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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Did Abu Bakr Really Lead The Salat? An Exclusive “Merit”? ======================== Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah (d.
728 H) says: وكان إذا سافر عن المدينة استخلف من يستخلفه يصلي بالمسلمين كما استخلف ابن أم مكتوم تارة وعليا تارة في الصلاة واستخلف غيرهما تارة فأما في حال غيبته ومرضه فلم يستخلف إلا أبا بكر لا عليا ولا غيره واستخلافه للصديق في الصلاة متواتر ثابت في الصحاح والسنن والمساند من غير وجه Whenever he (the Prophet) left Madinah on a journey, he would appoint a khalifah (to govern the city on his behalf).
Whoever he appointed as a khalifah would lead the Muslims in salat , as he once made Ibn Umm Maktum a khalifah , and also ‘Ali once, to lead the salat . He equally appointed others apart from them both as khalifahs at other times. However, during his absence or illness, he never appointed anyone as khalifah except Abu Bakr – neither ‘Ali nor anyone else.
And his appointment of al-Siddiq as khalifah to lead salat is mutawatir , and authentically narrated in the Sahih books, and the Sunan books, and the Musnad books through many routes.[^1] Basically, our Shaykh confesses to the following points: Abu Bakr was NOT the first or the only to lead Muslims in salat in the mosque of the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alaihi wa alihi , in Madinah.
Amir al-Muminin ‘Ali, ‘alaihi al-salam , and Ibn Umm Maktum, raḍiyallahu ‘anhu , were among those Sahabah, raḍiyallahu ‘anhum , who also led the Muslims in salat in that mosque on the order of the Messenger of Allah. But, our Shaykh then proceeds to make some garbled remarks: i. Abu Bakr was the only one ever deputized to lead salat in the mosque of the Prophet during his absence from Madinah. ii.
He was also the only one ever commanded to lead the salat in that mosque during the Messenger’s illness. Somehow, Ibn Taymiyyah thinks that these were “ exclusive merits” of his first khalifah , Abu Bakr. But, when the Messenger of Allah appointed Imam ‘Ali, Ibn Umm Maktum and others as khalifahs over his Madinah, was he then not also “absent” from the city?!
The Shaykh himself answers: وكان إذا سافر عن المدينة استخلف من يستخلفه يصلي بالمسلمين Whenever he (the Prophet) LEFT MADINAH on a journey, he would appoint a khalifah (to govern the city on his behalf). Whoever he appointed as a khalifah would lead the Muslims in Salat With this admission, one wonders: on what basis then was Abu Bakr the only one ever appointed khalifah to lead salat in Madinah during the Prophet’s absence ?