21.1
ʿAbd al-Razzāq, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUtbah, on the the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said:
21.1.1
During ʿUmar’s caliphate I used to teach the Qurʾan to ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf. Now when ʿUmar undertook his final hajj, we were in Minā.227 ʿAbd al-Raḥmān came to see me at my residence that evening and said, “If only you had witnessed the Commander of the Faithful today! A man went up to him and said, ‘O Commander of the Faithful, I’ve heard so-and-so say, Were the Commander of the Faithful to die, I would certainly pledge my fealty to so-and-so.’228
“‘I’ll address the people this very night!’ ʿUmar exclaimed. ‘I must warn them of this band of men who seek to seize power over the Muslims by force!’”
Ibn ʿAbbās continued: “O Commander of the Faithful,” I said, “the market now gathers together the vulgar mobs,229 and they will overwhelm any assembly you convene. My fear is that, if you make a statement in their midst on the morrow, they will take your words as auguring all manner of bad things and thus not pay them heed nor give them their due. Rather, proceed carefully, O Commander of the Faithful, until you have arrived in Medina, for it is the abode of the Sunnah and the Hijrah. There you can speak with the Emigrants and the Allies alone and say whatever you wish in full command of an audience who will heed your words and give them their due.”
“By God,” ʿUmar replied, “if He so wills it, then I shall do so as soon as I set foot in Medina.”
21.1.2
When we arrived in Medina, the time for the Friday Congregation230 had come. I rushed off to the mosque when ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf told me, but I found that Saʿīd ibn Zayd had beaten me in the rush to get there and was seated next to the pulpit. I sat down next to him, my knee touching his. Once the sun had set, ʿUmar, God bless his soul, came out to meet us all, and as he approached I said, “By God, the Commander of the Faithful is certain to say something the like of which has never been said from the pulpit before!” Angered, Saʿīd ibn Zayd said, “And what exactly will he say that hasn’t been said before?”
When ʿUmar had ascended the pulpit, the muezzin began the call to prayer. Once he had finished the call to prayer, ʿUmar stood up and praised and extolled God, as is His due, and then he spoke:
Now to the heart of the matter: I wish to make a statement that God has ordained me to say. I know not for certain whether the hour of my death soon arrives. Let whoever heeds, understands, and remembers my words repeat them wherever his journeys may take him; but whoever fears that he shall not heed my words, let him not spread lies against me.
Indeed, God sent Muḥammad, God bless him and keep him, with the Truth and revealed through him the Scripture. One of God’s revelations was the verse on stoning.231 The Messenger of God stoned adulterers, and we stoned adulterers after him. I fear that in times to come men will say, “By God, stoning is not in God’s Book.” Thus they shall go astray or neglect a command God has revealed. For indeed, stoning is the just punishment for the adulterer, if one has married and the evidence is present, be it pregnancy or confession. We used to read in the Qurʾan: «Yearn not for ancestors other than your own, as it is an affrontery to faith for you», or «For you it is an affrontery to faith to yearn for ancestors other than your own».232
The Messenger of God also said, “Do not praise me to excess as the Christians did to Mary’s son,233 God’s blessings upon him, for I am but a servant of God. Rather, say ‘the servant of God and His Messenger.’”
Now it has also reached me that a man from your ranks says, “Were the Commander of the Faithful to die, then I would certainly pledge my fealty to so-and-so.” But do not be deceived by a man234 who says, “The oath of fealty to Abū Bakr was a hasty decision!”235 Though it was indeed so, God dispelled its evil, and there is no one among you for whom men have risked their necks as they have for Abū Bakr. He was the best of us when the Messenger of God passed, even though ʿAlī and al-Zubayr withdrew to Fāṭimah’s house and the Allies withdrew from us with their kinsmen into the Portico of the Sāʿida clan. It was the Emigrants who gathered before Abū Bakr, God show him mercy, whereupon I said, “Abū Bakr! Come with us to see our brethren, the Allies!” Thus we went with him leading the way, and we encountered two righteous men from the Allies who had witnessed the Battle of Badr. They asked, “O assembly of Emigrants, what do you seek?” We replied, “We seek out these brethren of ours from the Allies.” “Return!” they said. “Settle on who will lead you among yourselves.” I then replied, “Make way, for we won’t be stopped.” We came to them and, lo, they had gathered together at the Portico of the Sāʿida clan and in their midst was a man wrapped in a cloak. “Who is that?” I asked. “That’s Saʿd ibn ʿUbādah,” they answered. “What’s wrong with him?” “He’s taken ill,” they said.
The spokesman for the Allies rose and, after praising and extolling God as is His due, had his say: “We the Allies are the Legion of Islam. You, O company of Quraysh, are but a troop in our ranks, a band of which wandered out of the desert into our midst.”
By these words did they seek to rip us out by the roots and wrest power away from us. In my heart, I had prepared something to say and planned to say it in front of Abū Bakr so that he might help soften its harshness since his bearing was grander and more dignified than mine. When I wanted to speak, he said, “Rest easy,” and I was loath to defy him.
Abū Bakr, God be pleased with him, offered praises to God as is His due, and then he spoke. By God, he neglected not a single word that I had prepared in my heart without uttering its like or, in his perceptive way, something even better. Then he said, “O company of Allies, you have mentioned your virtues, and you deserve as much, but the Arabs will not recognize the rule of any tribe save that of the Quraysh, for they are the noblest of Arabs in lineage and abode. Indeed, it would please me to offer you either of these two men, so pledge your fealty to whomever you wish.” Then he took hold of my hand and the hand of Abū ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarrāḥ.
Naught but these words did I find objectionable, for I would have preferred to have stepped forward to be beheaded, were it not a sin, than to rule over a people in whose midst was Abū Bakr.
When Abū Bakr finished his speech, a man from the Allies stood up and cried, “I am the stout rubbing post and the short palm heavily laden with fruit:236 Choose a leader from among yourselves, O company of Quraysh, and we shall choose one from our own ranks, lest war break out from our dispute and ensnare us once again!”
21.1.3
Maʿmar said: Qatādah said:
ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb replied, “Two swords cannot fit in a single scabbard; rather, the commanders are to come from our ranks and the aides237 from yours.”
21.1.4
Maʿmar said: al-Zuhrī continued with his story according to his authorities:
As the people began lifting their voices from both directions and the clamor heightened until the dispute turned dangerous, I said, “Abū Bakr! Stretch out your hand so that I may pledge my fealty to you!” Abū Bakr stretched out his hand, and once I had pledged my fealty to him, the Emigrants and Allies did likewise. We pounced on Saʿd until someone cried out, “You’ve killed Saʿd!” “May God kill Saʿd!” I said.
Indeed, by God, of all the things that transpired during these events, we saw nothing more grave than the oath of fealty pledged to Abū Bakr. We feared that, had we left the Allies to their own devices, they would have pledged their own oath of fealty immediately after our departure. In that case, we would have had to pledge fealty to someone we could not abide, or we would have had to oppose them. In either case, chaos would have ensued. So let not a man be deceived into saying, “The oath of fealty to Abū Bakr was a hasty decision.” Though it was indeed so, God dispelled its evil, and there is no one among you for whom men have risked their necks as they have for Abū Bakr.
If someone were to pledge fealty to a man from the Muslims without consultation,238 neither the man nor the one who pledged fealty should be followed, lest they both be put to death.
21.2
Maʿmar said: al-Zuhrī said:
ʿUrwah related to me that the two men from the Allies who met them were ʿUwaym ibn Sāʿidah and Maʿn ibn ʿAdī, and the one who said, “I am the stout rubbing post and the short palm heavy laden with fruit” was al-Ḥubāb ibn al-Mundhir.
21.3
ʿAbd al-Razzāq, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the the authority of Layth, on the authority of Wāṣil al-Aḥdab, on the authority of al-Maʿrūr ibn Suwayd, on the authority of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, who said:
With regard to a man who summons others to recognize his own political authority or that of another without consulting the Muslims, the only permissible course of action for you is to kill him.
ʿAbd al-Razzāq, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Ibn Ṭāwūs, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās:
ʿUmar said, “Take to heart three of my instructions. Authority derives from Shura.239 In the ransom customs of the Arabs, each slave is redeemed for another, and the son of a slave woman with two slaves . . .”240
Ibn Ṭāwūs kept the third to himself.
21.5
ʿAbd al-Razzāq, on the authority of Maʿmar, who said: Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Qārī related to me on the authority of his father:
ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb and a man from the Allies were sitting together, and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd al-Qārī came and sat next to them. ʿUmar then said, “We do not wish to sit with those who spread rumors,” to which ʿAbd al-Raḥmān replied, “Nor would I sit with the likes of such people, O Commander of the Faithful!” So ʿUmar said, “Sit with both sorts of people, but do not spread what is said.” ʿUmar then spoke to the Allies: “Who do the people say shall be caliph after me?” The Allies proceeded to list several men from the Emigrants, but did not name ʿAlī. “What do they say of Abū l-Ḥasan?”241 ʿUmar queried, “By God, were he to lead them, he would certainly be the most capable of keeping them on the path of Truth.”
21.6
Maʿmar said: Abū Isḥāq reported to me on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Maymūn al-Awdī, who said:
I was at the house of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb when he granted authority to the Six,242 and as they left his gaze followed them, whereupon he said, “If only they were to entrust the rule to little baldy, he could lead them along the True Path”—by whom he meant ʿAlī.