A ḥadīth has already been cited through al-Zuhrī—from a transmitter who heard it from Abū Dharr—concerning the pebbles that uttered glorification in the hand of the Messenger of Allah, then in the hand of Abū Bakr, then in the hand of ʿUmar, and then in the hand of ʿUthmān, together with his ﷺ declaration: “This is the Caliphate that follows Prophethood.” (1)

Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī also relates—on the authority of Abū Mūsā—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ once entered an orchard and let his legs dangle over the rim of a well. Abū Mūsā said, “Today I shall be the gatekeeper of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ,” so I sat behind the door. A man came and said, “Open up.” I asked, “Who are you?” He replied, “Abū Bakr.” I informed the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who said, “Open for him and give him glad tidings of Paradise.” Then ʿUmar arrived and he said the same. Then ʿUthmān came, whereupon he said, “Permit him to enter, and give him glad tidings of Paradise after a tribulation that will befall him.” He went in, saying, “Allah is the One whose help is sought.” (2)

It is likewise established in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī—through Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūbah, from Qatādah, from Anas—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ once climbed Mount Uḥud with Abū Bakr, ʿUmar and ʿUthmān. The mountain quaked beneath them, so the Messenger of Allah ﷺ struck it with his foot and said, “Steady! Upon you are only a Prophet, a Truthful One, and two martyrs.” (3)

ʿAbd al-Razzāq (4) narrated: Maʿmar told us, from Abū Ḥāzim, from Sahl ibn Saʿd, that Mount Ḥirāʾ shook while the Prophet ﷺ, Abū Bakr, ʿUmar and ʿUthmān were upon it. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Stand firm; upon you are only a Prophet, a Truthful One, and two martyrs.” Maʿmar added, “I also heard Qatādah relate the same from the Prophet ﷺ.”

Muslim transmitted—through Qutaybah, from al-Dārāwardī (5), from his father, from Abū Hurayrah—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was on Mount Ḥirāʾ together with Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, ʿAlī, Ṭalḥah and al-Zubayr when the rock beneath them moved. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Be still, for upon you there is only a Prophet, a Truthful One, or a martyr.” (6)

These reports are among the proofs of Prophethood: all of those men later attained martyrdom, while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was singled out for the highest rank of messengership and prophecy, and Abū Bakr for the supreme station of veracious truthfulness (al-ṣiddīqiyyah).

Moreover, the Ṣaḥīḥ affirms the Prophet’s testimony of Paradise for the Ten Promised Companions, indeed for everyone who pledged allegiance beneath the tree at al-Ḥudaybiyyah,