The Prophet’s companion, Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (RA), shared this story:
One night after the Isha prayer, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came into the Prophet’s Mosque (Masjid an-Nabawi). Umar (RA) and Abu Bakr (RA) were sitting and talking there. The Prophet (ﷺ) went and sat down next to them.
At that time, I was busy praying. During my prayer, I was reciting Surah An-Nisa. I finished my prayer right after the 100th verse of that chapter.
As soon as I finished praying, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) called me and said twice: “Abdullah! Ask Allah for whatever you want! Allah will give you what you want!”
Then the Prophet said to the others: “If anyone wants to read the Quran beautifully and purely, exactly the way it was first revealed, they should read it the way the son of Ummu Abd reads it.” (The son of Ummu Abd was Abdullah’s nickname).
The next morning, after the Fajr prayer, Abu Bakr (RA) came over to me. He congratulated me and asked, “Abdullah, yesterday the Prophet told you to ask Allah for anything and that Allah would grant it. Tell me, what prayer (Dua) did you make to Allah after this morning’s prayer?”
I told him the prayer I made: “O Allah! I ask You for strong and lasting faith, endless blessings, and the great gift of being a companion of Muhammad (ﷺ) forever in the highest level of Paradise.”
A little while later, Umar (RA) came to me and asked the exact same question. I replied, “Abu Bakr already got here before you, and I have already told him.”
Umar (RA) then said: “May Allah have mercy on Abu Bakr! Whenever I try to compete with him in doing good deeds, he always beats me to it.”
— Musnad Ahmad
