[Section: The Prophet Guided the Community toward the Caliphate of Abū Bakr al-Siddīq]

Section (1).

It has already been noted that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, guided the community toward the caliphate of Abū Bakr al-Siddīq, pointed them to it, and made clear to them that he was more entitled to it than anyone else.

An example is the report recorded by al-Bukhārī and Muslim in their two Sahīh collections, on the authority of Jubayr ibn Mut‘im:

“A woman asked the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, for something, and he told her to return to him. She said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, what if I come and do not find you?’—as though she meant his death. He said, ‘If you do not find me, go to Abū Bakr.’” (2)

The Messenger knew that Allah would choose no one else (3), and that the believers would choose no one else. Thus he said:

“Allah and the believers will accept none but Abū Bakr.”

The evidence from the revealed law by which he guided them, together with the good that he knew Allah would decree in accordance with His command and good pleasure, thus brought about the full realization of divine wisdom in His creation and His command, both in His decree and in His revealed law.

We have already explained that what Allah chose was better for the community (4) in several respects. When they appoint, through their own knowledge and choice, the person whom they know to be most entitled to authority in the sight of Allah and His Messenger, this brings benefits recognized by the revealed law that could not otherwise be attained.

Rulings are sometimes clarified through an explicit, emphatic text, and sometimes through a text