al-Bayhaqī (1) said: From this report we learn that, in that particular prayer, the Prophet ﷺ moved forward and Abū Bakr made his own prayer dependent on the Prophet’s.

He (1) also said: The same has been related by al-Aswad and ʿUrwah from ʿĀʾishah, and by al-Arqam ibn Shuraḥbīl from Ibn ʿAbbās. He is referring to what Imām Aḥmad (2) recorded: Yaḥyā ibn Zakariyyā ibn Abī Zāʾidah narrated to us; my father narrated to me; from Abū Isḥāq; from al-Arqam ibn Shuraḥbīl; from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said:

“When the Prophet ﷺ fell ill he ordered Abū Bakr to lead the people in prayer. Then he felt some relief and came out. When Abū Bakr sensed him he wanted to step back, but the Prophet ﷺ signalled him to remain. The Prophet sat beside Abū Bakr, on his left, and began reciting from the verse where Abū Bakr had stopped.”

He (3) also transmitted it through Wakīʿ, from Isrāʾīl, from Abū Isḥāq, from al-Arqam, from Ibn ʿAbbās in a fuller form.

Wakīʿ once said: “Abū Bakr was following the Prophet ﷺ, and the people were following Abū Bakr.” Ibn Mājah (4) reported the same through ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad, from Wakīʿ, from Isrāʾīl, from Abū Isḥāq, from al-Arqam ibn Shuraḥbīl, from Ibn ʿAbbās with similar wording.

Imām Aḥmad (5) also said: Shabābah ibn Sawwār narrated to us; Shuʿbah narrated to us; from Nuʿaym ibn Abī Hind; from Abū Wāʾil; from Masrūq; from ʿĀʾishah, who said: “During the illness in which he passed away, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ prayed behind Abū Bakr, seated.” At-Tirmidhī (7) and an-Nasāʾī (8) likewise recorded it through Shuʿbah.

At-Tirmidhī said: “ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ.”

Aḥmad (9) also said: Bakr ibn ʿĪsā narrated to us; I heard Shuʿbah ibn al-Ḥajjāj; from Nuʿaym ibn Abī Hind; from Abū Wāʾil; from Masrūq; from ʿĀʾishah: “Abū Bakr led the people in prayer while the Messenger of Allah was standing in the row.”

Al-Bayhaqī (10) said: Abū l-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faḍl al-Qaṭṭān informed us; ʿAbdullāh ibn Jaʿfar informed us; Yaʿqūb ibn Sufyān narrated to us; Muslim ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to us; Shuʿbah narrated to us; from Sulaymān al-Aʿmash; from Ibrāhīm; from al-Aswad; from ʿĀʾishah: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ prayed behind Abū Bakr.” This isnād is sound, yet the two Ṣaḥīḥs did not include it.

Al-Bayhaqī added: It has likewise been reported by Ḥumayd from Anas ibn Mālik, and by Yūnus from al-Ḥasan in mursal form.