allah, the Qur’an. If he found the basis for judgement there, he would give judgement on that basis. If not, he would look to the Sunnah of the Beloved Messenger of Allah. If he could not find the way, he would go out and ask, “Do you know whether the Beloved Messenger of Allah gave a judgement on this?” And perhaps a group would gather around him, each mentioning a judgement of the Beloved Messenger of Allah, so he would say, “Praise be to Allah Who has put amongst us those who preserve and memorise from our Prophet.”

If he was unable to find a Sunnah about it, he would gather the leaders and best of the people, and seek their counsel. If they would agree on a view, he would give judgement according to that.

Sayyidina Umar b. al-Khattab used to follow that – if he was unable to find some way in the Qur’an and Sunnah, he would look to see if Sayyidina Abu Bakr has passed a judgement. If not, he would call the leaders of the Muslims for their counsel and give a judgement on the basis of their unanimous agreement.