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Whoever reflects on what we have set forth will recognize the unanimous agreement of the Companions—both the Emigrants and the Helpers—to give precedence to Abū Bakr. The force of the Prophet’s words, “Allah and the believers will accept none but Abū Bakr,” thus becomes manifest. He will also see that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not categorically nominate anyone for the caliphate: not Abū Bakr, as some Sunnis have claimed, nor ʿAlī, as some of the Rāfiḍah allege. Rather, he pointed with a strong and unmistakable indication—plain to every person of sound mind—toward al-Ṣiddīq, as we have already shown and shall yet show, and all praise belongs to Allah.
This is corroborated by the report recorded in the two Ṣaḥīḥs, narrated by Hishām ibn ʿUrwah from his father from Ibn ʿUmar. When ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb was stabbed, he was asked, “O Commander of the Believers, will you not appoint a successor?” He replied, “If I do appoint a successor, someone better than I did so before me”—meaning Abū Bakr—“and if I leave the matter open, someone better than I did likewise”—meaning the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.” Ibn ʿUmar added, “When he mentioned the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, I knew that he would not name anyone.”
Sufyān al-Thawrī transmitted, through al-Aswad ibn Qays from ʿAmr ibn Sufyān, that when ʿAlī gained ascendancy over the people on the Day of the Camel he said, “People, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ left us no explicit instruction about this leadership. We therefore considered the matter and chose Abū Bakr, who upheld the office faithfully and steadfastly until he departed this world. Then Abū Bakr thought it proper to appoint ʿUmar, and he too upheld the office faithfully and steadfastly until he departed”—or he said, “until the religion became firmly established”—and so on.
Imām Aḥmad also reported, through Abū Nuʿaym, through Sharīk, from al-Aswad ibn Qays, from ʿAmr ibn Sufyān: A man delivered a sermon in Basra when ʿAlī had prevailed there, whereupon ʿAlī said, “This is the masterful, eloquent orator; he has already …”