ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rūḥ said: Shababa narrated to us; he said: Abū Bakr al-Hudhalī reported, from al-Ḥasan, who said:
When ʿAlī—may Allah be pleased with him—arrived in Basra, Ibn al-Kawwāʾ and Qays ibn ʿAbbād stood up before him and said, “Will you not inform us about this march of yours by which you have set out, assuming authority over the community and pitting some of them against others? Do you possess a covenant from the Messenger of Allah that he entrusted to you? Tell us, for you are the trustworthy, reliable one concerning what you have heard.”
He answered, “As for my having a covenant from the Prophet ﷺ on this matter—by Allah, I do not. I was the first to believe in him, and I will not be the first to fabricate a lie about him. Had I possessed from the Prophet ﷺ any covenant regarding this, I would never have allowed the brother of Banū Taym ibn Murrah (Abū Bakr) or ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb to stand upon his pulpit; I would have fought them with my own hand, even if all I had were this cloak of mine.
“But the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was neither killed nor did he die suddenly. He remained in his illness for several days and nights. The caller to prayer would come and inform him that it was time, and he would order Abū Bakr to lead the people while he could see where I was. Then the caller would come again and inform him of the prayer, and he would order Abū Bakr to lead the people while he could see my place. One of his wives even tried to divert him from Abū Bakr, but he refused, grew angry, and said, ‘You are like the women around Joseph! Command Abū Bakr to lead the people in prayer.’
“When Allah took His Prophet, we examined our affairs and chose for our worldly life the very man whom the Prophet of Allah had approved for our religion. Prayer is the foundation of Islam—it is the greatest concern, the pillar of the faith. So we pledged allegiance to Abū Bakr, and he was worthy of it: not two of us differed about him, we required no testimony against one another, and none of us pronounced disavowal of him. I rendered to Abū Bakr his right, acknowledged his authority, campaigned with him in his armies, accepted whatever he allotted me, set out whenever he dispatched me, and administered the legal punishments with my whip in his presence.
“When he passed away, ʿUmar assumed authority and followed the practice of his companion and what he knew of his conduct. We therefore pledged allegiance to ʿUmar, and we did not…"