Eligible for the Caliphate

In a narration, it is mentioned that at the time of his demise, Hazrat Umar (ra) said, “If Hazrat Abu Ubaidah (ra) was alive today, I would have appointed him as Caliph. If my Lord would have asked me as to why I did so, I would say, ‘I heard Your Prophet (sa) say that Abu Ubaidah is the Custodian of this Ummah and as such, I have made him my successor.’”

(Ibn Sa‘d, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, Vol. 3 [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, 2012] 315.)