There was use of bad words from that side also, and the position began to worsen.

There was use of bad words from that side also, and the position began to worsen. On seeing this Abu `Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah spoke with the intention of cooling down ansar and to win them over to his side and said: "O' ansar ! You are the people who supported us and helped us in every manner. Do not now change your ways and do not give up your behaviour." But the ansar refused to change their mind.

They were prepared to swear allegiance to Sa`d and people just wanted to approach him when a man of Sa`d's tribe Bashir ibn `Amr al-Khazraji stood up and said: "No doubt we came forward for jihad, and gave support to the religion, but our aim in doing thus was to please Allah and to obey His Prophet. It does not behove us to claim superiority and create trouble in the matter of the caliphate.

Muhammad (S) was from Quraysh and they have a greater right for it, and are more appropriate for it." As soon as Bashir uttered these words division occurred among the ansar, and this was his aim, because he could not see a man of his own tribe rising so high. The muhajirun took the best advantage of this division among the ansar, and `Umar and Abu `Ubaydah decided to swear allegiance to Abu Bakr.

They had just got forward for the act when Bashir first of all put his hand on that of Abu Bakr and after that `Umar and Abu `Ubaydah swore the allegiance. Then the people of Bashir's tribe came and swore allegiance, and trampled Sa`d ibn `Ubadah under their feet. During this time Amir al-mu'minin was occupied in the funeral bath and burial of the Prophet.

When afterwards he heard about the assemblage at the Saqifah and he came to know that the muhajirun had won the score over ansar by pleading themselves to be from the tribe of the Prophet he uttered the fine sentence that then argued on the lineal tree being one but spoiled its fruits, who are the members of his family. That is, if muhajirun's claim was acceded for being from the lineal tree of the Prophet, how can those who are the fruits of this tree be ignored?

It is strange that Abu Bakr who connects with the Prophet in the seventh generation above and `Umar who connects with him in the ninth generation above may be held of the tribe and family of the Prophet and he who was his first cousin, he is refused the status of a brother. Previous…