Incident of Saqifa: Difference between revisions

The main account of the event seems to have been narrated by [[Abd Allah b. Abbas]] on the authority of Umar b. al-Khattab. The account is reported by Ibn Hisham, al-Tabari, Abd al-Razzaq b. Hammam, al-Bukhari, and [[Ahmad b. Hanbal|Ibn Hanbal]] with different chains of transmitters. All other accounts are based on this account, a summary of which is as follows.

When the people in Medina were informed of the [[demise of the Prophet (s)]], a group of the [[Helpers]] gathered in the Saqifa to decide about the issue of leadership. In the beginning of the session, [[Sa'd b. 'Ubada]], the chief of the tribe of [[Khazraj]] who was very sick at the time, delivered a speech with the help of his son. He mentioned a number of reasons to argue that choosing the successor of the Prophet (s) was the right of the Helpers, and he urged them to take this position. The audience generally affirmed his statements and proclaimed that they would choose Sa'd as their leader and would obey him. However, some of the participants mentioned that the Immigrants would probably disagree with this decision, and thus suggested that there should be one ruler from the Helpers and one from the Immigrants.

The news of the gathering reached Abu Bakr and Umar, and the two, together with Abu Ubayda al-Jarrah, rushed to the Saqifa. There, Abu Bakr delivered a speech in which he argued for the superiority of the Immigrants and the [[Qurashites]] were more deserving of the succession to the Prophet (s). His statements were accepted by some of the audience and rejected by others. Some of the participants mentioned that Ali (a) deserved that position and no one else should be chosen as the Prophet's (s) successor. However, Abu Bakr was able to convince the majority of the participants to choose the successor of the Prophet (s) from the [[Quraysh]] and suggested Umar or Abu Ubayda as two candidates for that, but the two refuse Abu Bakr's suggestion. Umar reports the course of events as follows, "At that moment, voices were raised, and vague words were heard from every corner such that we got afraid that disagreements may ruin things. For that reason, I told Abu Bakr, ‘Bring your hand so that I pledge my allegiance to you.’" But before Umar, [[Bashir b. Sa'd]], one of the Khazrajite rivals of Sa'd b. 'Ubada held Abu Bakr's hand and pledged his [[allegiance]] to him. Afterwards, the participants rush to pledge their allegiance to Abu Bakr such that they almost stepped on the sick Sa'd b. 'Ubada. This led to a severe conflict between Umar, Sa'd, and Qays b. Sa'd, which ended with the intervention of Abu Bakr.