Response to: Illegality of Abubakr’s Caliphate

The following is a response to Guided’s “Illegality of Abubakr’s Caliphate”. The article was can be found on the Wilayat website.

Guided argues: “A common lie by our Sunni brothers is that Abubakr led the prayers during the fatal illness of Allah’s Apostle (pbuh). We believe this to be a lie because the Holy Prophet (pbuh) said that only Imam Ali (as) was legally qualified to act in his stead. In other words, whenever the Holy Prophet (pbuh) is not physically available to perform any of his roles, either we wait for him to return or let Imam Ali (as) do it. NO ONE ELSE COULD ACT IN THE STEAD OF ALLAH’S APOSTLE.”

There is a consensus amongst both Sunnis and Shias that the Prophet – peace be upon him – let others perform his role when he was not present. The most common cited evidence for this is that he and Ali would be out of Madinah during an expedition, so he would have Ibn Um Maktoom, Mohammad bin Maslamah, or someone else as his caliph in Madinah.

Guided then quotes a narration to support his position:

“Shaykh al-Albani records in his Kitab al-Sunnah, p. 550:

Ali is from me and I am from him, and no one can act in my stead save myself or Ali.”

Guided does not provide a context for the report, which is why he has fallen into this contradiction. These words were uttered by the Prophet – peace be upon him – according to Abu Ja’afar Al-Baqir in the Seerah of Ibn Hisham 2/461 when the Prophet – peace be upon him – sent Ali to give testimony of the new pact between him and the people of Quraish. The narration also explicitly shows that Abu Bakr was the leader of the pilgrimage as well.