Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 39825 — Reports on the caliphate of Abu Bakr

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both): I used to go back and forth to Abd al-Rahman bin Awf (may Allah be pleased with him), and (at that time) we were at Mina with Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him). I used to teach Abd al-Rahman bin Awf the Qur'an. I came to him at his lodging but did not find him. It was said that he was with the Commander of the Believers. So I waited for him until he came, and he told me: "Today Sayyiduna Umar became so intensely angry that he has never been so angry before." Ibn Abbas says: I asked: "Why is that?" Abd al-Rahman bin Awf replied: "It reached Sayyiduna Umar that two men of the Ansar mentioned the pledge of allegiance to Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: 'By Allah! His pledge happened all of a sudden. So what prevents a man, if this one (Sayyiduna Umar) dies, from going up to whomever he wishes and striking his hand on his (in pledge), so that it would be just as that one was?'" The narrator says: Then Sayyiduna Umar intended to speak to the people. The narrator says: I submitted: "O Commander of the Believers! Do not speak (just yet), for you are (at this time) in a city where people from all the distant, unknown regions of the Arabs have gathered around you. If you say anything (now), it will be attributed to you and spread throughout the whole earth, and you do not know what will come of it. The people suited to your purpose are those you know will return to Madinah." 2. Then when we came to Madinah, I went very early until I took hold of (a place by) the right post of the pulpit. Then Sayyiduna Sa'id bin Zayd bin Amr bin Nufayl (may Allah be pleased with him) also came to me until he too sat with me. I said (to him): "Today Sayyiduna Umar will make a speech such as he has never made since he became caliph." Sa'id asked: "What sort of thing will he say?" I replied: "You will hear it shortly." 3. The narrator says: Then when the people had gathered, Sayyiduna Umar came out until he sat on the pulpit. He praised and glorified Allah Almighty, then he mentioned the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and invoked blessings upon him (peace and blessings be upon him). Then he said: "Indeed, Allah Almighty kept His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) among us. Revelation would come down to him from Allah, and through it he (peace and blessings be upon him) would declare what is lawful and what is unlawful. Then Allah Almighty took (the soul of) His Messenger, and He raised up with him what Allah willed to raise, and He kept what Allah willed to keep. So we held on to some things, and some things escaped us. Among what we used to recite from the Qur'an was this: 'Do not turn away from your fathers, for it is disbelief on your part to turn away from your fathers.' And the verse of stoning was also revealed. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) carried out stoning and we too carried out stoning along with him (peace and blessings be upon him). I swear by the One in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad! I (myself) memorised this verse, understood it and learned it. If it were not for the fear that it would be said: 'Umar wrote in the Qur'an what is not part of it,' I would have written this verse of stoning with my own hands. Stoning has three situations: a manifest pregnancy, or a confession from the fornicator, or upright witnesses, as Allah has commanded. 4. It has reached me that some people have said about the caliphate of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr that it happened all of a sudden. By my life! Even if the matter was so, Allah Almighty granted the goodness and blessing of his caliphate and protected from its evil. Which man among you is there for whom (people's) necks would bow as they bowed for Sayyiduna Abu Bakr? 5. Indeed, the affair of the people was this: (when) the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away, the matter was brought to us and we were told: 'The Ansar have gathered with Sa'd bin Ubadah among Banu Sa'idah and are pledging allegiance to Sa'd.' So I, Sayyiduna Abu Bakr and Sayyiduna Abu Ubaydah bin al-Jarrah (may Allah be pleased with him) rose and went towards them in a state of alarm, (fearing) that they would create a breach in Islam. We met two truthful men from among the Ansar: Uwaym bin Sa'idah and Ma'n bin Adi. They asked: 'Where are you going?' We said: 'To your people, because something has reached us about them.' The two of them said: 'Go back, for you will not be opposed, and nothing you dislike will be brought about.' But we insisted on going on. And I (Umar) was preparing a speech that I intended to deliver. We went on until we reached the people, and there they were, gathered around Sa'd bin Ubadah, who was lying ill on a bed of his. When we came upon them, they spoke and said: 'O company of Quraysh! A leader from us and a leader from you.' Then al-Hubab bin al-Mundhir stood up and said: 'I am its well-rubbed post and its well-propped date palm (the experienced one whose counsel brings relief). By Allah, if you wish, we will send this matter back to how it began.' Sayyiduna Abu Bakr said: 'Take it easy.' I was about to speak, but he said: 'Be quiet, O Umar.' He praised and glorified Allah, then he said: 'O company of Ansar! By Allah, we do not deny your virtue, nor your trials in Islam, nor your right that is binding upon us. But you know that this tribe of Quraysh holds a standing among the Arabs that no others hold, and that the Arabs will not unite except upon a man from among them. So we are the leaders and you are the ministers. So fear Allah, do not split Islam, and do not be the first to bring about something new in Islam. Indeed, I have approved for you one of these two men, (meaning) me and Abu Ubaydah bin al-Jarrah. Whichever of them you pledge allegiance to, he is trustworthy for you.' By Allah, there remained nothing that I had wanted to say except that he said it that day, other than this one statement. For by Allah, that I should be killed and then brought back to life, then killed and then brought back to life, without any sin, is dearer to me than that I should be leader over a people among whom is Abu Bakr. Then I said: 'O company of Ansar! O company of Muslims! The most deserving of people to hold the affair of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) after him is the second of two when they were in the cave, Abu Bakr, the foremost, the firm.' Then I took hold of his hand, but a man of the Ansar got ahead of me and struck his hand upon his hand before I could strike my hand upon it. Then I struck my hand upon his hand, and the people followed one after another. And they pressed in upon Sa'd bin Ubadah, and the people said: 'Sa'd has been killed.' I said: 'Kill him, may Allah kill him!' Then we left, and Allah had united the affair of the Muslims under Abu Bakr. By the life of Allah, it was sudden, as you have said; Allah granted its goodness and protected from its evil. So whoever calls to the like of it, there is no pledge of allegiance for him, nor for the one who pledges allegiance to him."