Response to this article:
https://www.twelvershia.net/2013/11/13/response-to-did-maula-ali-as-offer-prayers-under-the-imamate-of-abu-bakar/
The entire argument is built on one false assumption:
“If Ali prayed behind Abu Bakr, then Abu Bakr’s superiority and caliphate are proven.”
This argument is weak from both Sunni and Shia sources.
Even if Imam Ali physically stood in a prayer congregation behind Abu Bakr, it does not prove Abu Bakr’s superiority, khilafah, or divine legitimacy.
Why?
Because Sunni sources themselves prove that leading prayer does not equal superiority, caliphate, or political legitimacy.
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1. Abu Bakr and Umar prayed behind Salim, the freed slave
Arabic:
كان سالم مولى أبي حذيفة يؤم المهاجرين الأولين وأصحاب النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم في مسجد قباء، فيهم أبو بكر، وعمر، وأبو سلمة، وزيد، وعامر بن ربيعة.
English:
“Salim, the freed slave of Abu Hudhayfah, used to lead the early Muhajirun and the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ in prayer in the mosque of Quba. Among them were Abu Bakr, Umar, Abu Salamah, Zayd, and Amir ibn Rabi‘ah.”
Reference:
Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 7175.
Dorar explanation:
https://dorar.net/hadith/sharh/23108
Point:
If leading prayer proves superiority or caliphate, then Salim should have been superior to Abu Bakr and Umar, and Salim should have been their caliph.
Nobody believes that.
So the argument collapses.
==============================
2. The Prophet ﷺ prayed behind Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf
Arabic:
فأقبلت معه حتى نجد الناس قد قدموا عبد الرحمن بن عوف، فصلى لهم فأدرك رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إحدى الركعتين، فصلى مع الناس الركعة الآخرة.
English:
“I came with him until we found that the people had put forward Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, and he led them in prayer. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ caught one of the two rak‘ahs and prayed the last rak‘ah with the people.”
Another wording:
Arabic:
فلما أحس بالنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ذهب يتأخر، فأومأ إليه، فصلى بهم.
English:
“When Abd al-Rahman sensed the Prophet ﷺ, he began to move back, but the Prophet ﷺ gestured to him to remain, and he led them.”
Reference:
Sahih Muslim, Hadith 274.
Dorar explanation:
https://dorar.net/hadith/sharh/26596
Point:
Did Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf become superior to the Prophet ﷺ because the Prophet ﷺ prayed behind him?
Of course not.
Therefore, praying behind someone does not prove superiority.
==============================
3. Uthman allowed prayer behind an “imam of fitnah”
Arabic:
دخل على عثمان بن عفان رضي الله عنه وهو محصور، فقال: إنك إمام عامة، ونزل بك ما نرى، ويصلي لنا إمام فتنة ونتحرج.
فقال عثمان:
الصلاة أحسن ما يعمل الناس، فإذا أحسن الناس فأحسن معهم، وإذا أساؤوا فاجتنب إساءتهم.
English:
A man entered upon Uthman while he was besieged and said:
“You are the general imam, and what has happened to you has happened, while an imam of fitnah leads us in prayer, and we feel uneasy.”
Uthman replied:
“Prayer is the best thing people do. If people do good, then do good with them; and if they do evil, then avoid their evil.”
Reference:
Sahih al-Bukhari, Chapter: “The leadership in prayer of one in fitnah and an innovator.”
IslamWeb:
https://www.islamweb.net/ar/library/content/0/664/باب-إمامة-المفتون-والمبتدع
Point:
Uthman did not say:
“If he leads prayer, he is superior.”
He did not say:
“His prayer-imamate proves his political legitimacy.”
He said:
If they do good, join the good. If they do evil, avoid their evil.
So praying behind someone does not equal endorsing his legitimacy.
==============================
4. Sahih al-Bukhari: if the imam is wrong, your prayer is still valid for you
Arabic:
يصلون لكم، فإن أصابوا فلكم ولهم، وإن أخطؤوا فلكم وعليهم.
English:
“They lead prayer for you. If they are correct, then it is for you and for them; and if they make mistakes, then it is for you and against them.”
Reference:
Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 694.
Dorar explanation:
https://dorar.net/hadith/sharh/8666
Point:
This proves that a follower’s prayer can be valid even if the imam is wrong.
So prayer behind someone cannot be used as proof of his superiority, righteousness, khilafah, or divine authority.
==============================
5. Sunni fiqh: prayer behind a sinner or innovator can still be valid
Ibn Baz quotes the Sunni principle:
Arabic:
ولو صلى خلف مبتدع يدعو إلى بدعته أو فاسق ظاهر الفسق وهو الإمام الراتب الذي لا يمكنه الصلاة إلا خلفه... فإن المأموم يصلي خلفه عند عامة السلف والخلف.
English:
“If he prays behind an innovator who calls to his innovation, or behind a person openly sinful, when he is the regular imam and one cannot pray except behind him… then the follower prays behind him according to the generality of the Salaf and Khalaf.”
Reference:
Ibn Baz, fatwa on praying behind innovators and sinners.
https://binbaz.org.sa/fatwas/3206/هل-يصح-صلاة-الجمعة-والجماعة-خلف-المبتدع
Point:
If Sunni fiqh allows prayer behind a fasiq or innovator in certain circumstances, then using “Ali prayed behind Abu Bakr” as proof of Abu Bakr’s superiority is logically invalid.
Prayer behind someone does not prove approval of his actions.
==============================
6. Bukhari also mentions prayer behind a mukhannath only in necessity
Arabic:
وقال الزبيدي: قال الزهري: لا نرى أن يصلى خلف المخنث إلا من ضرورة لا بد منها.
English:
al-Zubaydi said that al-Zuhri said:
“We do not hold that prayer should be performed behind a mukhannath except due to unavoidable necessity.”
Reference:
Sahih al-Bukhari, Chapter: “The leadership in prayer of one in fitnah and an innovator.”
IslamWeb:
https://www.islamweb.net/ar/library/content/0/664/باب-إمامة-المفتون-والمبتدع
Important note:
“Mukhannath” here means an effeminate man or one resembling women. It is not automatically the same as the modern word “homosexual.”
The point is simple:
Sunni sources discuss prayer behind morally or socially problematic people in necessity, without making them superior or legitimate leaders.
==============================
7. The Bukhari narration used by the article does not even say Ali prayed behind Abu Bakr
The article quotes the story where Abu Bakr carried Imam Hasan.
Arabic:
رأيت أبا بكر رضي الله عنه وحمل الحسن وهو يقول: بأبي شبيه بالنبي، ليس شبيه بعلي. وعلي يضحك.
English:
“I saw Abu Bakr carrying al-Hasan and saying: ‘May my father be sacrificed for him; he resembles the Prophet, not Ali,’ while Ali was laughing.”
Reference:
Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3750.
Point:
Where does this say Ali prayed behind Abu Bakr?
It does not.
Some expanded versions say Abu Bakr came out after Asr prayer and Ali was walking beside him.
Still, that does not say:
Ali prayed behind Abu Bakr.
It does not say:
Ali followed Abu Bakr in prayer.
It does not say:
Ali accepted Abu Bakr’s imamate.
The article turns “Ali was walking beside Abu Bakr after prayer” into “Ali accepted Abu Bakr’s prayer leadership.”
That is not evidence.
That is assumption.
==============================
8. Shia fiqh: physical attendance does not mean real following
Wasail al-Shi‘ah has a chapter titled:
Arabic:
باب استحباب حضور الجماعة خلف من لا يقتدى به للتقية والقيام في الصف الأول معه.
English:
“Chapter: The recommendation of attending congregational prayer behind one who is not followed, due to taqiyyah, and standing with him in the first row.”
Reference:
al-Hurr al-‘Amili, Wasail al-Shi‘ah, vol. 5, p. 381.
Eshia Library:
https://lib.eshia.ir/11024/5/381
Point:
This is very clear.
A person may physically stand in a congregation behind someone while not truly following him.
==============================
9. Imam al-Sadiq says: “even though you do not follow them”
Arabic:
يحسب لك إذا دخلت معهم وإن كنت لا تقتدي بهم مثل ما يحسب لك، إذا كنت مع من تقتدي به.
English:
“It is counted for you when you enter with them, even though you do not follow them, just as it is counted for you when you are with one whom you do follow.”
Reference:
Wasail al-Shi‘ah, vol. 5, p. 381.
Also cited through the al-Kafi route.
Eshia Library:
https://lib.eshia.ir/11024/5/381
The key phrase is:
وإن كنت لا تقتدي بهم
“Even though you do not follow them.”
Point:
This destroys the polemical claim.
Being physically in the congregation is not proof of accepting the imam.
==============================
10. Imam al-Baqir explains the same principle
Arabic:
فقال له: لا تدع الصلاة معهم وخلف كل إمام.
فلما خرج قلت له: جعلت فداك كبر علي قولك لهذا الرجل حين استفتاك، فإن لم يكونوا مؤمنين؟
قال: فضحك عليه السلام ثم قال: ما أريك بعد إلا هيهنا، يا زرارة فأية علة تريد أعظم من أنه لا يأتم به.
English:
The Imam told the man:
“Do not leave prayer with them and behind every imam.”
When the man left, Zurara said:
“May I be your ransom, your statement to this man was difficult for me when he asked you, since they are not believers.”
The Imam smiled and said:
“O Zurara, what greater excuse do you want than that he does not truly follow him?”
Reference:
Wasail al-Shi‘ah, vol. 5, p. 300, citing al-Kafi 3:372/5.
Ahlulbayt Library:
https://ablibrary.net/book_content/5519/300
Point:
Physical prayer behind them can happen, but real iqtida is absent.
This is exactly the principle needed here.
==============================
11. Shia report: pray your real obligatory prayer first, then pray with them as taqiyyah
Arabic:
ما منكم أحد يصلي صلاة فريضة في وقتها ثم يصلي معهم صلاة تقية وهو متوضأ إلا كتب الله له بها خمسا وعشرين درجة فارغبوا في ذلك.
English:
“None of you prays an obligatory prayer at its proper time, then prays with them a prayer of taqiyyah while in wudu, except that Allah writes twenty-five ranks for him because of it. So desire that.”
Reference:
Wasail al-Shi‘ah, vol. 5, p. 383.
Eshia Library:
https://lib.eshia.ir/11024/5/383
Point:
Shia fiqh distinguishes between:
1. Real obligatory prayer.
2. Outward prayer with opponents due to taqiyyah.
So if Ali ever stood behind Abu Bakr, Shia methodology can understand that as outward attendance, not real endorsement.
==============================
12. Tafsir al-Qummi: Ali stood behind Abu Bakr but prayed for himself
Arabic sanad:
حدثني أبي عن ابن أبي عمير عن عثمان بن عيسى وحماد بن عثمان عن أبي عبد الله عليه السلام
Arabic text:
ثم قام وتهيأ للصلاة وحضر المسجد ووقف خلف أبي بكر وصلى لنفسه وخالد بن الوليد إلى جنبه ومعه السيف.
English:
“Then he rose, prepared for prayer, came to the mosque, stood behind Abu Bakr, and prayed for himself, while Khalid ibn al-Walid was beside him with the sword.”
Reference:
Tafsir al-Qummi, under Qur’an 30:38.
GreatTafsirs:
https://www.greattafsirs.com/Tafsir_Library.aspx?AyahNo=38&LanguageID=1&MadhabNo=4&QuranAyat_Home=1&SoraNo=30&TafsirNo=38
Point:
The article wants to use this narration to prove Ali prayed behind Abu Bakr.
But the same narration says:
وصلى لنفسه
“He prayed for himself.”
It does not say:
He followed Abu Bakr.
It does not say:
He accepted Abu Bakr’s imamate.
It says the opposite:
He prayed for himself.
Important caution:
The attribution of Tafsir al-Qummi is debated by some scholars, so this report should not be the entire foundation of the argument. But if the anti-Shia article quotes it, then it must accept the full wording, not cherry-pick half of it.
==============================
13. Same Tafsir al-Qummi report: Khalid stood beside Ali with a sword
Arabic:
إذا حضر المسجد فقم بجنبه في الصلاة، فإذا أنا سلمت فقم إليه فاضرب عنقه.
English:
“When he attends the mosque, stand beside him in prayer. When I give salam, stand up to him and strike his neck.”
Then:
Arabic:
يا خالد لا تفعل ما أمرتك به.
English:
“O Khalid, do not do what I ordered you to do.”
Reference:
Tafsir al-Qummi, under Qur’an 30:38.
GreatTafsirs:
https://www.greattafsirs.com/Tafsir_Library.aspx?AyahNo=38&LanguageID=1&MadhabNo=4&QuranAyat_Home=1&SoraNo=30&TafsirNo=38
Point:
The article cannot use this narration only for “Ali stood behind Abu Bakr” while ignoring:
Ali prayed for himself.
Khalid stood with a sword.
The command was allegedly to strike Ali after salam.
Abu Bakr cancelled the order.
Either accept the narration fully or do not use it at all.
==============================
14. Sunni biographical source preserves a related phrase: “Khalid should not do what he was ordered”
Arabic:
وروى عنه حديث أبي بكر رضي الله عنه أنه قال:
لا يفعل خالد ما أمر به.
سألت الشريف عمر بن إبراهيم الحسيني بالكوفة عن معنى هذا الأثر فقال:
كان أمر خالد بن الوليد أن يقتل عليا ثم ندم بعد ذلك فنهى عن ذلك.
English:
“He narrated from him the report of Abu Bakr that he said:
‘Khalid should not do what he was ordered.’
I asked al-Sharif Umar ibn Ibrahim al-Husayni in Kufa about the meaning of this report, and he said:
‘He had ordered Khalid ibn al-Walid to kill Ali, then he regretted it and forbade him from that.’”
Reference:
al-Sam‘ani, al-Ansab, vol. 6, p. 176.
Eshia Library:
https://lib.eshia.ir/40495/6/176
Important caution:
Do not present this as a sahih Sunni hadith. It is a Sunni biographical source preserving a related meaning.
==============================
15. Hasan and Husayn prayed behind Marwan — but that does not make Marwan superior
Arabic:
صلى حسن وحسين خلف مروان ونحن نصلي معهم.
English:
“Hasan and Husayn prayed behind Marwan, and we pray with them.”
Reference:
Wasail al-Shi‘ah, vol. 5, p. 383.
Eshia Library:
https://lib.eshia.ir/11024/5/383
Point:
Nobody can claim Marwan became superior to Imam Hasan and Imam Husayn because they prayed behind him.
So if physical prayer behind someone proves nothing for Marwan, it proves nothing for Abu Bakr either.
==============================
16. Shia report: Ali prayed behind them, but in the context of tolerance/taqiyyah, not legitimacy
Arabic:
سألته عن مناكحتهم والصلاة خلفهم، فقال: هذا أمر شديد لم تستطيعوا ذلك، قد أنكح رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وصلى علي عليه السلام وراءهم.
English:
“I asked him about marrying among them and praying behind them. He said: ‘This is a difficult matter which you are not able to avoid. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ married, and Ali عليه السلام prayed behind them.’”
Reference:
Wasail al-Shi‘ah, vol. 5, p. 383, quoting Nawaadir Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Isa.
Eshia Library:
https://lib.eshia.ir/11024/5/383
Point:
This is placed in the same fiqh context of taqiyyah and outward coexistence.
It does not mean Ali accepted their religious-political legitimacy.
==============================
17. Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim show that relations were not simply “normal”
Sahih al-Bukhari says:
Arabic:
ولم يكن يبايع تلك الأشهر.
English:
“Ali had not given allegiance during those months.”
Reference:
Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 4240/4241.
Sunnah.com:
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:4240
Sahih Muslim says:
Arabic:
ولم يكن بايع تلك الأشهر.
English:
“Ali had not given allegiance during those months.”
Reference:
Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1759a.
Sunnah.com:
https://sunnah.com/muslim:1759a
Point:
If the argument is that Ali praying in the mosque proves everything was normal and accepted, then Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim refute that.
Ali did not give bay‘ah for six months.
Fatimah died angry.
She did not speak to Abu Bakr until death.
Ali buried her at night.
Abu Bakr was not informed.
These are in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.
==============================
Final response
The article’s argument fails from both Sunni and Shia angles.
From Sunni sources:
Abu Bakr and Umar prayed behind Salim, a freed slave.
The Prophet ﷺ prayed behind Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf.
Uthman allowed prayer behind an imam of fitnah.
Bukhari says if the imam is wrong, the follower’s prayer is still valid.
Sunni fiqh allows prayer behind sinful or innovating imams in some circumstances.
Therefore, praying behind someone does not prove superiority, khilafah, or legitimacy.
From Shia sources:
There is a clear difference between physical attendance and real iqtida.
Wasail al-Shi‘ah explicitly has a chapter about attending prayer behind one who is not followed, due to taqiyyah.
Imam al-Sadiq says:
وإن كنت لا تقتدي بهم
“Even though you do not follow them.”
The Tafsir al-Qummi report says Ali stood behind Abu Bakr but:
وصلى لنفسه
“He prayed for himself.”
So even if Imam Ali physically stood behind Abu Bakr, nothing follows from that.
It does not prove Abu Bakr’s superiority.
It does not prove Abu Bakr’s khilafah.
It does not prove Imam Ali accepted him as a legitimate Imam.
At most, it proves outward attendance in prayer.
And outward attendance is not imamate.
Prayer leadership is not khilafah.
Standing behind someone is not a declaration of superiority.
The entire argument is built on a false assumption.
Does Imam Ali Praying Behind Abu Bakr Prove His Caliphate?
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