The age of Ibn ʿUmar was an age of expanding horizons. Questions multiplied, and the pursuit of knowledge became more pressing. But one thing remained constant in Ibn ʿUmar’s method: honesty. If he didn’t know the answer, he would say so—with no shame, no hesitation.
It wasn’t out of pride that he avoided guessing. Rather, it was an act of virtue—a lofty trait possessed only by those who feared misguiding others more than appearing ignorant.
On one occasion, someone asked him a question. Ibn ʿUmar replied simply:“I don’t know.”
The man, surprised, asked, “Why won’t you answer?”
Ibn ʿUmar replied: “If you ask me about something I don’t know, I say: ‘I don’t know.’”
ʿUrwah narrates that someone once asked Ibn ʿUmar a question to which he replied, “I do not know.”
As the man walked away, Ibn ʿUmar was heard quietly saying to himself: “He asked Ibn ʿUmar something he didn’t know… and Ibn ʿUmar said, ‘I don’t know.’”
He did not see this as a shortcoming, and neither did the people. They trusted him all the more for it. Again and again, they came to him. Again and again, they asked. And once, he said: “If I had known you would all keep coming to me like this, I would have prepared myself more. For I lived beside the greatest teacher of all.”
Someone once asked whether udhḥiyah (the sacrificial slaughter of Eid al-Aḍḥā) was obligatory.
Ibn ʿUmar replied: “The Prophet ﷺ performed it. And the Muslims performed it.”
The man repeated the question. Ibn ʿUmar repeated the answer: “Didn’t you hear me? The Prophet ﷺ did it, and so did the Muslims.”
Another man asked: “I made a vow to fast every Wednesday. What if Eid falls on a Wednesday?”
Ibn ʿUmar answered: “You must fulfill your vow as God commands. But on the day of Eid, you must not fast. That is the instruction of the Messenger of God ﷺ.”
Then came a subtler question: “In prayer, which is more meritorious—more bowing (rukūʿ), or more prostration (sujūd)?”
Ibn ʿUmar paused and replied: “O brother, the sins of a person rest upon his head. It is in sujūd that those sins fall away.”
Later, he was heard reflecting: “If I could only find that man again! I would tell him: ‘Increase both your bowing and your prostration.’ For I heard the Messenger of God ﷺ say: ‘When a servant stands in prayer, his sins are placed upon his shoulders. When he bows and prostrates, they fall away.’”
This was the way of Ibn ʿUmar—precise, patient, rooted in firsthand knowledge and a fear of misrepresenting it. For him, “I do not know” was not a failure. It was a badge of humility. A proof of sincerity. A reflection of prophetic wisdom.
