time, for had that been so, he—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—would not have left undone what Allah had commanded him to do. Rather, he considered writing it beneficial as a means of averting dispute over Abū Bakr’s caliphate, but he saw that disagreement was bound to arise.

He had asked his Lord for three things on behalf of his community. His Lord granted him two and withheld one. He asked Him not to destroy them through a widespread drought, and He granted him that request. He asked Him not to give an enemy from beyond their own ranks power over them, and He granted him that request; and (1) he asked Him not to turn their violence against one another, but He withheld that from him (2).

This is authentically established.

Ibn Abbas said:

“The calamity—the utter calamity—was what prevented the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—from writing the document.” (3)

For that was indeed a calamity—that is, a misfortune—for those who doubted the caliphate of Abū Bakr—may Allah be pleased with him—and challenged it.

Ibn Abbas said this when the adherents of deviant doctrines—the Khawārij, the Rāfidah, and others like them—had emerged. Yet Ibn Abbas himself used to issue rulings according to what was in the Book of Allah. If he found nothing in the Book of Allah, he would rule according to what was in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah; and if he found nothing in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless