He went inside, removed the cloth from the face of the Prophet (a.

He went inside, removed the cloth from the face of the Prophet (a.s), went out, and talked with `Umar for a while, and then addressed the people thus: “One who worships Allah must know that Allah is immortal and those who worshipped Muhammad (a.s) should know that Muhammad (a.s) has expired. Then he recited this Verse, ‘Muhammad (a.s) is only a prophet of Allah. Before him, there were prophets who have gone. If he dies, or is assassinated, you will turn to infidelity.

And those who turn back they cannot harm Allah in any way. And Allah will soon Reward the grateful.’”[1] When `Umar heard this Verse from the mouth of Abū-Bakr, he expressed surprise and said: “Is it a Verse from the Holy Qur’an? I did not know that it is a Verse from the Qur’an. Then he added, ‘O people! This is Abū-Bakr who has ascendance over the Muslims! Owe allegiance to him!

Owe allegiance to him!”[2] `Umar who was insisting that the Prophet (a.s) was not dead a while ago accepts the fact hearing the Verse from the mouth of Abū-Bakr. Seeing this sudden change in his attitude, a doubt rises in the mind that whether `Umar really believed that the Prophet (a.s) was alive and not dead. If so, did he get the idea only after hearing that the Prophet (a.s) was no more?

If his belief was such, while obstructing the Prophet’s call for pen and paper for writing his will, he could have said that wills are made only by mortal human beings and the Prophet (a.s) was immortal and he did not need to make a will! Instead of this, he said that the Prophet (a.s) was in a state of delirium and he might utter insensible words as his will!

A while ago, he was an adamantly [1] Tārīkh al-Tabarī, Vol 2, Page 443 [2] Al-Bidāyah wan-Nihāyah, Vol 5, Page 242 denying the Prophet’s death and now changed his stance and said: “By Allah! I decided to say what I said because of this Verse:’ in the same way We have made you the Middle Ummah that you bear witness to the people and the Prophet (a.s) a witness over you!’ By Allah!

I had the feeling that the prophet (a.s) will remain with his Ummah until the end to bear witness over them!”[1] Then he had seen the Prophet (a.s) struggling between life and death, and now he had seen that the Prophet (a.s) had no signs of life in his body. There were wails rising from the house and the people were expressing sadness over the demise.