Ibn Bakkār also transmitted it from Ibn ʿUyaynah, from al-Zuhrī.

Abū Bakr al-Hudhalī narrated, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, from Qays ibn ʿAbbād and Ibn al-Kawwāʾ, that ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) recounted his return and the Emigrants’ pledge to Abū Bakr. He said:

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not die suddenly; rather, he was ill for several nights. Bilāl would come to him and call him to the prayer, and he would say, ‘Tell Abū Bakr to lead the prayer.’ One of his wives tried to redirect the command to someone else, whereupon he became angry and said, ‘You are like the women who tempted Joseph.’ When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away, we—and the Emigrants and the rest of the Muslims, for their worldly affairs—chose the one whom the Messenger of Allah had chosen for their religion, for the prayer is the gravest matter and the pillar of the religion.”

Al-Walīd ibn Muslim said: Muḥammad ibn Ḥarb told me, al-Zubaydī told us, al-Zuhrī told me from Anas, that he heard ʿUmar’s final sermon. He said:

“When Abū Bakr sat upon the pulpit of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on the morning after the Prophet’s death, ʿUmar bore witness and then said:

‘To proceed: Yesterday I spoke words to you, yet they proved untrue. I have found no support for what I said in the Book of Allah, nor in any covenant left by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. I had only hoped that he would live on to direct our affairs—meaning that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would outlive us all. However, Allah chose for His Messenger what is with Him over what is with you. If the Messenger of Allah has died, Allah has placed among you His Book through which He guided Muhammad; hold fast to it and you will be guided by what He guided Muhammad ﷺ with.’

He then mentioned Abū Bakr—the Companion of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, the second of the two in the cave—and stated that he was the most entitled to lead their affairs, saying, ‘Stand and pledge allegiance to him.’ A group had already pledged to him earlier in the portico of Banū Sāʿidah, and the pledge taken upon the pulpit was the public pledge. Its chain is sound, though the report is singular.

Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah narrated, on the authority of Saʿd ibn Ibrāhīm, who said: My father told me that his father, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf, was with ʿUmar, and that Muḥammad ibn Maslamah broke al-Zubayr’s sword. Abū Bakr then addressed the people, excusing himself, and said: ‘By Allah, I was never…’