What Imam Ali said about Abu Bakr's Caliphate

لَمْ تَكُنْ بَيْعَتُكُمْ إِيَّايَ فَلْتَةً (1) ، وَلَيْسَ أَمْرِي وَأَمْرُكُمْ وَاحِداً. إِنِّي أُرِيدُكُمْ لِلَّهِِ وَأَنْتُمْ تُرِيدُونَنِي لِأَنْفُسِكُمْ.

أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ، أَعِينُوني عَلى أَنْفُسِكُمْ، وَايْمُ اللهِ لَأٌنْصِفَنَّ الْمَظْلُومَ، مِنْ ظَالِمِهِ, وَلَأَقُودَنَّ الظَّالِمَ بِخِزَامَتِهِ  حَتَّى أُورِدَهُ مَنْهَلَ الْحَقِّ وَإِنْ كَانَ كَارِهاً.

Your allegiance to me was not without thinking ⁽²⁾ nor is my and your position the same. I seek you for Allah's sake but you seek me for your own benefits. O' people! support me despite your heart's desires. By Allah I will take revenge for the oppressed from the oppressor and will put a string in the nose of the oppressor and drag him to the spring of truthfulness even though he may grudge it.

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Here Amir almu'minin points to the view of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab which he had on the allegiance of Abu Bakr on the day of Saqifah when he said: " . . . let me clarify this to you that the allegiance with Abu Bakr was a mistake and without thinking (faltah) but Allah saved us from its evil. Therefore whoever (intends to) acts like this you must kill him. . ." (as-Sahih al-Bukhari vol. 8 p. 211; as-Sirah an-Nabawiyyah Ibn Hisham vol. 4 pp. 308309; at-Tarikh at-Tabari vol. l p. l822; al-Kamil Ibn al-Athir vol. 2 p. 327; at-Tarikh Ibn Kathir vol. 5 pp. 245246; al-Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal vol. l p. 55; as-Sirah al-Halabiyyah vol. 3 pp. 388 392; al-Ansab al-Baladhuri vol. 5 p. l5; at-Tamhid al-Baqilani p. l96; ash-Sharh Ibn Abi'l-Hadid vol. 2 p. 23)

• Nahjul Balagha Sermon 135, as per the booking of Ansariyaan Publications.