Umar Advocated Quran Alone

It is well understood that Umar had a strong position against people spreading Hadith and traditions attributed to the prophet and strongly enjoined the people to follow the Quran alone.

Narrated ‘Ubaidullah bin `Abdullah: Ibn `Abbas said, “When the ailment of the Prophet (ﷺ) became worse, he said, ‘Bring for me (writing) paper and I will write for you a statement after which you will not go astray.’ But `Umar said, ‘The Prophet is seriously ill, and we have got Allah’s Book with us, and that is sufficient for us.’ But the companions of the Prophet (ﷺ) differed about this, and there was a hue and cry. On that, the Prophet (ﷺ) said to them, ‘Go away (and leave me alone). It is not right that you should quarrel in front of me.” Ibn `Abbas came out saying, “It was most unfortunate (a great disaster) that Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) was prevented from writing that statement for them because of their disagreement and noise.

حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ سُلَيْمَانَ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي ابْنُ وَهْبٍ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنِي يُونُسُ، عَنِ ابْنِ شِهَابٍ، عَنْ عُبَيْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ، قَالَ لَمَّا اشْتَدَّ بِالنَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَجَعُهُ قَالَ ‏”‏ ائْتُونِي بِكِتَابٍ أَكْتُبُ لَكُمْ كِتَابًا لاَ تَضِلُّوا بَعْدَهُ ‏”‏‏.‏ قَالَ عُمَرُ إِنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم غَلَبَهُ الْوَجَعُ وَعِنْدَنَا كِتَابُ اللَّهِ حَسْبُنَا فَاخْتَلَفُوا وَكَثُرَ اللَّغَطُ‏.‏ قَالَ ‏”‏ قُومُوا عَنِّي، وَلاَ يَنْبَغِي عِنْدِي التَّنَازُعُ ‏”‏‏.‏ فَخَرَجَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ يَقُولُ إِنَّ الرَّزِيَّةَ كُلَّ الرَّزِيَّةِ مَا حَالَ بَيْنَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَبَيْنَ كِتَابِهِ‏.‏

Sahih al-Bukhari 114
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:114

Additionally, it is reported that Umar, during his reign as Caliph, did not allow the free travel of the prophet’s companions without his permission because he did not want them to propagate Hadith. It wasn’t until the reign of Uthman that this ban was lifted, and the companions were allowed to emigrate to some of the newly Muslim-conquered regions.

In Tadhkirat al-huffaz, al-Dhahabi reported from Shu’bah, from Sa’id ibn Ibrahim from his father, that Umar detained Ibn Mas’ud, Abu al-Darda’, and Abu Mas’ud al-Ansari, saying to them: You have narrated hadith abundantly from the Messenger of Allah. It is reported that he had detained them in Medina, but they were set free by Uthman.

Ibn Sa’d, and Ibn Asakir reports from Mahmud ibn Labid that he said: I heard Uthman ibn Affan addressing people from over the pulpit: It is unlawful for everyone to narrate any hadith he never heard of during the time of Abu Bakr and that of Umar. Verily that which made me abstain from narrating from the Messenger of Allah was not to be among the most conscious of his Companions, but I heard him declaring: “Whoever ascribing to me something I never said, he shall verily occupy his (destined) abode in Fire.”

Also, we find the following Hadith in The History of al-Tabari, Vol. XIV p. 108, and from the Leiden edition of al-Tabari titled “Annales quos scripsit Abu Djafar Mohammed ibn Djarir at-Tabari” Vol III, p. 188.

According to Abu Kurayb – Abu Bakr b. Ayyash – Abu Hasin: Whenever ‘Umar appointed his governors, he would go out with them to bid them farewell, saying, “I have not appointed you governor over Muhammad’s community with limitless authority. I have made you governor over them only to lead them in prayer, to make decisions among them based on what is right, and to distribute (the spoils) among them justly. I have not given you limitless authority over them.

Do not flog the Arabs and humiliate them; do not keep them long from their families and bring temptation upon them; do not neglect them and cause them deprivation. Be exclusively devoted to the Qur’an, and diminish the annotations of Muhammad, and I am your partner.”

He would also allow vengeance to be taken on his governors. If there was a complaint against a governor, he would bring together the governor and the complainant. If there was a genuine case against (the governor) for which punishment was obligatory, he would punish him.

Here is the Arabic expression, that I wanted to emphasize (underlined in red above):

جَرِّدوا القرآن وأَقِلّوا الروايسة محمّد صلعم وانا شريككم

Here is the word-by-word breakdown for this expression.

جَرِّدوا	jarridoo	Be exclusively devoted [you all]
القرآن	al-Qur’an	the Quran,
وأَقِلّوا	wa-aqalluu	and diminish [you all]
الروايسة	al-rawaaysa	the annotations / commentary (of)
محمد	Muhammad	Muhammad,
صلعم	salla Allahu `alayhi wa sallam	peace and blessings be upon him,
وانا	wa-ana	and I am
شريككم	shareekukum	your partner.

The root letters of the word جَرِّدوا in Arabic are “ج ر د” (j, r, d), which have the basic meaning of “to strip, to remove, to take off.” When used in the command form, it means to “devote or apply oneself diligently and exclusively, and not to be diverted therefore by any other thing.” Therefore, in this sentence, Umar was commanding the people to be exclusively devoted to the Quran.

The root letters of the word وأَقِلّوا in Arabic are “ق ل ل” (q, l, l), which have the basic meaning of “to decrease, to diminish, to lessen.”

The root letters of الروايسة in Arabic are “ر ا س” (r, a, s), which have the basic meaning of “to mark, to designate, to indicate.” From this root, the word الروايسة (al-rawaaysa) is derived, which refers to annotations or marginal notes that are added to a text to provide additional information or clarification. Therefore, in this context, it is in reference to the commentary that the people have been accustomed to associating with the Quran based on the supposed sayings or actions of Muhammad.

Therefore, this expression ” جَرِّدوا القرآن وأَقِلّوا الروايسة محمّد ” is stating to the people that they should “Be exclusively devoted to the Quran, and diminish the commentary of Muhammad.” If people do this, then Umar would be their partner in this matter.

This again emphasizes Umar’s devotion to people following the Quran alone during his reign after the prophet’s death. This shows that Umar advocated for the Quran alone and against the dissemination of Hadith. Ironically, if someone made this statement today, they would be called a heretic by the Muslim masses.

Naturally, the upholding of the Quran alone aligns with the message in the Quran as it should be the only source of religious law for the true followers of Muhammad.

[6:112] We have permitted the enemies of every prophet—human and jinn devils—to inspire in each other fancy words, in order to deceive. Had your Lord willed, they would not have done it. You shall disregard them and their fabrications.
[6:113] This is to let the minds of those who do not believe in the Hereafter listen to such fabrications, and accept them, and thus expose their real convictions.

وَكَذَٰلِكَ جَعَلْنَا لِكُلِّ نَبِيٍّ عَدُوًّا شَيَاطِينَ الْإِنْسِ وَالْجِنِّ يُوحِي بَعْضُهُمْ إِلَىٰ بَعْضٍ زُخْرُفَ الْقَوْلِ غُرُورًا وَلَوْ شَاءَ رَبُّكَ مَا فَعَلُوهُ فَذَرْهُمْ وَمَا يَفْتَرُونَ
 وَلِتَصْغَىٰ إِلَيْهِ أَفْئِدَةُ الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْآخِرَةِ وَلِيَرْضَوْهُ وَلِيَقْتَرِفُوا مَا هُمْ مُقْتَرِفُونَ

[6:114] Shall I seek other than GOD as a source of law, when He has revealed to you this book fully detailed? Those who received the scripture recognize that it has been revealed from your Lord, truthfully. You shall not harbor any doubt.
[6:115] The word of your Lord is complete, in truth and justice. Nothing shall abrogate His words. He is the Hearer, the Omniscient.

 أَفَغَيْرَ اللَّهِ أَبْتَغِي حَكَمًا وَهُوَ الَّذِي أَنْزَلَ إِلَيْكُمُ الْكِتَابَ مُفَصَّلًا وَالَّذِينَ آتَيْنَاهُمُ الْكِتَابَ يَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّهُ مُنَزَّلٌ مِنْ رَبِّكَ بِالْحَقِّ فَلَا تَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْمُمْتَرِينَ
 وَتَمَّتْ كَلِمَتُ رَبِّكَ صِدْقًا وَعَدْلًا لَا مُبَدِّلَ لِكَلِمَاتِهِ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ

[6:116] If you obey the majority of people on earth, they will divert you from the path of GOD. They follow only conjecture; they only guess.

 وَإِنْ تُطِعْ أَكْثَرَ مَنْ فِي الْأَرْضِ يُضِلُّوكَ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ إِنْ يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا الظَّنَّ وَإِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا يَخْرُصُونَ