Response to: “Abu Bakr’s First Speech and Qur’an”
Article being answered:
https://www.twelvershia.net/2016/04/09/response-to-abu-bakars-first-speech/
The anti-Shia article tries to dismiss Abu Bakr’s first sermon by saying:
“This narration only comes through Saif ibn Umar, and Saif is a liar. Case closed.”
This is false.
Yes, one version comes through Saif ibn Umar, and Saif is heavily criticized.
But the sermon is not preserved only through Saif.
The same core wording appears in multiple Sunni historical and hadith sources through different routes, including non-Saif routes.
So the article refutes only one weak route and then pretends the entire sermon disappears.
That is not scholarship.
That is damage control.
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1. Version in Musannaf Abd al-Razzaq — non-Saif route
Arabic:
أخبرنا عبد الرزاق، عن معمر، عن رجل، عن الحسن أن أبا بكر الصديق خطب فقال:
أما والله ما أنا بخيركم، ولقد كنت لمقامي هذا كارها، ولوددت لو أن من يكفيني.
فتظنون أني أعمل فيكم سنة رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم؟ إذن لا أقوم لها.
إن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم كان يعصم بالوحي، وكان معه ملك.
وإن لي شيطانا يعتريني، فإذا غضبت فاجتنبوني، لا أوثر في أشعاركم، ولا أبشاركم.
ألا فراعوني، فإن استقمت فأعينوني، وإن زغت فقوموني.
English:
Abd al-Razzaq narrated from Ma‘mar, from a man, from al-Hasan, that Abu Bakr al-Siddiq gave a sermon and said:
“By Allah, I am not the best of you. I disliked being placed in this position, and I wished that someone among you would suffice me from it.
Do you think I can act among you like the Messenger of Allah ﷺ? Then I would not be able to do it.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was protected by revelation, and he had an angel with him.
But I have a shaytan that comes upon me. So when I become angry, avoid me, so that I do not affect your hair or your skin.
Watch over me: if I am upright, help me; and if I deviate, correct me.”
Reference:
Musannaf Abd al-Razzaq, Kitab al-Jami‘, Bab: La Ta‘ah fi Ma‘siyah, report 20701.
Point:
This is not Saif ibn Umar.
The chain has weakness because it contains “a man” and it is from al-Hasan al-Basri, meaning it is not a fully connected sahih chain.
But the article’s claim was not “some routes are weak.”
The article’s claim was:
“It comes from Saif.”
That claim is false.
This version is from Abd al-Razzaq → Ma‘mar → a man → al-Hasan.
No Saif ibn Umar.
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2. Version in Ibn Sa‘d’s al-Tabaqat — non-Saif route
Arabic:
قال الإمام ابن سعد:
أخبرنا وهب بن جرير قال أخبرنا أبي سمعت الحسن قال:
لما بويع أبو بكر قام خطيبا، فحمد الله وأثنى عليه، ثم قال:
أما بعد، فإني وليت هذا الأمر وأنا له كاره، ووالله لوددت أن بعضكم كفانيه.
ألا وإنكم إن كلفتموني أن أعمل فيكم بمثل عمل رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم لم أقم به.
كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم عبدا أكرمه الله بالوحي وعصمه به.
ألا وإنما أنا بشر، ولست بخير من أحد منكم، فراعوني.
فإذا رأيتموني استقمت فاتبعوني، وإن رأيتموني زغت فقوموني.
واعلموا أن لي شيطانا يعتريني، فإذا رأيتموني غضبت فاجتنبوني، لا أؤثر في أشعاركم وأبشاركم.
English:
Ibn Sa‘d narrated:
Wahb ibn Jarir informed us; my father informed us; I heard al-Hasan say:
“When Abu Bakr was given bay‘ah, he stood and gave a sermon. He praised Allah and said:
‘I have been put in charge of this matter while I dislike it. By Allah, I wished that some of you had sufficed me from it.
If you burden me to act among you like the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, I will not be able to do it.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was a servant whom Allah honored with revelation and protected by it.
As for me, I am only a human being, and I am not better than any of you. So watch over me.
If you see me upright, follow me; and if you see me deviate, correct me.
Know that I have a shaytan that comes upon me. So when you see me angry, avoid me, so that I do not affect your hair and your skin.’”
Reference:
Ibn Sa‘d, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, quoted by al-Suyuti in Tarikh al-Khulafa.
Point:
Again, this is not Saif ibn Umar.
This is another route:
Wahb ibn Jarir → Jarir → al-Hasan.
Yes, it is mursal because al-Hasan did not witness Abu Bakr’s first sermon.
But it still proves the sermon wording circulated through a non-Saif route in Sunni literature.
So Twelvershia’s “Saif only” response collapses again.
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3. al-Suyuti quotes Ibn Sa‘d’s version in Tarikh al-Khulafa
Arabic:
وأخرج ابن سعد عن الحسن البصري قال:
لما بويع أبو بكر قام خطيبا فقال:
أما بعد فإني وليت هذا الأمر وأنا له كاره، ووالله لوددت أن بعضكم كفانيه.
ألا وإنكم إن كلفتموني أن أعمل فيكم بمثل عمل رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم لم أقم به.
كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم عبدا أكرمه الله بالوحي وعصمه به.
ألا وإنما أنا بشر، ولست بخير من أحدكم، فراعوني.
فإذا رأيتموني استقمت فاتبعوني، وإذا رأيتموني زغت فقوموني.
واعلموا أن لي شيطانا يعتريني، فإذا رأيتموني غضبت فاجتنبوني، لا أؤثر في أشعاركم وأبشاركم.
English:
al-Suyuti said:
“Ibn Sa‘d narrated from al-Hasan al-Basri that when Abu Bakr was given bay‘ah, he stood and gave a sermon, saying:
‘I was placed in charge of this matter while I disliked it. By Allah, I wished that some of you had sufficed me from it.
If you burden me to act among you like the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, I will not be able to do it.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was a servant whom Allah honored with revelation and protected by it.
As for me, I am only a human being, and I am not better than any of you. So watch over me.
If you see me upright, follow me; and if you see me deviate, correct me.
Know that I have a shaytan that comes upon me. So when you see me angry, avoid me, so that I do not affect your hair and your skin.’”
Reference:
al-Suyuti, Tarikh al-Khulafa, section on Abu Bakr’s bay‘ah.
Point:
al-Suyuti did not say:
“This is only Saif’s lie.”
He quoted it from Ibn Sa‘d.
So again, the article’s one-line refutation is false.
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4. Ibn Kathir quotes the Saif version — but that is not the whole source-map
Arabic:
وقام أبو بكر في الناس فحمد الله وأثنى عليه، وقال:
أيها الناس إنما أنا مثلكم، وإني لعلكم تكلفونني ما كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يطيق.
إن الله اصطفى محمدا على العالمين، وعصمه من الآفات.
وإنما أنا متبع ولست بمبتدع، فإن استقمت فتابعوني، وإن زغت فقوموني.
وإن لي شيطانا يعتريني، فإذا أتاني فاجتنبوني، لا أؤثر في أشعاركم وأبشاركم.
English:
Ibn Kathir quotes the version where Abu Bakr said:
“O people, I am only like you. Perhaps you will burden me with what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was able to bear.
Allah chose Muhammad above the worlds and protected him from faults.
I am only a follower, not an innovator. If I am upright, follow me; and if I deviate, correct me.
I have a shaytan that comes upon me. So when he comes to me, avoid me, so that I do not affect your hair and your skin.”
Reference:
Ibn Kathir, al-Bidayah wa’l-Nihayah, Khilafah of Abu Bakr.
Point:
This version does come through Saif ibn Umar.
So we do not build the whole case on it.
But the article’s deception is that it only talks about this Saif route and ignores the non-Saif versions in Abd al-Razzaq and Ibn Sa‘d.
That is selective refutation.
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5. Ibn Taymiyyah did not dismiss the statement as “Saif-only fabrication”
This is very important.
When Ibn Taymiyyah responded to the Shia objection, he did not say:
“This is fabricated and only comes from Saif.”
Instead, he wrote:
Arabic:
أن المأثور عنه أنه قال: إن لي شيطانا يعتريني يعني عند الغضب، فإذا اعتراني فاجتنبوني لا أؤثر في أبشاركم.
English:
“What is transmitted from him is that he said: ‘I have a shaytan that comes upon me,’ meaning at the time of anger. ‘So when it comes upon me, avoid me, so that I do not affect your bodies.’”
Reference:
Ibn Taymiyyah, Minhaj al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyyah, in his response to the objection about Abu Bakr’s statement.
Point:
If this statement was only a Saif fabrication, Ibn Taymiyyah could have ended the discussion easily:
“False. Saif is a liar.”
But he did not.
He treated the statement as transmitted and then explained it as anger.
That alone destroys Twelvershia’s lazy response.
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6. Ibn Taymiyyah’s explanation still admits the core point
Ibn Taymiyyah explains:
Arabic:
أن الشيطان الذي يعتريه قد فسر بأنه يعرض لابن آدم عند الغضب، فخاف عند الغضب أن يعتدي على أحد من الرعية؛ فأمرهم بمجانبته عند الغضب.
English:
“The shaytan that came upon him has been explained as what comes upon the son of Adam at anger. He feared that, when angry, he might transgress against one of the subjects, so he ordered them to avoid him at the time of anger.”
Reference:
Ibn Taymiyyah, Minhaj al-Sunnah.
Point:
This explanation does not erase the problem.
It confirms the core meaning:
Abu Bakr admitted that anger/shaytan could affect him.
He feared that he might wrong people while angry.
He told people to avoid him when that state came.
He asked people to correct him if he deviated.
That is an admission of fallibility.
That is the real point.
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7. The sermon itself refutes exaggerated claims about Abu Bakr
The sermon says:
Arabic:
ما أنا بخيركم
English:
“I am not the best of you.”
It says:
Arabic:
إن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم كان يعصم بالوحي، وكان معه ملك.
English:
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was protected by revelation and had an angel with him.”
Then it says:
Arabic:
وإن لي شيطانا يعتريني
English:
“But I have a shaytan that comes upon me.”
It says:
Arabic:
إن رأيتموني زغت فقوموني
English:
“If you see me deviate, correct me.”
Point:
This is not a sermon of divine authority.
This is not a sermon of infallibility.
This is not a sermon of nass.
This is not a sermon of “I am the best after the Prophet.”
This is a sermon admitting:
I am not the Prophet.
I am not protected by revelation.
I am not better than any of you.
I can deviate.
I need correction.
Anger/shaytan can overcome me.
So how can anyone use this man’s political rule as if it was divinely protected and unquestionable?
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8. Do not overclaim the argument
The strongest Shia argument is not:
“This is a Sahih Bukhari hadith.”
It is not.
Some chains are weak, mursal, or contain an unnamed narrator.
The strongest Shia argument is:
This sermon exists in Sunni books through multiple routes.
It is not Saif-only.
Abd al-Razzaq transmits it through a non-Saif route.
Ibn Sa‘d transmits it through a non-Saif route.
al-Suyuti quotes Ibn Sa‘d’s version.
Ibn Kathir quotes the Saif version.
Ibn Taymiyyah treats the statement as transmitted and explains it as anger.
Therefore, Twelvershia’s response — “Saif is a liar, case closed” — is incomplete and misleading.
==============================
Final response
The article fails because it attacks only one chain and hides the wider source trail.
Yes, Saif ibn Umar is weak.
Nobody needs him.
The sermon also appears in Musannaf Abd al-Razzaq.
It appears in Ibn Sa‘d’s al-Tabaqat.
It is quoted by al-Suyuti in Tarikh al-Khulafa.
It is preserved in Ibn Kathir’s al-Bidayah wa’l-Nihayah.
And Ibn Taymiyyah himself discusses the statement instead of dismissing it as Saif-only fabrication.
So the sermon is not a Shia invention.
It exists in Sunni books.
Its chains may not reach Sahih Bukhari level, but the wording is historically circulated through multiple Sunni sources.
And the meaning is devastating:
Abu Bakr himself is reported to have said:
“I am not the best of you.”
“The Prophet was protected by revelation.”
“I am only human.”
“If I deviate, correct me.”
“I have a shaytan that comes upon me.”
“When I am angry, avoid me.”
This is the opposite of divinely protected leadership.
It is an admission of human fallibility.
So the article’s “Saif is a liar, no need to add more” is not a refutation.
It is a shortcut.
And shortcuts are not scholarship.
If Abu Bakr Could Deviate, Was His Caliphate Divinely Guided?
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