Ḍam’aj – Abu Mas’ud...

Ḍam’aj – Abu Mas’ud: The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: “ No one can lead a man in salat in his place of authority , and no one can sit in his place of honour except with his permission.”[^5] Al-Tirmidhi says: هذا حديث حسن صحيح This hadith is hasan sahih ^6 ‘Allamah al-Albani (d. 1420 H) also comments: صحيح Sahih ^7 Imam al-Nasai (d.

303 H) also documents: أخبرنا إبراهيم بن محمد التيمي قال حدثنا يحيى بن سعيد عن شعبة عن إسماعيل بن رجاء عن أوس بن ضمعج عن أبي مسعود قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم لا يؤم الرجل في سلطانه ولا يجلس على تكرمته إلا بإذنه Ibrahim b. Muhammad al-Taymi – Yahya b. Sa’id – Shu’bah – Isma’il b. Raja – Aws b.

Ḍam’aj – Abu Mas’ud: The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: “ No one can lead a man in salat in his place of authority , and no one can sit in his place of honour except with his permission.”[^8] And ‘Allamah al-Albani declares again: صحيح Sahih ^9 So, if the Prophet of Allah was really still the amir of the Muslims at that moment , then Abu Bakr was further disqualified from ever leading him in salat !

Whoever insists that Abu Bakr was his Imam is telling us that he (the Messenger) had lost authority over Madinah. Meanwhile, the authority of the Prophet was, and still is, tied to his risalah , among others. As such, if he had lost authority over Madinah, then he must have lost all his divine ranks. The direct implication of this is – the only way Abu Bakr could have been the Prophet’s Imam was if the latter was no longer a messenger of Allah, at the least!

Therefore, whoever claims that Abu Bakr led him in salat has thereby rejected his (i.e. the Prophet’s) risalah ! There is simply no second way to it. In other ahadith , the Messenger of Allah mentions some other conditions with farther reaching implications.

Imam Muslim records: وحدثنا أبو بكر بن أبي شيبة وأبو سعيد الأشج كلاهما عن أبي خالد قال أبو بكر حدثنا أبو خالد الأحمر عن الأعمش عن إسماعيل بن رجاء عن أوس بن ضمعج عن أبي مسعود الأنصاري قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم يؤم القوم أقرؤهم لكتاب الله فإن كانوا في القراءة سواء فأعلمهم بالسنة فإن كانوا في السنة سواء فأقدمهم هجرة فإن كانوا في الهجرة سواء فأقدمهم سلما ولا يؤمن الرجل الرجل في سلطانه ولا يقعد في بيته على تكرمته إلا بإذنه Abu Bakr b.

Abi Shaybah and Abu Sa’id al-Ashja’ – Abu Khalid: Abu Bakr – Abu Khalid al-Ahmar – al-A’mash – Isma’il b. Raja – Aws b.