Ibne Asakir has written in his Tarikh:1 It is narrated that when his death
approached Abu Bakr said to those around him: “After I am dead and you
conclude the bath and shrouding, take the bier to the door of the chamber, in
which is located the grave of Prophet. And stand there and say: Peace be on you,
O Messenger of Allah! Abu Bakr seeks permission to enter. If permission is
given and the door having a lock, opens, take me inside and bury me there and if
the door does not open, take me to Baqi and bury me there.”
When they did that the lock clicked, the door swung open and a caller called
out from the grave: ‘Make the beloved enter to his loved one as a friend is eager
to meet another.’
Raazi in his Tafseer2 and Halabi in Seeratun Nabawiyyah have narrated this report.
Allamah Amini says: The narrators of this report wanted to justify the act
of some people in burying the Caliph in the chamber of Messenger of Allah
(s.a.w.a.) – that purified spot – after this difficulty made them unable and they
failed to reply to it, because that holy chamber was either the property of His Eminence (s.a.w.a.) or it became Sadaqah and its issue was delegated to
Muslims.
If it remained the property of His Eminence; then burial of the Caliph
required permission of the sons of Prophet, that is Imam Hasan and Husain (a.s.)
and their sisters, who were the heirs of the Prophet; but none of them gave
permission.
If it was Sadaqah, then the first Caliph or anyone after him, who becomes
the Caliph, should seek permission from the Islamic society and none of them did
that. Therefore, burial of Caliph at that place is outside the pale of the law of
Shariat.
And if it is said: He was buried there because of the right that his daughter
had there.
[We would say]: What right did his daughter have over there after her father
has narrated the report: “We prophets do not leave any inheritance; whatever we
leave is charity (Sadaqah).”?
Moreover, we mentioned before that:3 Wives of Prophet are like women in
waiting period, who can only reside in their houses; but cannot have discretion
over it [sell or transfer it, etc…]
We also said: Supposing the wives inherit from Prophet and supposing they
inherited the land, Ayesha had inherited one part out of seventy-two parts,
because Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) was survived by nine wives [and the share
of wife, when the deceased leaves children, is one eighth; and one-eighth from
one-ninth is same as one of seventy-two parts] and however big this chamber
might be, its one of seventy-two parts cannot accommodate the body of a man.
Also, the right of Ayesha regarding the chamber is indivisible and she
cannot, without permission of other wives, who share in the inheritance, exercise
discretion on it.
In order to be freed from this difficulty, Ahle Sunnat have fabricated this
report, which had added to their difficulties and it is that: Whether the Caliph
quoted this statement having heard it from Prophet or he had knowledge of the
unseen?
It you claim he had knowledge of the unseen, we would say: I don’t think
anyone has claimed this, after he becomes aware of all his merits that they
mentioned and after we have explained the estimation of his knowledge; thus
where does he stand with regard to knowledge of unseen?!
And if he heard it from the Prophet, how he narrated it in form of
uncertainty and said: If the lock clicks and door swings open, bury me there; if
not, take me to Baqi and bury me there. This uncertainty is meaningless, because
whatever the Prophet informs of, definitely takes place.
Yes, it is possible that the Prophet did not mention this directly to Abu Bakr; on the contrary someone has narrated it from His Eminence on whom the Caliph
did not have confidence; therefore he made this statement with uncertainty
But this report is not authentic and that is why it is not mentioned in Sihah
and Musnad books till the time of Hafiz Ibne Asakir.
If we suppose that this report is authentic, it conveys the nobility of
greatness that in the presence of companions and crowd of Muhajireen and Ansar
on the day they carried the bier of Caliph till his grave. In that case this incident
and the call heard from the holy grave forever would have circulated from mouth
to mouth and that day there were no veils on the eyes and no barriers over the
ears and the tongues were not dumb, but it is an occasion of regret that no one has
mentioned a single word about this.
Because such a thing did not take place, the lock did not click, the doors did
not swing wide and no call was heard. ‘Make the beloved enter to his loved one
as a friend is eager to meet another,’ is a funny statement, which comprised of
exaggerating excellence and which informs about the mentality of the fabricator.
Only Ibne Asakir has narrated this report through Abu Tahir Musa bin
Muhammad bin Ataa Muqaddasi from Abdul Jalil Madani from Habba Arani,4
and written:
“This traditions is unrecognized and its meaning is not correct. Abu Tahir
was an excessive liar and Abul Jalil is unknown and it is mentioned in Lisanul
Mizan that:5
“This report is fabricated and a lie.”