Who is more deserving of the Caliphate than you who have...

Who is more deserving of the Caliphate than you who have rendered yeoman service to the Faith! Therefore rise and make your hold tight over the Caliphate!” All the participants appreciated his talk and said that they would support him to become the Caliph. If this was only the matter of the Ansar, they could have finalized the bay`ah and decided immediately. But there was a fear that if the Muhajirūn opposed the move, there would be unnecessary conflict.

Therefore, after the speech of Sa`d ibn `Abadah the question arose that if the Muhajirūn did not agree with them, then how would the problem be resolved? Some suggested that if they do not agree then they could opt for one emir from each side. Sa`d said that this is the weakness of the Ansar. He said that if there was solidarity in their thoughts they would never have suggested sharing power with the Muhajirūn and would decide the matter before the other side thought of the bay`ah .

Although the people of Aws too were present at this conclave, they were there just as observers. They also wanted to give others a feeling that the Ansar were not divided. But in their hearts, they still carried a grudge against the Khazraj. They had even fought a bloody battle, known as the Battle of Bu`ath, that was fought just before the advent of Islam to their area.

Although Islam paved the way for peace and amity between them, and to a major extent removed the hostility between the two groups, but the human failing always maintained a sort of distance between them. Therefore, at this time too, some men of Aws carried the message about the conclave to `Umar. `Umar was disturbed with this news and, accompanied by a couple of cohorts, went to the Saqifah to disrupt the conclave.

Ibn al-Athir writes: “When `Umar heard this news he came to the place of the Prophet (a.s) where Abū-Bakr was present. He sent word to Abū-Bakr to come out for a while. He said that he was busy with the Prophet (a.s). `Umar sent word that some accident had happened and his coming out was important. Therefore, Abū-Bakr came out and he was informed of the event.

Both of them took Abū-`Ubaydah along and proceeded fast towards the quarters of the Ansar.”[1] `Umar thought it necessary to inform Abū-Bakr about the conclave of the Ansar. This was not a personal or individual affair and concerned the entire Ummah.