ʿAbd al-Raḥmān said:

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away while Abū Bakr was in one of the outlying quarters of Madinah. He came, uncovered the Prophet’s face, kissed him, and said, ‘May my father and mother be ransomed for you! How sweet you are, alive and dead. Muḥammad has indeed died, by the Lord of the Kaʿbah.’ … and he continued with the account.

“He went on to say that Abū Bakr and ʿUmar set off, supporting one another, until they reached the gathering. Abū Bakr spoke, leaving out nothing that had been revealed concerning the Anṣār, nor anything the Messenger of Allah had mentioned about their merits, without recalling it. He said, ‘You know that the Messenger of Allah said: “If people were to take one valley and the Anṣār another, I would take the valley of the Anṣār.” And you know, O Saʿd—while you were sitting there—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Quraysh are the guardians of this affair; the righteousness of mankind will follow their righteousness, and the wickedness of mankind will follow their wickedness.”’ Saʿd replied, ‘You have spoken the truth. We are the ministers, and you are the rulers.’

Imām Aḥmad said: ʿAlī ibn ʿAyyāsh narrated to us; al-Walīd ibn Muslim narrated to us; he told me that Yazīd ibn Saʿīd ibn Dhī ʿAṣwān al-ʿAbsī narrated from ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr al-Lakhmī, from Rāfiʿ al-Ṭāʾī, the companion of Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq in the expedition of Dhāt al-Salāsil, who said:

“I asked him about what was said regarding their pledge of allegiance. He recounted what the Anṣār had discussed, what he himself had said to them, what ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb had said to the Anṣār, and how he reminded them that I had led them in prayer by the command of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ during his illness. Because of that they pledged allegiance to me, and I accepted it from them, fearing that a trial might follow that would lead to apostasy.”

This chain of transmission is sound and robust. Its meaning is that Abū Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, accepted the leadership only out of fear that a tribulation greater than the harm of refusing it might arise. May Allah be pleased with him and grant him satisfaction.

I say: This took place during the remainder of Monday. On the next day, Tuesday morning, the people gathered in the mosque and the pledge was completed by the Muhājirīn and the Anṣār in full; this was before the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was prepared for burial.

Al-Bukhārī said: Ibrāhīm ibn Mūsā informed us; Hishām narrated to us, from Maʿmar, from al-Zuhrī, who told me that Anas ibn Mālik said he heard ʿUmar’s final sermon when he sat on the pulpit, and that was the day after the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away,