you wish. He then took my hand and the hand of (1) Abū ‘Ubayda, who was sitting between us. I disliked nothing he said except this. By Allah, I would rather be brought forward and be beheaded, without [that] (2) bringing me any nearer to sin, [than] (3) rule over a people among whom was Abū Bakr—unless, O Allah, my soul should entice me at the time of death (4) with something I do not feel now.” This hadith has already been given in full (5).

What this means is that the pledge of allegiance took place suddenly, without our having prepared or made arrangements for it. Abū Bakr was the clear choice for the position, so there was no need for the people to assemble for that purpose, since they all knew that he had the greatest right to it. After Abū Bakr, there is no one whose superiority and entitlement would command the same agreement as his did. Thus, whoever seeks to act alone in pledging allegiance to a man, without an assembly of Muslims, kill him. ‘Umar did not ask for protection from its evil; rather, he stated that Allah had averted the evil of discord through unity (6).

[Section: The Rāfidī’s third argument—their deficiency in knowledge and their resorting to ‘Alī in most circumstances—and the response to it]

Section

The Rāfidī said (7):

“Third: Their deficiency in knowledge and their resorting to ‘Alī for most rulings (8).”