Valor of Caliph has made the Ahle Sunnat weak and tired and has put them
into severity and hardship; and made them agitate; and when they did not find in
authentic history, on which to rely on and to argue the valor of Caliph through it,
they brought fabricated philosophy.
Thus, one of them fabricated a philosophy for pitching the tent and other
spun threads like web of spider and steadfastness of Caliph at the passing away of
Prophet and his not being shaken at the severe tragedy is regarded as valor.
Under the following verse, Qurtubi writes in his Tafseer:1
ۗ وَمَا مُحَمَّدٌ إِلَّا رَسُولٌۭ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِن قَبْلِهِ ٱلرُّسُلُ ۚ أَفَإِي۟ن مَّاتَ أَوْ قُتِلَ ٱنقَلَبْتُمْ عَلَىٰٓ أَعْقَـٰبِكُمْ ۚ وَمَن يَنقَلِبْ عَلَىٰ عَقِبَيْهِ فَلَن يَضُرَّ ٱللَّهَ شَيْـًۭٔا
“And Muhammad is no more than an apostle; the apostles have
already passed away before him; if then he dies or is killed will
you turn back upon your heels? And whoever turns back upon
his heels, he will by no means do harm to Allah in the least.”2
This verse is best evidence of valor and daring of Abu Bakr Siddiq, because
bravery and daring – that is not trembling at time of confronting calamities and
there is no calamity more terrible than calamity of passing away of Prophet. At
that time knowledge and valor of Caliph became apparent and people, including
Umar said: Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) is not dead. And Uthman became dumb
and Ali went into hiding. All were in distress and when Siddiq was in his house
at Sunh, he returned from there and explained his view in the following verse.
Allamah Amini says: Qurtubi thinks that this verse proves the valor and
knowledge of Caliph, whereas the most it coveys is that on that day Abu Bakr
reasoned through this verse and what connection does it have with valor?
Moreover, how did difference between valor and hardness of heart remain
concealed from Qurtubi and his followers? And also remained concealed that this
weak fabrication, which is weaker than web of spider, is spun by politics in order
to remove difficulties present there.
So, they said: Umar bin Khattab lost his mind, and he was remote from
madness – in order to justify his denial of demise of Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) and
say: This denial was because of that calamity and confusion as mentioned
before.3 And they degraded Ali (a.s.) to prepare an excuse of his refusal to give
allegiance and made Uthman dumb, because he did not utter a word at that time.
In addition to this, a standard, which Qurtubi has mentioned in valor,
demands that Caliph be braver than Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.), because at the
demise of Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.), nothing more is narrated from Abu Bakr
than the fact that he removed the cloth from the face of Prophet, kissed his face,
wept and said:
“You are pure in life and death.”4
Whereas Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.), at the death of Uthman bin Mazun, did
more than that and also fell down three times on the bier; he kissed him and wept
and his eyes were filled with tears and his tears flowed on his cheeks and he
wailed.5
And how vast is the difference between Uthman bin Mazun and chief of
humanity and soul of creatures and how much is the difference between these two
calamities!
Also, the criterion of Qurtubi would make it necessary for Umar bin Khattab
to be braver than Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.), because His Eminence was much
distressed at the passing away of Zainab and he wept much, but on that day,
Umar – as was mentioned6 – lashed the ladies lamenting on Zainab, what to say
that he was affected by that calamity?
Before all this, it is necessary to pay attention to the report, which senior
Ahle Sunnat scholars have narrated through Ibne Umar who says:
“The cause of Abu Bakr’s death was the passing away of Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.); as he continuously grieved and finally died.”
And it is mentioned in the words of Qirmani that:
“He continuously lost weight till he died.”7
As if this tradition remained concealed from Qurtubi and Halabi. Now, with
attention to this report, we conclude that Abu Bakr was like Abdullah bin Anis
and that both of them died at the shock of the passing away of Messenger of
Allah (s.a.w.a.) and no one else is said to have died because of the passing away
of His Eminence except these two, and this is the proof of the weakness of their
heart at the time of confronting a calamity; thus, these two, if they are weighed in
the criterion of Qurtubi and that balance has a rod, they were the most timid of
the companions.
At the end of this exaggeration regarding valor of Caliph and regarding him
as most valiant of companions is a report, which Ahle Sunnat have attributed to
Ibne Masud:
“The first to assist Islam through the sword were Muhammad, Abu Bakr and Zubair bin Awwam.”8
And also a report attributed to Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.): “If Abu Bakr Siddiq was not there, Islam would have been destroyed.”9
Allamah Amini says: Eyes have not seen this sword held by the Caliph.
I don’t know with what specialty of Caliph did Islam survive. Was it by this valor? Or by his knowledge, whose level we have seen?
Then have positive imagination and don’t inquire about this report!