List of Sahabah who did not give bay'ah to Abu Bakr

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This is a list of people who did not give bay'ah to Abu Bakr. Following the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, one of his prominent Sahabah (companions), Abu Bakr, was elected to take his place as leader of the Muslim community. According to Shia Muslims, Abu Bakr's ascension was viewed as controversial, with a number of other Sahabah initially refusing to acknowledge his authority and give their bay'ah (formal oath of allegiance) to him.

Background[]

In the immediate aftermath of the death of Muhammad, a gathering of some of the Ansar (natives of Medina) took place in the Saqifah (courtyard) of the Banu Sa'ida clan.^[1] The general belief at the time was that the purpose of the meeting was for the Ansar to decide on a new leader of the Muslim community from among themselves, with the intentional exclusion of the Muhajirun (migrants from Mecca), though this has since become the subject of debate.^[2] Nevertheless, Abu Bakr and Umar, both prominent Sahabah of Muhammad, upon learning of the meeting became concerned of a potential coup and hastened to the gathering. After a partially heated debate, Abu Bakr was ultimately elected by those gathered as the new head of the Muslim community.^[3]

Though his ascension was near-universally accepted, Abu Bakr faced contention as a result of the rushed nature of his election. Several Sahabah, most prominent among them being Ali ibn Abi Talib, refused to acknowledge his authority.^[1] Ali himself may have been reasonably expected to assume leadership, being both cousin and son-in-law to Muhammad and being chosen during the day of Ghadeer.^[4] Among the Shia sect of Islam, it is also traditionally held that Ali had previously been designated by Muhammad as his desired heir, which could be found in both Sunni and Shia books.^[5] Whether his candidacy for the succession was raised during Saqifah is unknown, though it is not believed to be unlikely.^[6]

It is also notable that aside from the Ansar who initiated the meeting, the only prominent Muslims who attended the meeting were Abu Bakr, Umar and Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah.^[a] Later accounts suggest that Salim Mawla ibn Abu Hudhayfa was also involved, though this cannot be confirmed by standard sources. Nevertheless, the absence of so many of the Muhajirun, including Muhammad's own family, whose attendance would have been vital for any legitimate consultation, has been viewed as problematic. Umar himself described Saqifah as a falta (hasty affair),^[7] though he defended their actions on account of the urgency of the situation.^[8] Due to its questionable legal authority, following his own ascension to the Caliphate, he warned the Muslims against using the example of Saqifah as a precedent for appointing his own successor.^[7] According to Shia branch, A number of migrants and the helpers refused to swear allegiance to Abu Bakr, inclined as they were to favor Ali ibn Abi Talib. Al Abbas bin Abd al-Muttalib, Al-Fadi bin Al-Abbas, Al-Zubayr ibn Al-Awwam, Khalid bin Said, Al Miqdad, Salman the Persian, Abu Zar Ghaffari, Ammar ibn Yasir, Al-Bara'a, Ubayy bin Ka'b were part of this group".

List[]

According to Muslims, there was a significant number of people who did not pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr immediately following the event of Saqifah. Some of these pledged allegiance to him later, after a delay,^[9] for various reasons. The following were:

Image/Calligraphic	Name	House	Notes
	Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib	Banu Hashim	Ibn Qutaybah, a 9th century Sunni Islamic scholar says that Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib had told Abu Bakr that, "If you demanded what you demanded through kinship to the Messenger of Allah, then you had confiscated our own. If you had demanded it due to your position among Muslims, then ours is a more prestigious than yours. If this affair is accomplished when the believers are pleased with it, then it cannot be so as long as we are displeased therewith."[10] Yaqubi, a 9th century Sunni Islamic scholar narrates "A group of Muhajirs and Ansars kept themselves aloof from allegiance to Abu Bakr and were followers of Hazrat Ali [as]. Among them were Abbas Bin Abdul-Muttalib...Fadl ibn Abbasi"[11] Muhammad al-Bukhari, a 9th-century Sunni Islamic scholar narrates the same as Yaqubi.[11]
	Abu Ayyub al-Ansari[12]	Banu Khazraj
	Abu Buraidah al-Aslami[11]
	Abu Dhar al-Ghifari[11][13]	Banu Ghifar
	Al-Bara' ibn `Azib[11][13]	Banu Khazraj
	Ali ibn Abi Talib	Banu Hashim
	Ammar ibn Yasir[11][13]	Banu Makhzum (affiliation)
	Bilal ibn Rabah
	Fadl ibn Abbas[11]	Banu Hashim
	Farwah ibn Amr ibn Wadqah al-Ansari[13]
	Fatimah	Banu Hashim Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj, a 9th century Sunni Shafi'i Jariri Islamic scholar narrates the same as Muhammad al-Bukhari.[14] Ibn Abu al-Hadid, a 13th century Mu'tazili Islamic scholar says that they did not dare to force Ali into Baya while Fatimah was alive.[15]
	Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman[16]	Banu Aws
	Ibn Abbas	Banu Hashim
	Khalid ibn Sa`id[11][13]
	Khuzaima ibn Thabit[13]	Banu Aws
	Malik ibn Nuwayrah[11]
	Miqdad ibn Aswad[11][13]
	Qays ibn Sa'd[11][13]	Banu Khazraj
	Sa'd ibn Ubadah	Banu Khazraj	Muhammad al-Bukhari, a 9th century Sunni Shafi'i Islamic scholar narrates that Umar said: "...we sallied , when someone of them said: You have killed Sa'd ibn 'Ubadah. I said: Allah killed Sa'd ibn 'Ubadah."[17][18] Wilferd Madelung in his book Succession to Muḥammad: A Study of The Early Caliphate states, "Sa'd ibn Ubadah, the Khazraj leader whom Umar dealt with so roughly at Saqifah and whom he had later driven out of his home town of Medina."[19]
	Salman the Persian[11]
	Sahl ibn Hunaif[20]
	Ubay ibn Ka'b[11]	Banu Khazraj
	Uthman ibn Hunaif[18]
	Zubayr ibn al-Awwam	Banu Asad	Muhammad al-Bukhari, a 9th-century Sunni Shafii Islamic scholar narrates that Umar said, "Ali and Zubair and whoever was with them, opposed us, while the emigrants gathered with Abu Bakr."[11][13]

Notes[]

References[]