Abou Bakr, Omar, Othman, and the Rest of the So-Called Companions Did Not Conspire to Assassinate Muhammad

Published in February 20, 2018

Translated by: Ahmed Fathy

Introduction:

 We have received this question via email: (... The Saudi author and Sunnite thinker Hassan Farhan Al-Maliki surmises that this phrase in this verse: "...And they plotted what they could not attain..." (9:74) asserts the conspiracy/plot to assassinate Prophet Muhammad, as per what is mentioned in Sunnite books of history & biographies of the Prophet and his companions ... Even the Shiite books mention this historical account with names of the plotters: 12 men who included Abou Bakr, Omar, Othman, Talha, Abou Sufyan, Mu'aweiya Ibn Abou Sufyan, & Amr Ibn Al-As ... Some Sunnite books of history even mention that Omar as caliph imprisoned a man named Huzayfa who refused to pray for the dead caliph Abou Bakr (who was assassinated by being poisoned) as per this verse about hypocrites: "You are never to pray over anyone of them who dies..." (9:84), and who knew about this failed assassination attempt against the Prophet ... The aim of imprisoning Huzayfa in his house by force was to prevent him from exposing the deep-seated enmity of Omar towards the Prophet ... Is this true? What do you think? Thank you for your time ...). We think that this is an obvious, flagrant error; this history account from Sunnite books is never true; we prove our stance using the Quran and provide some details in the points below.

Firstly: explicit, frank hypocrites were known and their deeds and words exposed them:

1- Those explicit, frank hypocrites were exposed by their stances, deeds, and words; this type of hypocrites is mentioned in some verses within the beginning of the Quranic Chapters 8 and 24, some verses in the middle of the Quranic Chapters 2, 3, 4, 33, 47, 48, 58, 59, and 63, and some verses by the end of the Quranic Chapters 5 and 9.  

2- The explicit, frank hypocrites were known by the following features.

2/1: Their appearance and behavior as they swore by the name of God in vain: "When the hypocrites come to you, they say, "We bear witness that you are God's messenger." God knows that you are His messenger, and God bears witness that the hypocrites are liars. They treat their oaths as a cover, and so they repel others from God's Path. Evil is what they do." (63:1-2); "When you see them, their appearance impresses you. And when they speak, you listen to what they say. They are like propped-up timber. They think every shout is aimed at them. They are the enemy, so beware of them. God condemns them; how deluded they are!" (63:4).

2/2: Their affluence: "Let neither their possessions nor their children impress you. God intends to torment them through them in this worldly life, and that their souls depart while they are disbelievers." (9:55); "Do not let their possessions and their children impress you. God desires to torment them through them in this world, and their souls expire while they are disbelievers." (9:85).

2/3: Their words and ways of expressing themselves: "...You will recognize them by their tone of speech. And God knows your actions." (47:30); "...And when they come to you, they greet you with a greeting that God never greeted you with..." (58:8).

2/4: Their stances that included being reluctant to participate in self-defense military endeavors, their desiring to get shares of money instead of the poor ones, and their ridiculing the Quranic verses; this is not to mention their other stances we have tackled in previous writings of ours. 

3- Because these hypocrites were known at the time, some Quranic verses contain commands about how to deal with them: "They profess obedience, but when they leave your presence, some of them conspire something contrary to what you said. But God writes down what they conspire. So avoid them, and put your trust in God. God is Guardian enough." (4:81); "If you are in doubt about what We revealed to you, ask those who read the Scripture before you. The truth has come to you from your Lord, so do not be of those who doubt. And do not be of those who deny God's Verses, lest you become one of the losers. Those against whom your Lord's Word is justified will not believe." (9:94-96).

4- These known hypocrites are mentioned in this verse quoted in the email massage above and quoted also by Al-Maliki: "They swear by God that they said nothing; but they did utter the word of blasphemy, and they renounced faith after their submission. And they plotted what they could not attain. They were resentful only because God and His Messenger have enriched them out of His grace. If they repent, it would be best for them; but if they turn away, God will afflict them with a painful punishment-in this life and in the Hereafter-and they will have on earth no protector and no savior." (9:74); thus, this verse is NOT about those adamant in hypocrisy and concealed their hatred towards Islam to become leaders later on once Muhammad died; e.g., Abou Bakr, Omar, and Othman.

Secondly: these unknown hypocrites who were adamant in hypocrisy:

1- These unknown hypocrites who were adamant in hypocrisy concealed their true feelings so well, got very near to Mohammed within the inner circles around him to gain stature and authority in Yathreb, and showed their true colors once Muhammad died as they led Arabs into the crimes of the Arab conquests to form an Arab empire. Those hidden hypocrites did not say or do anything that might expose their being spies of Qorayish; they were very obedient to Muhammad, but they were dormant cells or agents/spies of Qorayish, eagerly waiting for the right moment to be active in serving Qorayish to dominate over Arabia after the death of Muhammad. They were esteemed and valued by the early believers as the nearest companions of Muhammad within the Yathreb city-state; they remained very near to Muhammad in Yathreb, and once he died and they sighed in relief that no Quranic verses will descend to expose them, they betrayed Islam within the crimes of the devilish Arab conquests and the subsequent civil wars.  

2- This type of unknown hypocrites (which included spies/agents of Qorayish) is mentioned once in this verse that descended shortly before the death of Muhammad: "Among the Desert-Arabs around you there are some hypocrites, and among the inhabitants of Yathreb  too. They have become adamant in hypocrisy. You do not know them, but We know them. We will punish them twice; then they will be returned to a severe torment." (9:101).

3- The verse 9:101 shows the features of those unknown/hidden hypocrites, as we discuss in the points below.

3/1: They were adamant in hypocrisy; i.e., hypocrisy was deep-rooted inside them and they were too cunning to expose themselves, unlike the case with explicit frank hypocrites. Those who were adamant in hypocrisy concealed their deeds of espionage as agents and their feelings of animosity and hatred very well and so easily during Muhammad's lifetime; they had assumed high stature as the nearest men around Muhammad whom they hated and flattered; we assume that their biggest fear was that a word or a nonverbal gesture would expose their true nature as agents of Qorayish.

3/2: Once Muhammad died, those adamant in hypocrisy became, as expected, the caliphs/rulers and leaders of Arabia who never repented and who rejected the Quran; God tells us about their torment in this world and the next in the verse 9:101. More details about this topic are found in our book (in English) titled "The Unspoken-of History of the Pre-Umayyad 'Righteous' Caliphs" found in this link: (http://www.ahl-alquran.com/arabic/book_main.php?main_id=83). 

3/3: We infer those adamant in hypocrisy were among immigrants to Yathreb (sent by Qorayish as spies/agents) and not among its original dwellers known as (the supporters) and whose society included some affluent, explicit hypocrites. Thus, those Yathrebian known hypocrites who exposed themselves with stances, words, and deeds had no reason to hide anything or to be recruited by Qorayish; they were the Yathrebian affluent class members before Muhammad settled in Yathreb and made no efforts to conceal their animosity towards Islam. Thus, the spies/agents planted by Qorayish were mainly among the immigrants to Yathreb from Mecca. Some of those spying hypocrites got nearer to Muhammad by allowing him to marry their daughters (e.g., Muhammad married Aisha and Hafsa) and some of them married daughters of Muhammad (e.g., Othman married two daughters of Muhammad, one after the other, and Ali married Muhammad's eldest daughter: Fatima), and this is part of their evil schemes: "They planned their schemes, but their schemes are known to God, even if their schemes can eliminate mountains." (14:46). Thus, the powerful Qorayish leaders drove Muhammad and the weak, early believers out of Mecca and secretly made their spies/agents pretend to convert to the new religion to inform the Meccan leaders of everything about Muhammad and the early believers once they settle in Yathreb. At the same time, the Meccan troops of Qorayish attacked Yathreb and fought against Muhammad many times, while their spies and dormant cells/agents surrounded Muhammad in the Yathreb city-state to make the fruit of his success in the call to Islam fall into the hands of Meccan leaders of Qorayish. This is what occurred as the Qorayish tribe unified Arabia and mobilized Arabs into the crimes of the Arab conquests once Muhammad died and they incurred the torment and the wrath of God as per 9:101.     

4- Among those adamant in hypocrisy were the four pre-Umayyad caliphs: Abou Bakr, Omar, and Othman who organized and led the Arab conquests and then Ali who was engaged in the first major Arab civil war. Those spies adamant in hypocrisy had no interest at all in the assassination of Muhammad; this was never part of their mission planned and schemed earlier by Abou Sufyan (grandfather of the Umayyads) and Abbas (grandfather of the Abbasids). Both men planned to make the Qorayish tribe regain its full authority and control of Arabia and to form an Arab empire that changed world history forever and occupied most of the countries and regions of the Ancient World during the Middle-Ages, in the regions between borders of China and the borders of France.   

Thirdly: a detail which we have NOT mentioned in our book titled "The Unspoken-of History of the Pre-Umayyad 'Righteous' Caliphs":

 If Abou Bakr was really the one inside the cave with Muhammad within the journey to Yathreb, as per Sunnite history books, we conclude that Abou Bakr (or any other man who was the cave-companion of Muhammad) was in fact a spy on Muhammad who accompanied him as though he were his shadow to inform the enemies of Muhammad's movements.

1- The knowledge inferred and derived from the Quranic verses never ends; there are still so many things we can conclude from the Quranic text. God says in the Quran: "When the disbelievers schemed against you, to imprison you, or kill you, or expel you. They schemed, and God schemed, but God is the Best of schemers." (8:30). We notice here the repeated reference to the schemes of the Qorayish disbelievers juxtaposed by the schemes of the Lord God. After long deliberations, the Meccan disbelievers agreed to drive Muhammad out of Mecca while making their spies and agents watch him closely to inform them of all his moves and actions in Yathreb; we surmise that the Meccan polytheists of Qorayish schemed to make their agent Ali sleep in the bed of Muhammad on the night of his immigration to Yathreb and make their agent Abou Bakr accompany Mohammed in this journey from Mecca to Yathreb to attain the trust of Muhammad and to make the Yathreb inhabitants assume that as if he were the closest person ever to Muhammad. This is the case if we assume that history books of Sunnites tell the truth about Abou Bakr as the man with Muhammad in the cave where they hid during this journey to Yathreb. All Sunnite historians assume as a fact that Abou Bakr was the cave-companion of Muhammad during his journey to Yathreb.       

2- God says in the Quran: "If you do not help him, God has already helped him, when those who disbelieved expelled him, and he was the second of two in the cave. He said to his companion, "Do not worry, God is with us." And God made His tranquility descend upon him, and supported him with forces you did not see, and made the word of those who disbelieved the lowest, while the Word of God is the Highest. God is Mighty and Wise." (9:40). We notice here within deeper pondering that this person (whether he was Abou Bakr or anyone else) in the cave was not a true believer but a treacherous spy of Qorayish.

2/1: God describes this person as a companion and NOT as a true friend; the Quranic term (companion) comes only in contexts of Muhammad's relations as he was the companion/contemporary of disbelievers and polytheists; i.e., he and they lived in the same location and era: "Do they not think? There is no madness in their companion. He is but a plain warner." (7:184); "Say, "I offer you a single advice: devote yourselves to God, in pairs, or individually; and reflect. There is no madness in your companion. He is just a warner to you, before the advent of a severe torment."" (34:46); "Your companion has not gone astray, nor has he erred." (53:2); "Your companion is not possessed." (81:22). In contrast, sincere, pious, devout believers were described as the truthful people and when they left their assets in Mecca to immigrate to Yathreb, the became poor who deserve charity money: "To the poor immigrants who were driven out of their homes and their possessions, as they sought the favor of God and His approval, and came to the aid of God and His messenger. These are the truthful." (59:8).

2/2: This companion inside the cave (whether he was Abou Bakr or anyone else) was frightened like any spy lest he should be exposed; Muhammad allayed the fears of this cave-companion by saying: "..."Do not worry, God is with us."..." (9:40). This means that this man inside the cave with Muhammad was not a true believer at all. God says in the Quran: "God gives firmness to those who believe, with the firm word, in this life, and in the Hereafter. And God leads the wicked astray. God does whatever He wills." (14:27). The verse 9:40 shows that the verse 14:27 does NOT apply to this companion of Muhammad inside the cave.

2/3: The verse 9:40 shows that Meccans expelled Muhammad and they did NOT expel that companion with him "...God has already helped him, when those who disbelieved expelled him..." (9:40); we notice the underlined pronoun (him) and not ''them''; thus, this cave-companion was a spy of Qorayish who pretended to be willing to help Muhammad during his journey to Yathreb and this man was not expelled from Mecca.

2/4: Muhammad told this cave-companion: "..."Do not worry, God is with us."..." (9:40); yet, God has NOT made His tranquility descend upon both men, but only upon Muhammad and never upon this disbelieving cave-companion who might have been Abou Bakr. This cave-companion was a mere companion in the same time and place and never a true friend or a true believer, and thus, he did not deserve the support and tranquility from God which were granted only to Muhammad as per the verse 9:40.

3- The mission of these agents or spies in Yathreb did not include assassinating Muhammad, though this might have been easy to them, if it had not been for the two following facts.

3/1: God has preserved the life of Muhammad and protected him as he was to convey the Quranic message to people; Muhammad was never murdered despite being surrounded by enemies (hypocrites + disbelievers) and his participating in the self-defense battles; this is asserted by this verse: "O messenger, convey what was revealed to you from your Lord. But if you do not, then you would not have delivered His message. And God will protect you from the people. God does not guide the disbelieving people." (5:67). 

3/2: The two main leaders of Qorayish were Abbas, the paternal uncle of Muhammad, and Abou Sufyan, the son of one of the paternal relatives of Muhammad; the two men (and Muhammad with them) share one ancestor named Abd-Manaf; hence, it is hardly expected that both men (Abbas and Abou Sufyan) might agree to a scheme/conspiracy aiming at the assassination of Muhammad, as tribalism was a very dominant factor at the time in Arabia.  

Lastly:

 This question is posed here only for those smart ones with high IQ percentage: who has informed Abou Sufyan, head of the Umayyad faction of Qorayish, as he led the trade caravan to Mecca, that Muhammad and his troops waited for him in an ambush near the Badr well-water?!