Al-Zuhrī (1) reported: Abū Salamah related to me, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that Abū Bakr came out while ʿUmar (2) was addressing the people. He said, “Sit down, O ʿUmar!” but ʿUmar refused to sit. He said again, “Sit down, O ʿUmar!” yet ʿUmar still refused. Abū Bakr then pronounced the tashahhud and the people turned toward him. He said:

“To proceed: Whoever among you used to worship Muhammad—verily Muhammad (3) has died; and whoever used to worship Allah, then Allah is Ever-Living and never dies. Allah, Exalted is He, says: ‘Muhammad is but a messenger; messengers have passed on before him. If he dies or is killed, will you turn back on your heels?’ (Āl ʿImrān 3:144).”

By Allah, it was as though the people had never known that Allah had revealed this verse until Abū Bakr recited it; then they all received it from him, and no one was heard among the people except that he was reciting it.

Al-Zuhrī (4) further said: Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib informed me that ʿUmar said, “By Allah, no sooner had I heard Abū Bakr recite it than I knew it was the truth; my legs buckled so that they could no longer carry me, and I collapsed to the ground. I realized, upon hearing him recite it, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had indeed passed away.” Al-Bukhārī (6) narrated it through the chain of Yaḥyā ibn Bukayr (7).

Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Bayhaqī (8) also transmitted—through the route of Ibn Lahīʿah, who reported from Abū al-Aswad, from ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr—in his account of the Prophet’s passing ﷺ:

ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb stood addressing the people, threatening to kill and mutilate anyone who said that he had died, declaring, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ is in a faint; when he rises, he will certainly kill and cut down!”

Meanwhile ʿAmr ibn Qays ibn Zāʾidah ibn al-Aṣamm ibn Umm Maktūm was at the rear of the mosque reciting, “Muhammad is but a messenger; messengers have passed on before him” (Āl ʿImrān 3:144), while the people in the mosque were weeping and surging about, unable to hear. ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib then came out to the people and said, “O people, if anyone possesses a covenant from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ regarding his death, let him inform us.” They replied, “No!” He asked, “Have you any knowledge, O ʿUmar?” He answered, “No.” ʿAbbās said, “I bear witness (10), O people, that no one can claim that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ entrusted such a covenant to anyone. By Allah, besides whom there is no deity, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has tasted death.”

He continued: Abū Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) approached from al-Sunḥ on his mount until he dismounted at the door of the mosque, grief-stricken and distressed, and sought permission to enter