The tone of the above argumentation reveals that the...

The tone of the above argumentation reveals that the position of Imamate is not taken seriously and only the usual government is meant. This therefore suggests that since Abu Bakr has been chosen to carry out the prayer, therefore he is suitable to be the Prophet's successor. This statement reveals the fact that such a view equals the meaning of government with the position of an Islamic leader.

However the Prophet's caliph should possess certain spiritual positions which do not exist in a usual governor. If the Prophet had approved of Abu Bakr being the prayer leader then why did the Prophet enter the mosque to perform a prayer while he was extremely ill and had to be carried with the assistance of Ali (as) and Fazl Ibn Abbass and stood next to Abu Bakr to perform the prayer?

Such an action on his part was incompatible with his appointment of Abu Bakr for the position as the prayer leader. Some narrations indicate that Abu Bakr had been appointed more than once to perform the congregation prayer. However, this is hard to believe since the Prophet had appointed Usamah Ibn Zayd as the flag bearer in the war against Romans and had ordered everyone to attend the army and had cursed those who did not want to join the army[^3].

Then how could the Prophet ever allow Abu Bakr to carry out the prayer. Both historians and narrators have accepted that while Abu Bakr wished to act as a prayer leader, the Prophet addressed Abu Bakr's daughter, Ayeshah telling her:” فإنكنَّ صواحب يوسف ” meaning “you are like those Egyptian women who were gathering around Joseph. “ Now, let us see what the Prophet had meant by this statement.

This sentence implies that Ayeshah had committed a treason, in the same way that the Egyptian women had done so in encouraging Zulaykha to betray her husband. The treason that we might imagine done by Ayeshah in this case was her message to her father that the Prophet had consented with Abu Bakr being the prayer leader. The Sunnite scholars have another interpretation for this statement by the Prophet. They say: the Prophet insisted on Abu Bakr's performance of the prayer.

But, they continue to say, Ayeshah was against the idea saying people might interpret such an action as a sign of the Prophet's death approaching. Now, is this interpretation of the Sunnite scholars compatible with the Prophet's presence at the mosque while he was extremely ill? I ask readers to judge the validity of such an interpretation. [^1]: . Tarikh Tabari, vol. 3, p. 234.