News about the dispute among the people of Banu ‘Amr ibn ‘Awf reached the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and so he went to them, along with some of his Companions, to effect reconciliation between them

Explanation

There was a dispute between the tribesmen of Banu ‘Amr ibn ‘Awf that reached the point of fighting, and the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was informed of that. He went to them, with some of his Companions, and was late there while the time for prayer, i.e. the ‘Asr prayer, was due. Al-Bukhāri clarified this in his narration, the wording of which is: "And when the ‘Asr prayer was due, He called the Adhān and Iqāmah and asked Abu Bakr to step forward and lead the people in the prayer, and he did." Then Bilāl came to Abu Bakr and said: "The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) has not come yet and the time of prayer is due. Could you lead the people in prayer?" Abu Bakr said: "Yes, if you wish." Bilāl then pronounced the Iqāmah and Abu Bakr stepped forward and said Takbīr and so did the people. In the meantime, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) came crossing the rows (in his narration, Al-Bukhāri added "splitting the rows"), and stood in the first row, according to the narration of Muslim which states: "crossing the rows until he stood in the first row". When the people realized that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was present with them, they began to clap their hands, out of their love for praying behind the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) heard their clapping, however he did not know the reason. Also, he would never glance sideways in his prayer due to his knowledge that it is forbidden, and that it is a furtive glance that the devil snatches from the slave during his prayer as mentioned by At-Tirmidhi and others. However, when the people clapped much more, he looked back (may Allah be pleased with him) and saw that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was there. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) beckoned to him to carry on with leading the people in prayer, as stated in the narration of Al-Bukhāri: "He beckoned to him to remain in his place". Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) however, raised his hands and praised Allah, the Exalted, due to what he saw of the Prophet's (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) kind treatment of him, then he retreated a few steps back until he stood among the people being led in prayer. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) went forward and led the people in the prayer. When he completed the prayer, he faced the people and said: "O people, why did you start clapping when something unusual happened to you in the prayer? Clapping is only for women." Then he explained to them what was permissible for them to do when something happens to them during the prayer, saying: "Whoever among you comes across something in the prayer should say: 'Subhān Allah' for there is none who will not turn around on hearing 'Subhān-Allah.'" Then he said: "O Abu Bakr, what prevented you from leading the people in the prayer when I beckoned to you to do so?" Abu Bakr replied: "It is not proper for the son of Abu Quhāfah to lead the prayer in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him)." Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) did that out of his love, exaltation and reverence for the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him).

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