Hadith of the pen and paper

:This is a sub-article to the Succession to Muhammad.
The Hadith of the pen and paper is a famous Hadith in Islam about an event when the Islamic prophet Muhammad was prevented from writing out his will. The hadith is referenced in both Shi'a and Sunni traditions.
Shi'as also refer to it as "The Calamity of Thursday" (Arabic Raziyat Yawm al-Khamis)
==Narration==
Muhammad became ill in the year 632 and his health took a serious turn on a Thursday. It is reported that Muhammad asked for writing materials to write a statement that would prevent the Muslim nation from going astray forever. The first person to reply was Umar, answering that there was no need for the statement, arguing that Muhammad was ill and that the Muslims had the Qur'an which was sufficient for them.Sahih Bukhari, 70.573
Ibn Abbas: 
:"The Messenger of God said bring me a tablet (lawh) and an inkpot (dawat), so that I can write for you a document, after which you will not go astray ... Some people said that The Messenger of God was talking deliriously".Tarikh al-Tabari, Volume 9 translated by Ismail. K. Poonawala p 175
But, even though Muhammad was unable to write his will because of the commotion, he did get three statements out:
:"Then the Prophet ordered them to do three things saying, 'Turn out all the pagans from the Arabian Peninsula, show respect to all foreign delegates by giving them gifts as I used to do.' " The sub-narrator added, "The third order was something beneficial which either Ibn 'Abbas did not mention or he mentioned but I (the narrator) forgot.
When Umar claimed that there was no need for Muhammad's statement since the Muslims had the Qur'an, Ibn Abbas allegedly rushed out crying. There he met Ubaidullah ibn Abdullah. According to him, Ibn Abbas used to say, 
:'"No doubt, it was a great disaster that Allah's Apostle was prevented from writing for them that writing because of their differences and noise." Sahih Bukhari 59.717 
Ibn Abbas though is said to not have witnessed this event in person.(see note from Sahih Bukhari 1:3:114)
==Views==
The first level narrator of this narrative is ibn Abbas, and at that time he was ten to fifteen years old.Regarding Omar's Refusal to Give the Prophet a Pen to Write his Will!!!
===Sunni view===
Sunni Muslims refer to this episode as the "Event of Thursday". It is generally seen as a minor event and a test by Muhammad of his "Companions". The Companions are considered to have chosen to do the right thing and passed the test, having remained free from criticism by Muhammad for the rest of the days he remained with them. This period (from Thursday to Monday) during which Muhammad remained with the Companions after this incident was also not utilized to make a will - which, Sunnis argue, confirms that it was not an important document to be written but rather a simple test to know whether the Ummah is aware of the message of the Qur'an. The following passage is cited as evidence: "This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion." (5:3).
Some other arguments the Sunni's use to support their view include:Sheikh Dimashqiah on Umar's role in the "Hadith of the pen and paper"
* If Muhammad had been ordered by God to write down something, then no one could have prevented him from this- not even Umar. This goes by the Muslim reasoning that God's message cannot be silenced or withheld by the antagonism of anyone. However, the fact that Muhammad did not end up writing something down (neither then nor during the future days) only proves that the thing which was supposed to be written was already known to the Sahaba and Muhammad was aware of this, so he did not take the matter any further.
* The accusation that Umar prevented Muhammad from writing down what he willed due to Umar's fear that it would contain orders of obedience to Ali, is nothing more than an unproven assumption and conjecture driven by ones predetermined feelings towards Umar.
* The obvious, visible and immediate interpretation of Umar's behavior is that he acted solely out of concern for the health and condition of Muhammad (as he saw most fit) due to his love and concern for Muhammad, by not having Muhammad burden himself during his present predicament of ill health. Likewise, other Sahaba who were present followed the same opinion as Umar. 
* The Sahaba differed even among themselves in their reaction to the request of Muhammad for a pen and paper i.e. they were not united in their opposition to Muhammad writing something down during his illness. Some Sahaba opposed Muhammad's request, while others agreed with it. Therefore, there was no conspiracy (on behalf of the Sahaba) to “deny” Ali his “right” to succeed Muhammad. Instead, the Sahaba were acting upon their own sincere assessments of the situation of Muhammad. 
===Shi'a view===
This event is the source of much controversy between Shi'as and Sunnis. Shi'as believe that Umar prevented Muhammad from confirming in writing that Ali was the chosen successor. They further speculate that Muhammad refrained from a public written will, seeing the extent of contempt Umar allegedly showed while he was still alive; future rulers might discredit the written will by repeating Umar's words, causing enormous damage to people's ability to take Muhammad seriously on other matters.
 writes: 
Husain Mohammad Jafri also makes remarks that Umar did not raise objection in the Hadith of the succession of Abu Bakr.
 writes:
==References==
Also:
Sources: 
*Sahih Bukhari: 004.052.288, 005.059.716, 004.053.393, 007.070.573
*Sahih Muslim: 001.003.114, 013.4014, 013.4015, 013.4016
==See also==
*List of notable Muslim reports
==External links==
Shi'a:
*http://www.answering-ansar.org/answers/obedience/en/index.php
*http://www.al-islam.org/guided/16.html - from Then i was Guided, chapter "The Calamity of Thursday"
*http://www.shianews.com/hi/articles/islam/0000111.php
Sunni:
*http://www.ansar.org/english/faq14.htm
*http://www.ahlelbayt.com/articles/sahabah/pen-and-paper [Sunni response to Shia allegations]
Category:Hadith