Malik related to me from Yahya ibn Said from Sulayman ibn Yasar
that Umar ibn al-Khattab used to attach the children of the Jahiliyya
to whoever claimed them in Islam. Two men came and each of them
claimed a woman's child. Umar ibn al-Khattab summoned a person who
scrutinized features and he looked at them. The scrutinizer said,
"They both share in him." Umar ibn al-Khattab hit him with a whip.
Then he summoned the woman, and said, "Tell me your tale." She said,
"It was this one (indicating one of the two men) who used to come to
me while I was with my people's camels. He did not leave me until he
thought and I thought that I was pregnant. Then he left me, and blood
flowed from me, and this other one took his place. I do not know from
which of them the child is." The scrutinizer said, "Allah is greater."
Umar said to the child, "Go to whichever of them you wish."