Sayyidina Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that Sayyidina Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) delivered a sermon and said: It has reached me that one of you has said, “By Allah, if Umar dies, I will pledge allegiance to so-and-so.” Let no one be deceived into thinking that the pledge to Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) was a sudden affair that was then completed. Listen, indeed the matter of Abu Bakr was like that, but Allah protected (us) from the evil of that sudden pledge, and there is none among you like Abu Bakr, for whom long journeys would be undertaken to meet him (meaning: there is no one among you as God-fearing and pious as Abu Bakr). No one should pledge allegiance to anyone without the consultation of the Muslims; whoever does so, the outcome will be that both the one who pledges and the one who receives the pledge will lose their lives. Listen! Indeed, when the Prophet ﷺ passed away, the Ansar opposed us, and all of them gathered in the Saqifah of Banu Sa’idah. Likewise, Ali and Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them) and their companions opposed us, and the rest of the Muhajirun gathered around Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). At that time I said to Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him): “O Abu Bakr! Take us to our Ansar brothers.” So we set out intending to meet them, and when we drew near to them, two righteous men from among them met us. They informed us of the intentions of the Ansar, then asked: “O assembly of the Muhajirun! Where are you going?” We said: “We are going to our Ansar brothers.” They said: “You must not go to them; rather, decide your own affair.” I said: “By Allah, we will certainly go to them.” So we proceeded and reached the Ansar at the Saqifah of Banu Sa’idah. In the gathering there was a man (the chief of Khazraj) sitting in the middle, wrapped in a cloak. I asked: “Who is this man?” People told me: “This is Sa’d ibn Ubadah (may Allah be pleased with him).” I asked: “What has happened to him?” People told me: “He has a fever.” Then, when we had sat for a short while, their orator recited the khutbah of the Prophet’s tradition, praised Allah as is befitting His majesty, and then said:
فنحن أنصار الله وكتيبة الإسلام، و أنتم معشر المهاجرين رهط، وقد دافت دافة من قومكم، فإذا هم يريدون أن يختزلونا من أصلنا، وأن يخضنونا من الأمر
“We are the helpers of Allah (in His religion) (the Ansar) and the army of Islam, and you, O Muhajirun, are a small group; some of you came out from among your people, and now they wish to uproot us and remove us from the caliphate (that will not happen).”
When he fell silent, I wanted to speak, and I had prepared a fine speech in which I wished to speak before Abu Bakr, through which I wanted to remove the bitterness from the gathering. But when I wished to speak, Abu Bakr said: على وسلك “Wait.” I did not like to displease him. Then Abu Bakr began speaking; he was more forbearing and dignified than me. By Allah, he left nothing out that I liked and that I had thought in my heart; he spoke extemporaneously with something similar or better. After he finished, he said:
ما ذكرتم فيكم من خير فأنتم له أهل، ولن يعرف هذا الأمر إلا لهذا الحي من قريش، هم أوسط العرب نسبا ودارا، وقد رضيت لكم أحد هذين الرجلين، فبايعوا أيهما شئتم
“The good things you have mentioned about yourselves, indeed you deserve them; but leadership and authority are suitable and fitting only for Quraysh, for Quraysh are the best of the Arab tribes in lineage and in family. I am pleased for you with one of these two men; choose whichever of them you wish and pledge allegiance to him.”
Then Abu Bakr took my hand and the hand of Abu Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah (may Allah be pleased with him) and [pushed them forward], while he was sitting between us. Of all his speech, this one thing alone displeased me (that he put my hand forward for allegiance). By Allah, if I were brought forward and my neck were struck innocently, that would be more pleasing to me than being made a commander over a people among whom Abu Bakr was present. O Allah! This has been my view until now; perhaps at the time of death my soul might mislead me and I would form another opinion which is not in my heart now.
A man from the Ansar (Hubab ibn al-Mundhir, may Allah be pleased with him) said: “(Listen!) I am a stick with which camels rub their bodies to relieve itching, and I am the hedge that is set around trees for protection (meaning, I propose a sound plan, which is that) one amir should be from among us and one amir from among you.” (After this opinion was voiced, noise began to arise there, one saying one thing and another something else. I feared that discord would arise among the Muslims, so I said:)
أبسط يدك أبا بكر!
“Abu Bakr, extend your hand.”
Sayyidina Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) extended his hand, and I was the first to pledge allegiance to him; then the Muhajirun pledged allegiance, and then the Ansar also pledged allegiance to him. Sayyidina Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) also said in this sermon: “At that time nothing seemed more necessary to us than the caliphate of Sayyidina Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), for we feared that we might be separated from the people, and that the pledge had not yet been completed, and they might pledge allegiance to someone from among themselves. Then this matter would have been of two kinds: either we would also pledge allegiance to them against our will, or we would oppose the people, and discord would arise among us. (Look, I say again that) whoever pledges allegiance to anyone without the consultation of the Muslims, the outcome will be that both the one who pledges and the one who receives the pledge will lose their lives.”
Regarding this pledge to Sayyidina Abu Bakr, Sayyidina Abdullah ibn Ja’far ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with them both) says:
ولينا أبو بكر فكان خير خليفة الله، و أرحمه بنا، و أحناه علينا
“Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) became our caliph, and he was the best caliph from Allah, and he was most merciful and gentle toward us.”
