Saqīfat Banī Sāʿidah

Saqīfat Banī Sāʿidah refers to the assembly that took place immediately after the death of the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ in 11 AH/632 CE at the meeting hall (saqīfah) of the Banū Sāʿidah clan of the anṣār in Mad┘nah. The gathering is regarded as one of the most significant political events in early Islamic history because it led to the selection of Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (RA) as the first caliph (khalīfah) of the Muslim community.

Following the Prophet’s passing, members of the anṣār met to discuss leadership of the Muslim community, with some proposing Saʿd ibn ʿUbādah (RA) as a potential leader. Upon learning of the meeting, Abū Bakr, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, and Abū ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarrāḥ (RA) attended the assembly. Discussions centered on the qualifications and legitimacy of leadership after the Prophet ﷺ. Abū Bakr emphasized the position of Quraysh among the Arabs and cited the close relationship of the Muhājirūn to the Prophet ﷺ.

During the discussions, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (RA) pledged allegiance (bayʿah) to Abū Bakr (RA), followed by those present at the gathering. The following day, a public pledge of allegiance was given in the Prophet’s Mosque, formally establishing Abū Bakr (RA) as caliph. Muslim historians generally regard this event as the beginning of the institution of the caliphate in Islamic political history.

Saqīfat Banī Sāʿidah demonstrates the early Muslim community’s concern for political unity and continuity after the Prophet’s death. It also reflects the consultative nature (shūrā) of leadership discussions among the companions. The event later became a major subject of theological and historical discussion in both Sunnī and Shīʿī traditions concerning succession to the Prophet ﷺ and the nature of political authority in Islam.

## References

1 Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī, trans. Syed Muḥammad Ibrāhīm and Ḥabīb al-Raḥmān Ṣiddīqī (Karachi: Nafīs Academy, 1990), 2: 408. 2 Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq ibn Yasār and Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Hishām, Sīrat Ibn Hishām, Urdu trans. Syed Yāsīn ʿAlī Ḥusnī Niẓāmī (Lahore: Idārah Islāmiyāt, 1994), 2:432-41. 3 Abū ʿUbayd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Saʿd al-Baṣrī, Ṭabaqāt Ibn Saʿd, trans. ʿAbdullāh al-ʿAmadī (Karachi: Dār al-Ishāʿat, 2003), 2: 23-26. 4 Wilferd Madelung, “Saqīfa,” in Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed. (Leiden: Brill, 1995).