also (1): “Allah and the prophets will accept none but Abū Bakr.”
He said (2): “This is an unequivocal text establishing that he—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—appointed Abū Bakr as his successor to lead the Muslim community after him.”
He said (3): “Those who maintained that he did not appoint [Abū Bakr] (4) as his successor cited the report transmitted by Abdullah ibn Umar from Umar (5), who said: ‘If I appoint a successor, then one better than me appointed a successor’—meaning Abū Bakr—‘and if I do not appoint a successor, then one better than me did not appoint one’—meaning the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. They also cited what was narrated from Aisha [may Allah be pleased with her] (6), when (7) she was asked: ‘Whom would the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—have appointed as his successor, had he appointed one?’ (8)”
(1) “Also” is omitted from (N) and (M).
(2) Immediately after the preceding passage.
(3) In (F), it occurs three lines after the preceding passage.
(4) “Abū Bakr” is omitted from (A) and (B).
(5) The hadith narrated from Ibn Umar—may Allah be pleased with them both—is found in al-Bukhārī, 9/81 (*Book of Judgments*, “Chapter on Appointing a Successor”); Muslim, 3/1454–1455 (*Book of Governance*, “Chapter on Appointing a Successor or Refraining from Doing So”); *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, 3/184 (*Book of Land Tax, Governance, and Spoils*, “Chapter on a Caliph Appointing a Successor”); *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, 3/341 (*Book of Tribulations*, “Chapter on What Has Been Related Concerning the Caliphate”). Al-Tirmidhī said: “This is an authentic hadith, and it has been narrated through more than one chain from Ibn Umar.” See also *al-Musnad* (al-Maārif ed.), 2/284, 323, 333.
(6) “May Allah be pleased with her” is omitted from (N) and (M).
(7) (A) and (B) read: *annahā* (“that she”).
(8) This report from Aisha—may Allah be pleased with her—is found in Muslim, 4/1856 (*Book of the Merits of the Companions*, “Chapter on Some of the Merits of Abū Bakr…”). The complete wording there is: “…She replied, ‘Abū Bakr.’ She was asked, ‘Then who after Abū Bakr?’ She replied, ‘Umar.’ She was then asked, ‘Who after Umar?’ She replied, ‘Abū Ubayda ibn al-Jarrāh,’ and went no further.” A report with the same meaning is found in *al-Musnad* (al-Halabī ed.), 6/63.