It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, that he said: I asked Sayyiduna Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him: Why did you decide to combine Surah Al-Anfal, which is among the Mathani surahs, and Surah At-Tawbah, which is among the Mi'in surahs, and you did not write the line of "Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Raheem" between them, and you included them among the seven long surahs? What is the reason for this? Sayyiduna Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, said: Sometimes it would happen that for a long period no revelation would descend upon the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and sometimes several surahs would be revealed at once. In any case, when revelation would descend upon the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, he would call the scribe and say to him: Write these verses in the surah in which such-and-such matters are mentioned. If another verse was revealed, he would again say: Write this verse in the surah in which such-and-such is mentioned. Now, Surah Al-Anfal is the surah that was revealed at the beginning in Madinah, and Surah At-Tawbah is among the last surahs revealed in the Noble Qur'an, while their subject matter is similar. Meanwhile, the Noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, passed away, and he did not clarify to us (about these two surahs). Therefore, I thought that Surah Al-Anfal is a part of Surah At-Tawbah, so I combined the two and did not write the line of "Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Raheem" between them, and I placed them among the seven long surahs.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent him as the leader of Hajj and also entrusted him with the responsibility of announcing to the people of Makkah the declaration of disassociation, that after this year no polytheist will be able to perform Hajj, no man will circumambulate the Ka‘bah naked, only that person will enter Paradise who is a Muslim, and if anyone had a treaty with the Prophet of Islam (peace and blessings be upon him) for a specific period, it will remain valid until its term ends, and that Allah and His Messenger are free from the polytheists. When Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) set out with this message and had covered a distance of three days, the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him): Go after Abu Bakr, bring him back to me, and you are to make this announcement. So he did as instructed, but when Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) returned, tears were flowing from his eyes and he said: O Messenger of Allah! Has any new command come regarding me (that I was called back)? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Only good can come to you; the real matter is that this message should be delivered either by myself or by a man from my family.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that when ten verses of Surah Bara’ah were revealed, the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) called Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and gave him these verses, sending him to recite them before the people of Makkah. Then he called me (Ali) and said: Go and join Abu Bakr; wherever you meet him, take this message from him and then go and recite it before the people of Makkah. So I met Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) at Juhfa and took the letter from him. Then when Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) returned to the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he asked: O Messenger of Allah! Has any command been revealed regarding me? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied: No, there is no command regarding you, but Jibreel (peace be upon him) came to me and said that the message should either be delivered by you yourself or by someone from your family.

(Second chain) It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that when the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent him to proclaim Surah Bara’ah, he said: O Prophet of Allah! I am neither very eloquent nor a preacher. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: There is no alternative except that I go myself, or you go. He said: If there is no alternative, then I will go. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: You go, Allah Almighty will keep your tongue firm and guide your heart. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) placed his blessed hand on the mouth of Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him).

It is narrated from Zaid bin Asiyah, a resident of Hamdan, who says: We asked Sayyiduna Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, with what he was sent on the day when the Noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, sent him with Sayyiduna Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, for Hajj? He said: I was sent with four things: (1) Only a believing man will enter Paradise, (2) No naked man will perform Tawaf of the House of Allah, (3) Whoever has a treaty with the Noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, his treaty will remain valid until its term, and (4) After this year, polytheists and Muslims will not perform Hajj together.