Indeed (1), Abū Sufyān (2) wanted leadership (3) to remain within Banū Abd Manāf, in keeping with the custom of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. Neither Ali, Uthmān, nor anyone else accepted his proposal, because of their knowledge and religious commitment (4).
What authority or wealth, then, did the general body of Muslims stand to gain by pledging allegiance to Abū Bakr—especially when he gave the earliest forerunners and ordinary Muslims equal allocations? He would say:
“They embraced Islam for Allah alone, and their rewards (5) lie with Allah. This wealth is merely sufficient provision.”
When Umar advised him to differentiate among them in the allocations, he replied:
“Am I to purchase their faith from them?”
Thus, the earliest forerunners among the Emigrants and the Ansar who first pledged allegiance to him (6)—such as Umar, Abū Ubayda, Usayd ibn Hudayr, and others—received the same as the pardoned Meccans who embraced Islam in the Year of the Conquest, and even those who became Muslim (7) after the death of the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him. Did these men, then, obtain any worldly gain through his rule?
(1) A and B read: “Then indeed.”
(2) A and B read: “Abū Sufyān and others.”
(3) M reads: “the *imāma* (imamate).”
(4) N and M read: “because of his knowledge and religious commitment”; A and B read: “because of their knowledge or religious commitment.” I consider the reading established in the text to be correct. In *al-Muntaqā min Minhāj al-I‘tidāl*, p. [0–9] 9, al-Dhahabī summarizes these statements as follows: “Thereafter, his practice and policy were to distribute public revenues equally. Ali’s practice was likewise. Had they pledged allegiance to Ali, he would have given them the same allocations as Abū Bakr did, even though his tribe was nobler than Banū Tamīm. He also had clansmen and cousins who ranked among the noblest Companions in lineage, such as al-Abbās, Abū Sufyān, al-Zubayr, and Uthmān—the latter two being his cousins—and others like them. Abū Sufyān spoke to Ali about this and appealed on the basis of his noble standing, but Ali did not accede to him, because of his knowledge and religious commitment.”
(5) M reads: “and their reward.”
(6) A and B read: “followed them”; M reads: “pledged allegiance.”
(7) A and B read: “and between those who embraced Islam”; N and M read: “rather, those who embraced Islam.” The reading established in the text is probably correct.