My Lord Agreed With Me

'Umar once said, "My Lord agreed with me in three things." He had said, "Messenger of Allah, if only we took the Station of Ibrahim as a place of prayer," and the verse came: ﴿وَاتَّخِذُوا مِن مَّقَامِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ مُصَلًّى﴾ (“And take the Station of Ibrahim as a place of prayer”) (2:125). He had said that both the righteous and the wicked came in to the Prophet's ﷺ wives, and wished he would tell them to screen themselves, and the verse of the hijab was revealed. And when the wives together pressed the Prophet ﷺ, 'Umar told them that perhaps, if he divorced them, his Lord would give him better wives in their place — and the verse came in nearly those words: ﴿عَسَىٰ رَبُّهُ إِن طَلَّقَكُنَّ أَن يُبْدِلَهُ أَزْوَاجًا خَيْرًا مِّنكُنَّ﴾ (“perhaps his Lord, if he divorced you, would substitute for him better wives than you”) (66:5) (Sahih al-Bukhari 402).

There were other times. After Badr, when the Prophet ﷺ consulted his companions about the captives, Abu Bakr advised ransom out of mercy and 'Umar advised severity. The Prophet ﷺ took the gentler advice, and verses came that leaned toward 'Umar's view, while Allah forgave what had been done and permitted what was taken (8:67–69; Sahih Muslim 1763).

The Prophet ﷺ said that among the nations before there had been people who were inspired, and that if there were any such person in his community, it would be 'Umar (Sahih al-Bukhari 3689). It was not that 'Umar directed revelation; Allah had given him a heart and a judgement that often ran in the same direction.