Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) decided to follow the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in every step he took. When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) migrated to Medina, Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) was not at all willing to change any of the measures he had taken to govern the Islamic state. Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) himself said that he was not an innovator but a follower. For example, Abu Bakr Siddique (may Allah be pleased with him) did not transfer all the people whom the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had appointed to other positions or positions. But until he transferred them to another place, until they had a bigger responsibility or an opportunity to be given a new responsibility. So they could continue in their previous positions or take on new responsibilities if they wanted. For example, Amor Ibn Waz was appointed as the governor of Oman by the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) was going to send an army to Palestine and he thought that Amor Ibn Waz would lead this army. Then Abu Bakr Siddiq (RA) gave him two conditions: either Amor Ibn Waz could remain as the government or he could lead the army sent to Palestine. Amor Ibn Waz agreed to lead the army.
Now we will discuss an important incident of Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) which is the incident of the Miraj distribution of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Before that, let’s know some background, such as what kind of property the Prophet (peace be upon him) left behind. Or what his life was like, etc. Uminul Mominin Jurayya’s (may Allah be pleased with him) brother Amr ibn Hariz described that, “ The Prophet (peace be upon him) did not leave behind any dirhams or slaves when he died. He left behind an elephant, a horse, and some land which he distributed or endowed among Muslims before his death.” The hadith is narrated in Bukhari Sharif. Therefore, it is known from the narration that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) left behind some land at the time of his death which he had previously deeded in the name of the Muslims. Let’s find out what property is here. First of all, the property was the abandoned property of Banu Nazir Tribe which Allah gave him as a gift. It is worth noting here that the property obtained in war or booty is mainly distributed among the warriors up to 80% and that which is obtained without war is primarily owned by Allah and His Messenger. So the Prophet (peace be upon him) inherited the abandoned property of Banu Nazir Tribe and made his family livelihood with the wealth or money generated from it. And with the remaining money, he would buy weapons, horses, etc. for war. Later, he gained half of the land in the Battle of Khaibar. And after the war, he bought land for Fataq from the people of Khaibar. These lands considered the property of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). And these were the rights of the Prophet (peace be upon him) until his death. He would spend a very small portion of the money generated from these properties on his family and the rest on Muslims. So the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) lived a very simple life, without any luxuries, and his family also lived a very simple life. In this regard, a hadith of Hazrat Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) has been narrated in Bukhari Sharif. Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that one day I entered the house of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and found him lying on a date palm. There was no sheet on his bed, so the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had a scar on his back from the leaves of a date palm. Then Hazrat Umar (RA) narrated that I looked into his house but I did not see anything in his house except three raw hides. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) lived such a simple life that he was lying on a very simple mat, and seeing this scene, tears flowed from Hazrat Umar’s eyes in emotion. Then Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), “O Messenger of Allah, pray to Allah to make your followers rich, because the Persian kings are so rich, but they do not worship Allah.” Then the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was lying down and he sat up and said to Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that O Umar, do you think that Allah has reserved for them something in the Hereafter, while what they get is only in this world? Then Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) realized his mistake and said, “O Messenger of Allah, pray for my forgiveness.”
So we know that the Prophet (peace be upon him) lived a very simple life and it happened that his family lived on only dates and water for two months. In that situation, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) passed away, and after his death, his family or Ahl al-Bayt thought that they would receive some of the property he had left behind, so they approached Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (may Allah be pleased with him) to ask for that property.
This hadith is from Bukhari Sharif. Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated this hadith at length. Aisha (RA) narrates that Hazrat Fatima (RA) asked Hazrat Abu Bakr (RA) for her father’s property in Medina, Khaibar and Fateh. Then Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said that there is no heir to the property of the Prophets. Whatever we see will be considered charity. However, Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) said that if the family of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) wanted, they would be able to enjoy the property. This means that they will be able to enjoy the property they receive as a family, but will not receive property as an inheritance.
Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “By Allah, I will not change the condition of the property of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in which he gave it in charity. And I will follow the same policy he followed in this regard. “
Saying this, Abu Bakr Siddique (may Allah be pleased with him) refused to give that property to Fatima (may Allah be pleased with her). In this part we will discuss a little and then move on to the next part of the hadith.
In this context, we understand that the property of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is not distributed. In this context, Islamic scholars say that the Prophets and Messengers did not earn wealth for any worldly gain, but rather left what they earned for the Muslims. In this context, Islamic scholars say that the Prophets and Messengers did not earn wealth for any worldly gain, but rather left what they earned for the Muslims. Prophets are the fathers of their followers, just as Allah declared Ibrahim (peace be upon him) as the father of the entire Muslim nation. As a result, when Hazrat Ali (RA), the husband of Hazrat Fatima (RA), attained the caliphate, he did not take any new decisions regarding all those properties, but rather followed the ideology of the previous caliphs.
And the scholars narrate that Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) used to spend the entire year on the expenses of the family of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) from the property left by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
When Hazrat Fatima (RA) was alive, there was a lot of respect for Hazrat Ali (RA) among the people. When Hazrat Fatima (RA) passed away, Hazrat Ali (RA) saw discontent among the people. So he decided to take the oath of allegiance from Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (RA). But due to Hazrat Fatima (RA) being ill, Hazrat Ali (RA) was a little late in accepting the oath of allegiance. Therefore, Hazrat Ali (RA) again took the oath of allegiance to Abu Bakr Siddique (RA) six months after the death of the Prophet (PBUH).
Next, let us discuss the matter of Hazrat Ali (RA) accepting the oath of allegiance. Hazrat Ali (RA) sent a message to Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (RA) through a messenger that he would accept the oath of allegiance and asked him to come to him, but he did not want Hazrat Umar bin Khatta (RA) to come with Abu Bakr Siddiq (RA) Hearing this, Hazrat Umar bin Khatta (RA) said, “You will not go there alone.” Hearing this, Hazrat Abu Bakr (RA) said, “By Allah, I will go there alone and I will not be harmed.” Then Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (RA) came to Hazrat Ali (RA) and Ali (RA) recited the Tashahhud and said that I am aware of what Allah Almighty has bestowed upon you, i.e. the Caliphate. And we do not envy you for the good that Allah has bestowed upon you. But you did not consult us about the Caliphate, so we thought that surely we, as the family of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), also have some rights. Hearing this, Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (RA) said, “By Allah, in Whose Hand is my life, the family of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) is dearer to me than my own family. And I did not resort to tactics in the disagreement I had with you regarding this property. Rather, I did not do anything in this regard that I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) abandon. “
Then he told Hazrat Ali (RA) that he promised to accept the oath of allegiance from him after Zuhr. After the Zuhr prayer, Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (RA) sat on the pulpit and mentioned the oath of allegiance and recited the Tashahhud, and at the same time Hazrat Ali (RA) mentioned all the issues on which he had a disagreement. Now Ali (RA) stood up and prayed for forgiveness, and at the same time he described the dignity of Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (RA). And he said that the delay he caused was not because he disagreed with Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) about the caliphate that Allah had granted him. Hazrat Ali (RA) said that we thought that Hazrat Abu Bakr (RA) would talk to us about the Caliphate but he did not talk to us and that is why we felt sad.
When the Muslims saw that Hazrat Ali (RA) had returned to the oath of allegiance, they rejoiced and became close to him as before. We see that Hazrat Ali (RA) held various important positions during the three caliphs. We also see that Hazrat Ali (RA) married his daughter Umm Kulthum to Hazrat Umar (RA). Hazrat Ali (RA) himself took care of and raised the son of Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (RA). Also, before the death of Hazrat Uthman (RA), when the troublemakers surrounded him with the intention of killing him, Hazrat Ali (RA) sent his two sons to protect Hazrat Uthman (RA).
Ibn Kathir (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) never separated from Hazrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). Even after him, he never left the Jamaat. And Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) used to consult Allah Ta’ala and resolve all the affairs of the state.
Sheikh Saeed Akbarabadi narrated that he took the oath of allegiance not once but twice. The first is the general oath of allegiance which was given in the Prophet’s Mosque on the second day of the Prophet’s death. And the second time which he accepted after the death of Hazrat Fatima (RA).
The purpose of this oath was to end all misunderstandings and restore relations as before.
