Rather...

Rather, Allah has conferred a favour upon you , that He has guided you to the Faith, if you are truthful”.[^7] So, the Islam of Abu Bakr – the obligations of which [if genuine] would certainly have included his spendings in the Way of Allah and his companionship – was never a favour upon the Messenger of Allah! By contrast, it was the Prophet who had done favour to him by giving him guidance and his own blessed company.

This is further indicated in this verse: لقد من الله على المؤمنين إذ بعث فيهم رسولا من أنفسهم يتلو عليهم آياته ويزكيهم ويعلمهم الكتاب والحكمة وإن كانوا من قبل لفي ضلال مبين Indeed, Allah has conferred a favour upon the believers when He sent among them a Messenger from among themselves , reciting unto them His Verses, and purifying them, and teaching them the Book and wisdom, while before that they had been in manifest misguidance.[^8] Therefore, there is no doubt about it.

The Prophet of Allah was the one doing the favour, on behalf of Him, to Abu Bakr and the other Sahabah. It was never the other way round. No Muslim ever did a single favour to the Messenger. The Qur’an is very explicit about this. Honestly, it is also a grave insult to the office of nubuwwah to suggest that Abu Bakr was doing a “favour” to the Prophet by keeping him company! There is even an element of blasphemy in it.

If Abu Bakr was the one conferring a “favour” upon the Prophet – and not the other way round – through his company, does this not suppose that the former was the superior party? The “favour” of companionship is conferred only by masters. Subordinates serve their superiors through their companionship, while friends exercise it as a duty of their bond, and never as a “favour”.

The third fatal problem with the report of Abu Sa’id – which is far more serious - is that it presupposes that the Prophet did not have any khalil (friend) among his followers – not even a single one! That indeed is extremely weird! A khalil is a friend or companion whom you love and who loves you ! So, the Messenger of Allah did not have a single friend or companion among the Muslims whom he loved, and who loved him?! Is that not a very reckless submission?

The truth however is that all pious people are akhilla (plural of khalil ) of one another. Each loves all the others, and is loved by them. Allah says: الأخلاء يومئذ بعضهم لبعض عدو إلا المتقين Friends ( akhilla , plural of khalil ) on that Day will be foes one to another, except the pious .[^9] Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir (d.