He then furnished a supporting chain through Hushaym, who said: Yūnus related to us, from al-Ḥasan.

Hushaym added: Ḥumayd also narrated to us, from Anas ibn Mālik:
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ came out while Abū Bakr was leading the people in prayer. He sat down beside him, wearing a cloak whose two ends he had crossed over, and prayed following Abū Bakr’s recitation.”

Al-Bayhaqī (1) said: ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbdān informed us; Aḥmad ibn ʿUbayd aṣ-Ṣaffār informed us; ʿUbayd ibn Sharīk narrated to us; Ibn Abī Maryam narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar narrated to us; Ḥumayd told me that he heard Anas say: “The last prayer the Messenger of Allah ﷺ performed with the people—wrapped in a single garment—was behind Abū Bakr.”

I remark: This isnād is sound according to the standards of the two Ṣaḥīḥs, yet they did not include it. Its wording is valuable, for it specifies that this was the final prayer he offered with the congregation—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him.

Al-Bayhaqī (2) likewise transmitted—through Sulaymān ibn Bilāl and Yaḥyā ibn Ayyūb, from Ḥumayd, from Anas—that the Prophet ﷺ prayed behind Abū Bakr wearing a single cloak, the two ends of which he had crossed. When he wished to stand he said, “Call for me Usāmah ibn Zayd.” Usāmah came and supported the Prophet’s back against his chest, and that was the last prayer he ever performed.

Al-Bayhaqī (3) commented: “This shows that the prayer in question was the dawn (Ṣubḥ) prayer of Monday, the day of his death, because it was the last prayer he performed, and it is established that he passed away mid-morning on Monday.” He adopted this, uncritically, from the Maghāzī of Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah, which states the same; Abū l-Aswad likewise reported it from ʿUrwah, but that isnād is weak. In fact, this was merely the last prayer he performed with the congregation, as the other narration explicitly states. Since both reports refer to one and the same event, the unqualified wording must be understood in light of the qualified version. Moreover, it cannot have been the dawn prayer of Monday, the day of his passing, because he did not perform that prayer with the congregation but in his house due to the severity of his illness—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him.

The proof of this is what al-Bukhārī recorded in his Ṣaḥīḥ (4): Abū l-Yamān narrated to us; Shuʿayb related to us; from al-Zuhrī; he said: Anas ibn Mālik—who followed the Prophet ﷺ, served him, and kept his company—told me: “During the illness in which the Prophet ﷺ passed away, Abū Bakr used to lead us in prayer. Then, on Monday, while we were standing in rows, the Prophet ﷺ lifted the curtain of his apartment and looked at us while standing. His face shone like the page of a Qurʾān; he smiled broadly, and we were almost overwhelmed with joy at seeing the Prophet ﷺ. (Abū Bakr stepped back to join the row, thinking that the Prophet was coming out) to lead the prayer, but the Prophet ﷺ signaled to us that—