Just as [the Prophet] worried for his own prophethood he...

Just as [the Prophet] worried for his own prophethood he also worried for [Abū Bakr’s] caliphate. A fugitive who is fleeing from evil and goes into hiding does not intend to ask someone else for help. Thus, when the Messenger [of Allah] went to the cave—while he did not expect anyone to help him—it is clear that his intention was to take Abū Bakr to the cave like we explained.

On the other hand, he ordered `Alī to sleep in his bed, because he did not care much about him and did not bother about him and because he knew that even if `Alī was killed, there would be others who could replace him.” (Sa`d continued), I answered a number of his questions but he refuted all of them. He then said, “O Sa`d! I have another argument that will cripple you heretics. You believe that the Truthful [i.e. Abū Bakr], who was pure from doubt and skepticism, and Fārūq [i.e.

`Umar], who was the protector of Islam, were both hypocrites. You cite the incident of the Night of `Aqaba[^4] to prove your point. Alright, tell me, did Abū Bakr and `Umar accept Islam willingly or out of coercion?” I talked my way out of this question because I feared being tied down by it. If I said that they had willingly accepted Islam, then he would say that hypocrisy can only occur and grow in the heart, only when the winds of subjugation and defeat start blowing [i.e.

someone becomes a hypocrite if they are forced to accept Islam], and when extreme and burdensome difficulties force someone to utter what he does not believe in his heart. As Allah, the Exalted, says, “But when they saw Our might, they said, ‘We believe in Allah alone and we deny what we used to associate with Him.’ But their faith had no benefit for them once they had seen Our might.

”[^5] And if I had said that they believed out of coercion, then he would have answered that there were no swords there to frighten them into [accepting Islam]. I managed to wriggle out of this situation but I was swelling with rage and my heart was crumbling with grief. I had written in a scroll more than forty such difficult questions—for which I could find no answer to. I intended to ask these questions from Aḥmad b.

Isḥāq—the most learned person of our city—who was also one of the companions of Imam Abū Muḥammad, peace be on him. He had left on a journey to visit our master at Sāmarrā and I went after him. After I caught up with him and we greeted each other he asked me, “You have come to meet me [here!].