Did ʿAlī رضي الله عنه Delay His Bayʿah to Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه for Six Months?
Source: Fatāwā Ameenpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Ameenpuri
❖ Question:
Did ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib رضي الله عنه refrain from pledging allegiance (bayʿah) to Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq رضي الله عنه for six months?
❖ Answer:
It is reported that ʿAlī رضي الله عنه pledged allegiance to Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه after six months. However, the wording of this report is an insertion (idraj) by al-Zuhrī, and not a statement of ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها. Moreover, it is unknown from whom al-Zuhrī heard this detail.
✿ Report of al-Zuhrī
قال رجل للزهري رحمه الله: فلم يبايعه ستة أشهر قال: لا ولا أحد من بني هاشم حتى بايعه على
“A man asked al-Zuhrī رحمه الله: Did ʿAlī رضي الله عنه not pledge allegiance to Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه for six months? He replied: No, nor did anyone from Banū Hāshim until ʿAlī رضي الله عنه pledged allegiance.”
(Musnad Abī Bakr al-Marrūdhī: 38, Al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī: 6/300)
✿ Clarification by Imām al-Bayhaqī رحمه الله
الذي روي أن عليا لم يبايع أبا بكر ستة أشهر ليس من قول عائشة إنما هو من قول الزهري فأدرجه بعض الرواة فى الحديث فى قصة فاطمة رضي الله عنها…
“What has been reported that ʿAlī رضي الله عنه did not pledge allegiance to Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه for six months is not from the statement of ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها, but rather from al-Zuhrī. Some narrators mistakenly inserted it into the hadith concerning Fāṭimah رضي الله عنها. Maʿmar ibn Rāshid preserved it correctly and narrated it in detail, attributing it separately to al-Zuhrī.
We have also narrated, through a connected chain, from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī رضي الله عنه and others from the scholars of Maghāzī, that ʿAlī رضي الله عنه pledged allegiance in the general bayʿah at Saqīfah. It is also possible that ʿAlī رضي الله عنه gave his bayʿah in the general pledge that occurred after Saqīfah.”
(Al-Iʿtiqād, p. 180)
Conclusion:The statement that ʿAlī رضي الله عنه delayed his bayʿah for six months is an insertion from al-Zuhrī and not authentically established as the statement of any Companion. Authentic reports indicate that ʿAlī رضي الله عنه pledged allegiance either at Saqīfah itself or in the subsequent general bayʿah.
