Chapter: Clarification of the Caliphate of Abū Bakr al-Siddīq, may Allah be pleased with him, after the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him

Muhammad ibn al-Husayn, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Know—may Allah have mercy on us and you—that no one embraced by Islam and granted by Allah the Generous a taste of faith has ever disagreed that the only caliph after the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, was Abū Bakr al-Siddīq, may Allah be pleased with him. No Muslim may say otherwise. This is established by indications with which Allah the Generous distinguished him and by which the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, singled him out during his lifetime and gave instructions to that effect for after his death.

Among them are that he was the first man to embrace Islam and the first to believe the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him. He accompanied him with the finest companionship, spent his wealth on him, and was his companion in the cave. He was the one upon whom tranquility was sent down. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, reproached all people concerning the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, except Abū Bakr, whom He exempted from that reproach. This is expressed in His words, Mighty and Majestic: “If you do not aid him, Allah has already aided him, when those who disbelieved drove him out as one of two, when they were both in the cave” [al-Tawbah: 40]—to the end of the verse.

He also patiently stood by him in Mecca through every hardship and was his companion during the Hijrah. When the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, fell ill and was unable to go out for prayer, he ordered Abū Bakr to step forward and lead the people in prayer, and that no one else should step forward,