241 H) also documents that the Messenger of Allah had said...

241 H) also documents that the Messenger of Allah had said: ان أمن الناس على في صحبته وماله أبو بكر ولو كنت متخذا من الناس خليلا غير ربي لاتخذت أبا بكر ولكن إخوة الإسلام أو مودته لا يبقى باب في المسجد الا سد الا باب أبي بكر The one among mankind who has conferred upon me the most FAVOURS with his company and his money is Abu Bakr. If I were to choose from mankind a friend ( khalil ) other than my Lord, I would have chosen Abu Bakr as a friend ( khalil ).

However, the Islamic brotherhood or his kindness is enough. Close all the DOORS in the mosque except the DOOR of Abu Bakr.[^3] Shaykh al-Arnaut comments: صحيح وهذا إسناد حسن It is sahih , and this chain is hasan . ^4 Imam al-Tirmidhi (d. 279 H) seals it: حدثنا محمد بن حميد حدثنا إبراهيم بن المختار عن إسحق بن راشد عن الزهري عن عروة عن عائشة أن النبي صلى الله عليه و سلم أمر بسد الأبواب إلا باب أبي بكر Muhammad b. Hamid – Ibrahim b. al-Mukhtar – Ishaq b.

Rashid – al-Zuhri – ‘Urwah – ‘Aishah: The Prophet, peace be upon him, ordered the closure of the doors except the DOOR of Abu Bakr.[^5] ‘Allamah al-Albani (d. 1420 H) says: صحيح Sahih ^6 Of course, a “wicket” is an entirely different thing from a “door”! So, what exactly did the Prophet mention? Was it a wicket or a door? Moreover, what instruction did he give exactly? Destruction or removal of wickets? Closure of wickets? Or, closure of doors?

These are fundamental inconsistencies in these reports of the same hadith , and this only suggests that they were mere “rushed” polemical arts. Worse still, the hadith assumes that people used to do “favours” to the Messenger of Allah with their company and their wealth. But, what is a favour? It is an act of kindness that is performed beyond what is due or normal, to which the beneficiary is NOT entitled at all by right .

If the beneficiary is entitled to it by right, then it is no longer a “favour”. So, if we accepted the hadith cited by our Shaykh, we must conclude that the Prophet had no right to the company of his Sahabah! Rather, they only kept him company out of their magnanimity to him. As such, it was something he should be thanking them all for, especially Abu Bakr who supposedly did the most “favours” in this regard!

The Qur’an, however, has directly refuted all that: يمنون عليك أن أسلموا قل لا تمنوا علي إسلامكم بل الله يمن عليكم أن هداكم للإيمان إن كنتم صادقين They regard as a favour upon you (O Muhammad) that they have embraced Islam. Say: “ Count NOT your Islam as a favour upon me.