I spent a whole year wanting to ask Umar bin Khattab about a verse, but I could not bring myself to ask him out of awe of him, until he set out for Hajj and I went with him. On our way back, while we were on part of the road, he turned aside toward an arak tree to relieve himself. I waited for him until he was finished, then I walked along with him and said, "Commander of the Believers, who were the two women among the wives of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ who supported one another against him?"He replied, "Those were Hafsa and Ayesha."I said to him, "By Allah, I have wanted to ask you about this for a year, but I could not, out of awe of you."He said, "Do not do that. Whenever you think I have knowledge of something, ask me. If I know it, I will tell you."Umar then said, "By Allah, in the days of ignorance we paid no regard to women's opinions until Allah the Exalted revealed concerning them what He revealed and assigned them what He assigned. One day, while I was busy with some matter I was deliberating over, my wife said to me, 'You should do such and such.'I said to her, 'What business is it of yours? Why are you putting yourself into a matter I am deciding?'She said to me, 'How strange of you, son of Khattab. You do not want to be answered back, yet your own daughter answers back the Messenger of Allah ﷺ until he spends his whole day angry.'"Umar continued, "So I took my cloak and went straight out until I came in to Hafsa. I said to her, 'Daughter, do you really answer back the Messenger of Allah ﷺ until he spends his whole day angry?'Hafsa said, 'By Allah, we do answer him back.'I said, 'Know that I am warning you of Allah's punishment and the anger of His Messenger. Daughter, do not be deceived by this woman whose beauty has pleased her and whom the Messenger of Allah ﷺ loves.'"He continued, "Then I left and went in to Umm Salama, since I was related to her, and I spoke to her. Umm Salama said to me, 'How strange of you, son of Khattab. You have meddled in everything, and now you even seek to meddle between the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his wives.'She rebuked me in a way that broke my resolve about some of what I had been feeling, so I left her.I had a friend from the Ansar. When I was away, he would bring me the news, and when he was away, I would bring him the news. At that time we were anxious about a king from the kings of Ghassan. We had been told he intended to march against us, and our hearts were full of dread on his account. My Ansari friend came knocking at the door, saying, 'Open up, open up.'I said, 'Has the Ghassani come?'He said, 'Worse than that. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ has separated from his wives.'I said, 'May the noses of Hafsa and Ayesha be put to dust.'Then I took my garment and went out until I came to where the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was in an upper chamber of his, reached by a notched palm-trunk. A black servant of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was at the top of the steps. I said, 'This is Umar. Ask permission for me.' So he admitted me."Umar continued, "I told the Messenger of Allah ﷺ this story. When I reached the part about Umm Salama, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ smiled. He was lying on a mat with nothing between him and it, and under his head was a leather pillow stuffed with palm fiber. At his feet was a heap of tanning leaves, and at his head were hides hanging up. I saw the marks of the mat on the side of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and I wept.He asked, 'What makes you weep?'I said, 'Messenger of Allah, Khosrau and Caesar live as they do, and you are the Messenger of Allah.'The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, 'Are you not pleased that they should have this world and you the next?'"
حدثنا هارون بن سعيد الأيلي حدثنا عبد الله بن وهب أخبرني سليمان يعني ابن بلال أخبرني يحيى أخبرني عبيد بن حنين أنه سمع
مكثت سنة وأنا أريد أن أسأل عمر بن الخطاب عن آية فما أستطيع أن أسأله هيبة له حتى خرج حاجا فخرجت معه فلما رجع فكنا ببعض الطريق عدل إلى الأراك لحاجة له فوقفت له حتى فرغ ثم سرت معه فقلت يا أمير المؤمنين من اللتان تظاهرتا على رسول الله ﷺ من أزواجه فقال تلك حفصة وعائشة قال فقلت له والله إن كنت لأريد أن أسألك عن هذا منذ سنة فما أستطيع هيبة لك قال فلا تفعل ما ظننت أن عندي من علم فسلني عنه فإن كنت أعلمه أخبرتك قال وقال عمر والله إن كنا في الجاهلية ما نعد للنساء أمرا حتى أنزل الله تعالى فيهن ما أنزل وقسم لهن ما قسم قال فبينما أنا في أمر أأتمره إذ قالت لي امرأتي لو صنعت كذا وكذا فقلت لها وما لك أنت ولما هاهنا وما تكلفك في أمر أريده فقالت لي عجبا لك يا ابن الخطاب ما تريد أن تراجع أنت وإن ابنتك لتراجع رسول الله ﷺ حتى يظل يومه غضبان قال عمر فآخذ ردائي ثم أخرج مكاني حتى أدخل على حفصة فقلت لها يا بنية إنك لتراجعين رسول الله ﷺ حتى يظل يومه غضبان فقالت حفصة والله إنا لنراجعه فقلت تعلمين أني أحذرك عقوبة الله وغضب رسوله يا بنية لا يغرنك هذه التي قد أعجبها حسنها وحب رسول الله ﷺ إياها ثم خرجت حتى أدخل على أم سلمة لقرابتي منها فكلمتها فقالت لي أم سلمة عجبا لك يا ابن الخطاب قد دخلت في كل شيء حتى تبتغي أن تدخل بين رسول الله ﷺ وأزواجه قال فأخذتني أخذا كسرتني عن بعض ما كنت أجد فخرجت من عندها وكان لي صاحب من الأنصار إذا غبت أتاني بالخبر وإذا غاب كنت أنا آتيه بالخبر ونحن حينئذ نتخوف ملكا من ملوك غسان ذكر لنا أنه يريد أن يسير إلينا فقد امتلأت صدورنا منه فأتى صاحبي الأنصاري يدق الباب وقال افتح افتح فقلت جاء الغساني فقال أشد من ذلك اعتزل رسول الله ﷺ أزواجه فقلت رغم أنف حفصة وعائشة ثم آخذ ثوبي فأخرج حتى جئت فإذا رسول الله ﷺ في مشربة له يرتقى إليها بعجلة وغلام لرسول الله ﷺ أسود على رأس الدرجة فقلت هذا عمر فأذن لي قال عمر فقصصت على رسول الله ﷺ هذا الحديث فلما بلغت حديث أم سلمة تبسم رسول الله ﷺ وإنه لعلى حصير ما بينه وبينه شيء وتحت رأسه وسادة من أدم حشوها ليف وإن عند رجليه قرظا مضبورا وعند رأسه أهبا معلقة فرأيت أثر الحصير في جنب رسول الله ﷺ فبكيت فقال ما يبكيك فقلت يا رسول الله إن كسرى وقيصر فيما هما فيه وأنت رسول الله فقال رسول الله ﷺ أما ترضى أن تكون لهما الدنيا ولك الآخرة