a brief review of the conversations and debates of the ansar and the muhajireen in saqifa bani saedeh

At the beginning of the discussion, one might wonder how many Muslims gathered at the Saqifah of Banu Sa’ida? Was there a significant number who entertained such an idea or not?

A Small Gathering for a Big Event!

Although some Sunni sources use expressions like “the Ansar gathered there” and “the emigrants’ assembly” to suggest that the Saqifah meeting involved a large number of Ansar and emigrants, the contemporary German scholar Wilfred Madelung states that only Abu Bakr, Umar, and Abu Ubaidah among the emigrants attended the Saqifah meeting, and it is possible that a few personal attendants, family members, and servants of these three were also present. Some researchers mention the presence of Salim, the freed slave of Abu Hudhaifa, who was one of the first to pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr at the Saqifah, although none of the early authoritative sources mention his presence. Other sources do not mention the presence of other emigrants, even those of intermediate or lower status. Some researchers have explicitly stated that the number of emigrants present at the Saqifah was very small.

The most notable Ansar present at the Saqifah included: Sa’d ibn Ubadah, his son Qais, Bashir ibn Sa’d (Sa’d’s cousin and rival), Asid ibn Hudayr, Thabit ibn Qais, al-Bara’ ibn Azib, and Hubab ibn Mundhir.

Ibn Qutaybah in his book mentions, “If Sa’d ibn Ubadah had found supporters to fight them, he would certainly have fought them,” implying that the gathering of the Ansar at the Saqifah was not large.

What Happened Between the Emigrants and Ansar at the Saqifah?

At the Saqifah, numerous discussions took place between the Ansar present and the emigrants who joined them later, each having its own impact; however, the most significant influence came from the speeches of Abu Bakr and his companions. Some of the conversations during that time are as follows:

Sa’d ibn Ubadah:
He spoke at the beginning of the meeting before Abu Bakr and his companions arrived. Due to his illness, his son conveyed his words to the assembly. The main points he mentioned were:

• Praising the Ansar’s merits, their superiority over other Muslim groups, their services to Islam and the Prophet (PBUH), and the Prophet’s approval of the Ansar at the time of his death.

He argued that the Ansar were more deserving of the succession and urged them to take up the leadership of the Islamic community. He considered the proposal to elect a caliph from both the Ansar and emigrants as a retreat.

Abu Bakr:
His words were decisive in the outcome of the meeting. He spoke several times, summarizing his key points as follows:

• The superiority of the emigrants over the Ansar, including their precedence in accepting the Prophet’s message, their early faith and worship of God, their kinship or friendship with the Prophet (PBUH); the priority of the emigrants for the succession based on these reasons, and the merits and past services of the Ansar, making them more suitable for ministerial roles rather than leadership positions. He discouraged opposition to the succession of the emigrants.

Hubab ibn Mundhir:
He spoke two or three times at the Saqifah, each time stirring the Ansar against the emigrants, especially Abu Bakr and Umar. He also proposed the idea of having a leader from each group once more.

Umar ibn al-Khattab:
He mostly supported Abu Bakr’s speeches and reinforced the same points with arguments such as:

• The inevitability of Arab tribes’ acceptance of the Prophet’s family for leadership, the impossibility of appointing two leaders from each group, based on the argument that two swords cannot fit into one sheath.

Abu Ubaidah al-Jarrah:
He addressed the Ansar, warning them against altering their religion and disrupting the unity of the Muslims.

Bashir ibn Sa’d:
Although he was from the Khazraj tribe and among the Ansar, he supported Abu Bakr and his companions’ arguments multiple times, using terms like fear of God and not opposing a clear and legal right to dissuade the Ansar from opposing the emigrants.

Abdul Rahman ibn Awf:
He reminded of the virtues of individuals like Ali (PBUH), Abu Bakr, and Umar, and pointed out that the Ansar lacked such prominent figures.

Zayd ibn Arqam:
He, being from the Ansar, countered Abu Bakr and Abdul Rahman ibn Awf’s arguments by highlighting the virtues of the Ansar and their leaders, including Sa’d ibn Ubadah, Mu’adh ibn Jabal, Ubayy ibn Ka’b, and Khuzaimah ibn Thabit, and mentioned that Ali (PBUH) possessed all these qualities, suggesting that if he had stepped forward for allegiance, no one would have opposed him.

Outcome of the Discussions and Debates:

According to al-Tabari’s history, Umar ibn al-Khattab said about those moments: “At that moment, the noise and clamor of the attendees grew from every direction, with indistinct words coming from all sides, to the extent that I feared the discord would cause our efforts to collapse. So, I told Abu Bakr: ‘Extend your hand so I can pledge allegiance to you;’ but before Umar’s hand could meet Abu Bakr’s, Bashir ibn Sa’d, a rival of Sa’d ibn Ubadah, took the initiative and pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr.”

Following this event, the crowd at the Saqifah rushed to pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr, to the point that there was a risk that the ailing Sa’d ibn Ubadah might be trampled underfoot.

From this analysis, it can be understood that:

The Saqifah meeting resulted from a gathering of people who had seemingly been anticipating the Prophet’s (PBUH) departure for some time, aiming to secure positions and power in the subsequent government and fulfill their long-held ambitions, which was part of the reason they had embraced Islam in the first place.