and her daughter (1), Zunayrah, Umm Umays, and the slave woman of Banū al-Mu’ammil.

Sufyān said: As for Zunayrah, she was of Roman origin and belonged to Banū Abd al-Dār. When she embraced Islam, she became blind. They said, “Al-Lāt and al-Uzzā have blinded her.” She declared her disbelief in al-Lāt and al-Uzzā, and Allah restored her sight. As for Bilāl, Abū Bakr purchased him while he was buried beneath stones. They said, “Had you insisted on paying only one ūqiyyah (a unit of weight), we would have sold him to you.” Abū Bakr replied, “Had you insisted on a hundred ūqiyyahs, I would have bought him.” He said: Concerning him were revealed the words:

“But the most God-fearing will be kept far from it” [Surah al-Layl: 17],

through to the end of the surah.

When Abū Bakr embraced Islam, he possessed forty thousand, which he spent in Allah’s cause. Several considerations indicate that these verses were revealed concerning Abū Bakr.

First, Allah said:

“But the most God-fearing will be kept far from it.”

He also said:

“Indeed, the most honored of you in the sight of Allah is the most God-fearing of you” [Surah al-Hujurāt: 13].

Thus, the most God-fearing member of this community must be included in this verse, and he is the most honored of them in Allah’s sight. No one has claimed that Abū al-Dahdāh and others like him are better or more honored than the earliest forerunners among the Emigrants—Abū Bakr, Umar, Uthmān, Alī, and others. Rather, the entire community—Sunnis and non-Sunnis alike—agrees that these men and others like them among the Emigrants are superior to Abū al-Dahdāh. Therefore, the most God-fearing person, who gives his wealth to purify himself, must be among them.

This claimant has asserted that these verses were revealed concerning Abū al-Dahdāh. If there are two views—one maintaining that they were revealed concerning him, and the other that they were revealed concerning Abū Bakr—it is the latter view that the Quran supports. Even if the verse is assumed to encompass both of them, Abū Bakr has a stronger claim to inclusion in it than Abū al-Dahdāh.