Chapter: How do the people give the Baia to the Imam

We gave the oath of allegiance to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) that we would listen to and obey him both at the time when we were active and at the time when we were tired and that we would not fight against the ruler or disobey him, and would stand firm for the truth or say the truth wherever we might be, and in the Way of Allah we would not be afraid of the blame of the blamers. (See Hadith No. 178 and 320)

The Prophet (ﷺ) went out on a cold morning while the Muhajirin (emigrants) and the Ansar were digging the trench. The Prophet (ﷺ) then said, "O Allah! The real goodness is the goodness of the Here after, so please forgive the Ansar and the Muhajirin." They replied, "We are those who have given the Pledge of allegiance to Muhammad for to observe Jihad as long as we remain alive."

Whenever we gave the Pledge of allegiance to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) for to listen to and obey, he used to say to us, for as much as you can."

I witnessed Ibn `Umar when the people gathered around `Abdul Malik. Ibn `Umar wrote: I gave the Pledge of allegiance that I will listen to and obey Allah's Slave, `Abdul Malik, Chief of the believers according to Allah's Laws and the Traditions of His Apostle as much as I can; and my sons too, give the same pledge.'

I gave the Pledge of allegiance to the Prophet (ﷺ) that I would listen and obey, and he told me to add: 'As much as I can, and will give good advice to every Muslim.'

When the people took the oath of allegiance to `Abdul Malik, `Abdullah bin `Umar wrote to him: "To Allah's Slave, `Abdul Malik, Chief of the believers, I give the Pledge of allegiance that I will listen to and obey Allah's Slave, `Abdul Malik, Chief of the believers, according to Allah's Laws and the Traditions of His Apostle in whatever is within my ability; and my sons too, give the same pledge."

I said to Salama, "For what did you give the Pledge of allegiance to the Prophet (ﷺ) on the Day of Hudaibiya?" He replied, "For death."

The group of people whom `Umar had selected as candidates for the Caliphate gathered and consulted each other. `Abdur-Rahman said to them, "I am not going to compete with you in this matter, but if you wish, I would select for you a caliph from among you." So all of them agreed to let `Abdur-Rahman decide the case. So when the candidates placed the case in the hands of `Abdur-Rahman, the people went towards him and nobody followed the rest of the group nor obeyed any after him. So the people followed `Abdur-Rahman and consulted him all those nights till there came the night we gave the oath of allegiance to `Uthman. Al-Miswar (bin Makhrama) added: `Abdur-Rahman called on me after a portion of the night had passed and knocked on my door till I got up, and he said to me, "I see you have been sleeping! By Allah, during the last three nights I have not slept enough. Go and call Az-Zubair and Sa`d.' So I called them for him and he consulted them and then called me saying, 'Call `Ali for me." I called `Ali and he held a private talk with him till very late at night, and then 'Al, got up to leave having had much hope (to be chosen as a Caliph) but `Abdur-Rahman was afraid of something concerning `Ali. `Abdur-Rahman then said to me, "Call `Uthman for me." I called him and he kept on speaking to him privately till the Mu'adh-dhin put an end to their talk by announcing the Adhan for the Fajr prayer. When the people finished their morning prayer and that (six men) group gathered near the pulpit, `Abdur-Rahman sent for all the Muhajirin (emigrants) and the Ansar present there and sent for the army chief who had performed the Hajj with `Umar that year. When all of them had gathered, `Abdur- Rahman said, "None has the right to be worshipped but Allah," and added, "Now then, O `Ali, I have looked at the people's tendencies and noticed that they do not consider anybody equal to `Uthman, so you should not incur blame (by disagreeing)." Then `Abdur-Rahman said (to `Uthman), "I gave the oath of allegiance to you on condition that you will follow Allah's Laws and the traditions of Allah's Apostle and the traditions of the two Caliphs after him." So `Abdur-Rahman gave the oath of allegiance to him, and so did the people including the Muhajirin (emigrants) and the Ansar and the chiefs of the army staff and all the Muslims.