And you, the fugitives from Makkah, are a mere handful of men.

And you, the fugitives from Makkah, are a mere handful of men. But we know that you want to seize the government of Medina, and you want to exclude us from it.” (Tabari and Ibn Atheer) This is a revealing statement. It means that the Muhajireen were drawing up plans to grab power, and the gathering of the Ansar in Saqifa was only a response to their gambit. When Thabit bin Qays made his disclosure, no one of the three Muhajireen contradicted him.

Umar says that when Thabit bin Qays sat down, he rose to say something appropriate. “I had prepared a very good speech anticipating an occasion just like this,” he said. (Tarikh-ul-Khulafa). This is admission by Umar himself that he had made elaborate preparations beforehand to meet every contingency. But Abu Bakr restrained him, and himself rose to address the Ansar. He said: “There is no doubt that God sent Muhammad with the true Faith and with the light of His religion.

He (Muhammad) therefore, invited people to God's religion. We were the first to respond to his call. We were the first to accept Islam. Whoever accepted Islam after us, followed our lead. Furthermore, we are related to the Apostle of God, and we are the noblest of all Arabs in blood and country. There is no tribe that does not acknowledge the ascendancy of the Quraysh. And you, the Ansar, are those who gave sanctuary and who helped. You are our brothers in faith.

We love you and respect you more than any other people. But the leaders must be from the Quraysh. We shall be the rulers and you shall be the wazirs. You should not be jealous of us. You have helped us in the past, and now you ought not to be the first to oppose us. I call upon you to give your pledge of loyalty to one of these two men, Umar or Abu Obaida.

I have chosen both of them for this purpose; both of them deserve this honor, and both of them are qualified for the position of the Amir.” Muhammad Husayn Haykal Umar and Abu Bakr came to the courtyard of Banu Saidah. Joined by a number of Muhajirun, they took their seats in the assembly. Soon, a speaker rose and addressed the Ansar as follows: “All praise and thanks belong to Allah. We are al-Ansar, i.e., the Helpers of God and we are the army of Islam.

You, the Muhajireen, are merely a small group in the army. Nevertheless, you are trying to deprive us of our right of leadership.” Actually, for the Ansar, it was an old complaint, even in the lifetime of the Prophet.