Documents of the Right Word

Bekr,” holding out his hand to him. All the Ansâr unanimously
agreed to his caliphate. The following day he went to the mosque
and mounted the menber. He looked at the jama’at (Muslims),
and saw that Zubeyr bin Awwâm was not among them. He sent
for him and, when Zubeyr came, he asked him, “Do you have
anything against this unanimity of Muslims?” Zubeyr said, “O the
Khalîfa of the Messenger! I have nothing against it,” and he held
out his hand in submission. The Khalîfa looked around once
again. When he did not see Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’, he sent for
him. When the Emîr came, he said to him, “Do you want to be
opposed to this unanimity of Muslims?” Alî, too, held out his
hand in submission and said, “O the Khalîfa of the Messenger! I
am not opposed.” Zubeyr and Alî apologized for being late to
accept the Khalîfa. They said, “We were sorry because we had not
been informed about the caliphate election. We know very well
that no one among us would be more rightful to the office of
caliphate than Abû Bekr is. For he has been honoured with being
(the Prophet’s) companion in the cave. We are very well aware of
his honour, his superiority. Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa
sallam’ chose him among us as the imâm to conduct the namâz.”
[Zubeyr bin Awwâm ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ is one of the ten
fortunated who were given the good news (by Allâhu ta’âlâ) that
“they shall enter Paradise.” His parents were the brother of our
mother Hadîja and Rasûlullah’s paternal aunt Sâfiyya. He
became a Muslim when he was fifteen years old. He was the first
Muslim to draw his sword, the first to migrate to Abyssinia, and
the first to migrate to Medina. He received numerous wounds in
the Holy Wars of Bedr, Uhud, Hendek (Trench), Hudaybiya,
Hayber, Mekka, Hunayn, and Tâif. He joined the conquest of
Egypt, too. He was very rich. He gave all his wealth in the way of
Allah. He was against hadrat Alî in the event of Camel. He was
martyred in the thirty-sixth year (of the Hijrat), when he was
sixty-seven years old].
Imâm-i-Muhammad Shâfi’î ‘rahmatullâhi aleyh’ [150-204
(C.E. 819), in Egypt] states: “When Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi
wa sallam’ passed away, the As-hâb-i-kirâm considered and
searched, and finally decided that no one on the earth could be
superior to Abû Bekr ‘radiy-Allâhu anh.’ They unanimously
made him Khalîfa.” The As-hâb-i-kirâm ‘radiy-Allâhu anhum’
unanimously wanted to make one of the following (three) people
Khalîfa: Abû Bekr, Alî, and Abbâs ‘radiy-Allâhu anhum’. Alî and
Abbâs said nothing against the caliphate of Abû Bekr. They both
– 82 –