Hazrat Umar’s (ra) final days & Events Following it
Details of Hazrat Umar’s (ra) final days during his illness, his advice to the subsequent Khalifa and to the electoral committee members are recorded in Sahih Bukhari as follows:
The people said, “O Leader of the Faithful! Appoint a successor after you as part of your will.” Hazrat Umar (ra) said, “I do not find anyone more suitable for the station of Khilafat than the following persons whom the Holy Prophet (sa) had been pleased with before he passed away.” Then Hazrat Umar (ra) mentioned the names of Hazrat Ali (ra), Hazrat Uthman (ra), Hazrat Zubair (ra), Hazrat Talha (ra), Hazrat Saad (ra) and Hazrat Abdur Rahman (ra) bin Auf and said, “Abdullah bin Umar (ra) will be a witness to you, but he will not be entitled to the station of Khilafat.”
I have narrated this previously, therefore I will only mention it briefly here. Nonetheless, after Hazrat Umar (ra) passed away and they completed the burial proceedings, all the six people named by Hazrat Umar (ra) gathered together. Hazrat Abdur Rahman (ra) bin Auf stated, “Select any three candidates among you for Khilafat.” Hazrat Zubair (ra) said, “I give my vote to Hazrat Ali (ra).” Hazrat Talha (ra) said, “I give my vote to Hazrat Uthman (ra).” Hazrat Saad (ra) said, “I give my vote to Hazrat Abdur Rahman (ra) bin Auf.”
Hazrat Abdur Rahman (ra) then said to Hazrat Uthman (ra) and Hazrat Ali (ra), “Whoever of you withdraws their name, we will entrust him with this responsibility and Allah and Islam will be their guardian” i.e. the matter of choosing the Khalifa will be assigned to him, “and Allah the Almighty will choose the one Who He deems most worthy.” Upon hearing this, both noble men fell silent.
Hazrat Abdur Rahman (ra) then said, “Will you both leave this matter to me and I take Allah as my witness that I will not choose but the better of you?”
I.e. to then leave the matter to Hazrat Abdur Rahman bin Auf (ra) and he would then become the chair of the committee. He first asked one of them to become the chair of the committee, but neither agreed to this. As a result, Hazrat Abdur Rahman (ra) withdrew his name from this matter and took charge as the chair of the committee. Nonetheless, he said that his decision would be based on justice and that Allah would be his guardian.
Both of them agreed. So Hazrat Abdur Rahman (ra) took the hand of one of them and said, “You are related to Allah’s Messenger (sa) and you hold a lofty status within Islam, which you are aware of. Allah is your guardian – if I select you as our leader, will you do justice? And if I select Uthman (ra) as our leader, will you listen to him and obey him?” Hazrat Abdur Rahman (ra) took the hand of Hazrat Ali (ra) first, “Then Hazrat Abdur Rahman (ra) took the other aside”, this time it was Hazrat Uthman (ra), “and advised him in a similar manner. When Hazrat Abdur Rahman bin Auf (ra) secured this covenant from both of them, he then said, “O Uthman (ra)! Extend your hand.” He [i.e. Hazrat Abdur Rahman (ra)] then took the pledge of allegiance followed by Hazrat Ali (ra) and the members within the household also came and pledged their allegiance to Hazrat Uthman (ra).
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab Fada‘il Ashab al-Nabiyy (sa), Bab Qissat al-Bai‘ah, Hadith 3700)