Well, al-Hafiz has some more information: وكان ممن انتدب مع...

Well, al-Hafiz has some more information: وكان ممن انتدب مع أسامة كبار المهاجرين والأنصار منهم أبو بكر وعمر وأبو عبيدة وسعد وسعيد وقتادة بن النعمان وسلمة بن أسلم فتكلم في ذلك قوم منهم عياش بن أبي ربيعة المخزومي فرد عليه عمر Among those conscripted with Usamah were senior Muhajirun and Ansar, among them Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, Abu ‘Ubaydah , Sa’d, Sa’id, Qatadah b. al-Nu’man, and Salamah b. Aslam. So, a group criticized that, among them ‘Ayyash b. Abi Rabi’ah al-Makhzumi, and ‘Umar opposed him.

^4 So, the Messenger of Allah deployed Abu Bakr and ‘Umar as ordinary foot soldiers under the command of Usamah, just two days before his death. This is huge indeed.

Elsewhere, al-Hafiz submits further: قال بن سعد ولد أسامة في الاسلام ومات النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم وله عشرون سنة وقال بن أبي خيثمة ثماني عشرة وكان أمره على جيش عظيم Ibn Sa’d said: “Usamah was born during the Islamic era, and the Prophet, peace be upon him, died while he (Usamah) was twenty years old.” Ibn Abi Khaythamah said, “He was eighteen years old” . He (the Prophet) made him the amir (commander) of a huge army.[^5] Usamah was old enough only to be a grandson of Abu Bakr.

He was barely a teenager. Yet, the Messenger of Allah, in his divinely-inspired wisdom, made him the amir over Abu Bakr and ‘Umar. Besides that, Usamah was amir just a few days before the Prophet’s death, during the most serious phase of his fatal illness when he was no longer able to appear in the mosque. The direct implications of this are clear: Abu Bakr and ‘Umar were under the command of Usamah.

Therefore, they both were supposed to be at the army camp, and Usamah was their appointed Imam in salat as long as their deployment lasted. The Messenger never intended either Abu Bakr or ‘Umar to be his khalifah . Otherwise, he would not have sent them away from Madinah during what obviously were his very last days on the earth. The story of Abu Bakr’s leadership of salat in the Prophet’s mosque is false. If Abu Bakr was in Madinah, it was only because he had mutinied from the Islamic army.

Mutineers are never rewarded with any form of leadership in Islam. Understandably, Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah (d.