The pen-and-paper incident
قصة الكتاب يوم الخميس
c. 26 May 632 CE · 8 Rabi' I 11 AH
On the Thursday four days before his death the Prophet said 'bring me [something] to write for you a document after which you will never go astray'; Umar said pain had overcome him and the Qur'an sufficed, the people of the house disputed, and the Prophet sent them away — an episode the traditions read differently.
At a glance
- Era
- The Prophetic Era
- Region
- Arabia
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
In time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
Summary
On the Thursday four days before his death, the Prophet asked that writing materials be brought so he could write a document after which they would not go astray; the household disputed when Umar said "God's Book suffices you", and the Prophet said: "leave me" 1.
The account
The Prophet, his pain severe, said: bring me something to write you a document after which you will not go astray — and in the house were men, Umar among them 2. Umar said: the pain has overcome him, and you have the Qur'an — God's Book suffices you. The household disputed and quarrelled, some saying bring it so he may write for you, others saying what Umar said; when the clamour grew loud the Prophet said: "leave me" 2. That day the Prophet made three bequests: the removal of Jews, Christians and polytheists from the Arabian peninsula, the hospitality of delegations as he had hosted them — and the third the narrator forgot 3. Despite the severity of his illness the Prophet kept leading the people in prayer until that day, and led them in the sunset prayer reciting al-Mursalat 'urfa in it 4.
Perspectives
The Sunnis hold that Umar showed compassion for the Prophet's state and sufficed with God's Book, yet Ibn Abbas still counted the day a calamity for the document that was lost 2. Shi'i traditions read the event as a prevention of a text that was to be written, while historians treat the report as a later dispute whose text cannot be reconstructed 1.
For young visitors
In his illness the Prophet asked for a paper to write something for the people; those present disputed over whether to bring it or suffice with the Qur'an, so the Prophet asked them to leave him.
Opinions on the question
The question: How do the sources and traditions understand the story of the writing on the Thursday and its bearing on the succession?
First opinion · Sunni tradition (the museum's frame)Main reference
More opinions (2)
Academic viewSecondary opinion
Shia (Twelver) viewOther opinion
Connections
- Occurred at
- Medina
- Had participant
- MuhammadUmar ibn al-KhattabAbdullah ibn Abbas
- Part of
- The death of the Prophet
People and things also explored
The HijraThe death of the ProphetMuhammadUmar ibn al-KhattabMedinaThe last sermon from the minbarAbu Bakr al-SiddiqAbu Bakr leads the prayers during the final illness
Sources
- al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, p. 466
- al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, p. 466; sahih-al-bukhari
- al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, pp. 466-467
- al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, p. 467; sahih-al-bukhari
- Sahih al-Bukhari
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “The pen-and-paper incident”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/pen-and-paper-incident/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-12.