Narrated It was narrated from Shuraih bin 'Ubaid and Rashid bin Saʼd and others that when ‘Umar bin al-Khattab reached Sargh, he was told that there was a widespread plague in Syria. He said:
I have heard that there is a severe plague in Syria. I said: If my time comes, and Abu ‘Ubaidah bin al-Jarrah is still alive, I appoint him as my successor, And if Allah asks me why I appointed him as my successor to lead the ummah of Muhammad ﷺ , I will say: I heard Your Messenger ﷺ say: `Every Prophet has a close confidant and my close confidant is Abu 'Ubaidah bin al-Jarrah.` The people objected to that, and said: What about the prominent figures of Quraish? meaning Banu Fihr. Then he said: If my time comes, and Abu 'Ubaidah has died, then I appoint Mu'adh bin Jabal as my successor, and if my Lord, may He be glorified and exalted, asks me why I appointed him as my successor, I will say: I heard Your Messenger say:`He will be gathered on the Day of Resurrection as a leader of scholars.`
Narrated Shuraih bin 'Ubaid narrated that 'Umar bin al-Khattab .رضي الله عنه said:
I went out looking for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ before I became Muslim, and I found that he had reached the mosque before me. I stood behind him and he started to recite Sooratal-Haqqah, and I was amazed by the way in which the Qur'an was composed. I said: By Allah, this man is a poet as Quraish said. Then he recited: `That this is verily, the word of an honoured Messenger . lle said: Then I felt an overwhelming attraction to Islam.
Narrated It was narrated from Sa'eed bin al-Musayyab that 'Umar bin al-Khattab said:
A boy was born to the brother of Umm Salamah, the wife of the Prophet ﷺ and they called him al-Waleed. The Prophet ﷺ said: “You have called him by the name of your pharaoh, for there will be among this ummah a man who is called al-Waleed and he will be worse to them than Pharaoh was to his people.”