A Brief Look at Saqifah
The Muslimsof Medinawereof mainly of twogroups: theAnsar(the
‘helpers’ — natives of Medina) and the Muhajirin (the immigrants —
mostlytheQurayshiwhomigratedfromMecca).TheAnsārthemselves
consistedoftwotribes:theAwsandKhazrajwhowereenemiesofeach
other in pre-Islamic days.
After the Prophet's death and even before his burial, the Ansār
gatheredinSaqifahandproposedtodeclareSa‘dbinUbadah(anAnsari
fromthetribeofKhazraj)asthenewleaderoftheMuslims.Someamong
themstartedadiscussionabouthowshouldtheyrespondiftheQuray-
shi disputed with them in the issue of leadership.
While this discussion was going on among the Ansār in Saqifah,
‘UmaribnKhattab(aQurayshiMuhajir)wasinformedaboutit.Hesent
forAbuBakrwholefttheProphet'sbodyandjoined‘Umar.InSaqifah,
AbuBakrgaveaspeechinwhichheexhortedthevirtuesoftheMuhajir-
inandproposedthattheleadershouldbefromtheMuhajirin.Heended
hisspeech asfollows:“So weare the rulers,andyouarethe ministers
and the counselors. We will not do anything without consulting you.”
HubābibnMundhir,anAnsari,stoodupandsaid,“OAnsār,beware!
Takethereinsofgovernmentinyourhands;forthepeople[i.e.,Muhajir-
in]areunderyour protection,noone canquarrelwith you.Donot fall
out between yourselves, so that what you do is ruined.”
Umar,a Muhajir,responded: “Thatcan never be! TheArabs would neversubmitto yourrule; theywillnot yield,forthe Prophetwasnot from you.” Then very heated words were exchanged between Hubāb andUmar.
Inthe middleof allthischaos, Umar sworeallegianceto AbuBakr. ThenBashiribnSad,leaderoftheAwstribeofAnsār,sworeallegiance
toAbu Bakr. Seeingthis,the otherAnsarisof the tribeofKhazraj also
pledged allegiance so as not to lose favour in the eyes of Abu Bakr
against their rival Aws!
This is the basis of Abu Bakr's khilafat.