keen on leadership for a single day or night, nor have I ever asked Allah for it, whether secretly or openly.
The Emigrants accepted his explanation. ʿAlī and al-Zubayr said, “Our anger was only because we were left out of the consultation. We consider Abū Bakr the person most entitled to it after the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: he is the Companion of the Cave. We are fully aware of his honor and his virtue, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ appointed him to lead the prayer while he was still alive.”
It has also been said that ʿAlī delayed pledging allegiance for a time. Yūnus ibn Bukayr narrated from Ibn Isḥāq, who said: Ṣāliḥ ibn Kaysān related to me from ʿUrwah, from ʿĀʾishah, who said: “When Fāṭimah died—six months after her father’s death—the members of ʿAlī’s household gathered around him, and he sent word to Abū Bakr, saying, ‘Come to us.’ ʿUmar said, ‘By Allah, you must not go to them,’ but Abū Bakr replied, ‘By Allah, I will go; what harm do you fear for me from them?’
“He went to them, entered, praised Allah, and said, ‘I know your view: you harbor something against me over these charitable properties that I have been placed in charge of. By Allah, I only assumed that charge because I did not wish to divert anything from the estate of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that I had seen him oversee; rather, I sought to follow his path and to carry it out in the manner Allah ordained. By Allah, keeping ties with you is dearer to me than keeping ties with my own relatives, because of your kinship to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the immense right he has over us.’
“Then ʿAlī bore witness and said, ‘O Abū Bakr, by Allah, we did not begrudge you the good that Allah has granted you, nor did we think you unworthy of the position entrusted to you. However, we were involved in the matter—as you know—and it slipped from us, so we felt aggrieved. I have now resolved to pledge allegiance and to enter into what the people have entered. When afternoon comes, lead the people in the ẓuhr prayer, then sit on the pulpit until I come to you and pledge my allegiance.’
“When Abū Bakr had led the ẓuhr prayer, he mounted the pulpit, praised Allah and extolled Him, and he mentioned what had taken place with ʿAlī and what had ensued—"