Abdullah ibn Umar

The son of Caliph `Umar ibn Al-Khattab, Ibn `Umar is the second most prolific narrator of Hadith. He and his father had simultaneously accepted Islam, and they immigrated to Madinah together. Ibn `Umar took part in many battles during the Prophet's lifetime; he also took part in the wars in Mesopotamia, Persia, and Egypt. However, he maintained strict neutrality in the conflicts that erupted among the Muslims following the assassination of the third caliph, `Uthman ibn `Affan.

Despite the immense esteem and honor in which he was held by all Muslims, who repeatedly asked him to become caliph (an offer which he refused), he kept himself aloof from factional strife. Throughout those years, he led an unselfish, pious life, setting an example of an ideal citizen, just as his father had set an example of an ideal ruler. He died in Makkah in the year AH 74 (692 CE) at the age of 87.

`Abdullah's long association with the Prophet and his kinship with the Prophet's wife Hafsah and with certain other Companions offered him a superb opportunity to learn Hadith. His long, peaceful life gave him time and leisure enough to teach and spread the hadiths he had learned among the Muslims who assiduously sought them.

He was renowned for the extreme scrupulousness with which he related hadiths. Ash-Sha`bi, the famous Hadith narrator, remarks that he did not hear a single hadith from him for a whole year. When Ibn `Umar related hadiths, his eyes would be filled with tears. His activities in the service of Islam, his austere life, his straightforward and honest character, and his careful treatment of the hadiths render the material we have from him of the highest value.