It is clear that by “my brothers” he meant his brothers who were not his Companions (1), whereas those he addressed had the distinction of companionship (2). He then said:

“People who come after me, believe in me, and have not seen me.”

He thus made this the dividing line between his brothers whom he wished to see and his Companions. This shows that whoever believed in him and saw him was one of his Companions (3), not one of those brothers whom he had not seen and who had not seen him.

Once it is understood that companionship is a generic term encompassing both brief and prolonged companionship, its minimum being to accompany him for a short time, it is clear that al-Siddīq stood at its very pinnacle and held its highest rank. He accompanied him from the time he was sent (4) by Allah until his death. There is unanimous agreement that he was the first free adult man to believe in him, just as there is unanimous agreement that the first woman to believe in him was Khadījah, the first boy was ʿAlī, and the first of the clients was Zayd ibn Hārithah. There is disagreement, however, over who first professed Islam after Khadījah.

If Abū Bakr embraced Islam before ʿAlī, then it is established that he preceded him in companionship just as he preceded him in faith. If ʿAlī embraced Islam before him, there is nevertheless no doubt that Abū Bakr’s companionship with the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—was more complete and more beneficial to him than the companionship of ʿAlī and others like him. He shared in his efforts to call people to Islam, and through him the leading members of the consultative council (5) embraced Islam, such as ʿUthmān, Talhah, and al-Zubayr