The hadith of pen and paper (Arabic: حديث القلم والورقة, romanized: hadīth al-qalam wa'l-waraqa) is an incident in which the Islamic prophet Muhammad expressed a wish to issue a written statement shortly before his death, possibly on a Thursday, but was prevented from doing so.
Possibly because of its ramifications throughout the history of Islam, some have referred to this incident as the Calamity of Thursday (Arabic: رزية يوم الخميس, romanized: raziyat yawm al-khamīs).
[4][1] Al-Bukhari (d. 256/870) and Ibn Sa'd both mention that Muhammad was saddened by the quarrel (wa ghammu rasul Allah), while the Sunni al-Diyarbakri (d. c. 960s/1550s) suppresses this matter in his report but retains Umar's name.
[1]Yet another report by Ibn Sa'd on the authority of Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law Ali lists the three instructions as prayer, zakat (Islamic alms), and (kindness to) ma malakat aymanukum (slaves).
[3] Noting that it was Umar who prevented Muhammad from writing his will, the Sunni Ibn Hazm (d. 456/1064) suggests that he only meant good (arada bi-ha al-khayr).
The Sunni al-Halabi (d. 1044/1635) similarly suggests that Umar only wanted to ease the prophet's task (innama qala dhalika takhfifan ala rasul Allah).
[4] Beginning with al-Baladhuri (d. 892), many Sunni authors have presented the first caliph Abu Bakr as the designated successor, which Muhammad intended to put into writing on his deathbed.
Al-Halabi relates from Aisha with no further chain of transmission, while Ibn Hazm also expresses his regret about this missed opportunity to designate Abu Bakr, which would have prevented so much bloodshed after Muhammad, in his view.
[4] Ibn Kathir goes further and presents a highly polemic account of Muhammad's death, adding that he designated Abu Bakr as his successor in his last sermon, an important announcement for which he had to purify himself first.
[1] For instance, the report of al-Mufid (d. 413/1022) emphasizes Umar's disobedience and that it displeased Muhammad, who verbally reiterated Ali's rights on his deathbed.
[11] For Miskinzoda, the focal point of the story is the question of Muhammad's religious authority, exemplified by Umar's statement, "You have the Quran, the book of God is sufficient for us."