Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: During the last Hajj that Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) performed, Sayyiduna Abdur Rahman bin Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) returned from his residence in Mina and said: So-and-so is saying that if Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) passes away, then I will pledge allegiance to so-and-so. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: This evening I will stand among the people (i.e., address them) and protect them from those who wish to usurp their affairs. Sayyiduna Abdur Rahman (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I said, do not do this. O Leader of the Believers, at the time of morning, all kinds of people gather together. When you stand among the people (to address them), these people will dominate your gathering and will present your words in their own way and will not convey them correctly. Please wait for now. When you reach Madinah Munawwarah, that is the place of migration, and only the people of knowledge and dignitaries will be there among the people. There, whatever you say, you will say it with complete satisfaction. Those people will understand your words and use them in the right place. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: If I reach Madinah Munawwarah, then, if Allah wills, I will speak about this in my very first address (or speech). Then, at the end of Dhul-Hijjah, Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) arrived. When Friday came, despite the intense heat, I went early to the mosque and found Sayyiduna Sa'id bin Zaid (may Allah be pleased with him) had arrived even before me. He was sitting near the right edge of the pulpit. I sat beside him. My knee was touching his knee. Shortly after, Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) also arrived, so I said to Sayyiduna Sa'id (may Allah be pleased with him): Today, Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) will say something from this pulpit that he has never said since becoming the Caliph. Sayyiduna Sa'id (may Allah be pleased with him) said: What will he say? Then Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) sat on the pulpit, praised and glorified Allah as is His due, and then said: "I wish to say something to you for which I have been given the opportunity. I do not know, perhaps the time of my death is near, and whoever understands this and preserves it, let him convey it as far as his mount can reach. Whoever does not understand it, then it is not permissible for any Muslim to attribute any falsehood to me. Verily, Allah the Blessed and Exalted sent Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). He revealed the Book to him. Among what He revealed to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was the verse regarding stoning. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recited it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) carried out stoning. After him, we also carried out stoning. I fear that after a long time has passed, someone will say: We do not find the verse regarding stoning in Allah's Book, so they will go astray by abandoning an obligation that Allah the Exalted revealed. It is obligatory to stone every such person, whether man or woman, who commits adultery, when it is established by evidence, or (the woman) becomes pregnant, or (the man or woman) confesses. By Allah! If it were not for the fear that people would say that Umar has added to Allah's Book, I would have had this written down. Beware! We used to recite this verse: 'Do not turn away from your forefathers, for turning away from your forefathers is disbelief for you.' Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'Do not exaggerate about me as the Christians exaggerated about Isa ibn Maryam. Verily, I am a servant, so say: Allah's servant and His Messenger.' (Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Beware! I have learned that so-and-so says that if Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) passes away, then I will pledge allegiance to so-and-so. Whoever pledges allegiance to any leader without the consultation of the Muslims, his allegiance is invalid, and so is the one to whom he pledged allegiance. No one should be deceived by saying that the allegiance to Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) happened suddenly. Beware, it did happen suddenly, but Allah the Exalted protected us from its evil, and today there is no one among you who has the status of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). Beware! The day the Messenger of Allah passed away, he was the best among us. Indeed, the Muhajirun gathered with Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) (to pledge allegiance), but the Ansar gathered separately at the Saqifah of Banu Sa'idah. I said to Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him): Come with us to our Ansar brothers so that we may see what they are doing. So we set out. Our intention was to go to them. We met two righteous men among them, and they asked: O group of Muhajirun, where are you going? I replied: We are going to our Ansar brothers. The man said: There is no sin upon you if you do not go to them. You settle your own matter, O group of Muhajirun. I said: By Allah! We will not return until we go to those people. Then we went to them, and they had gathered at Banu Sa'idah. Among them, a man was sitting covered with a sheet. I asked: Who is this? The people said: Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Ubadah (may Allah be pleased with him). I asked: What is wrong with him? The people said: He is unwell. When we sat down, their speaker stood up. He praised and glorified Allah, then said: To proceed! We are Allah's helpers and the army of Islam. O group of Muslims! Now efforts are being made to push us back, and those people want to seize power and exclude us altogether. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: When he became silent, I intended to speak. I had prepared a speech in my mind that I liked very much, and if I presented it before Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), it would be excellent, and I would be able to reduce their anger to some extent. But Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) was more forbearing and dignified than me. He took my hand and said: Sit down. I did not like to anger him. Then Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) began to speak. By Allah! Whatever I had thought to say, Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said something similar or even better extemporaneously, leaving nothing out. After praising and glorifying Allah, he said: To proceed! The good you have mentioned, you are worthy of it, but the Arabs only recognize the tribe of Quraysh for leadership, because in terms of residence and lineage, they have the most prominent status among the Arabs. I am pleased for you with one of these two men; pledge allegiance to whichever of them you wish. Then Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) took my hand and the hand of Sayyiduna Abu Ubaidah bin Jarrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who was sitting between us. I did not like only this statement of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). The situation was such that, by Allah! If I had been put forward and my neck struck off without any crime, it would have been more beloved to me than being made the leader of a people among whom Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) was present. A young man from the Ansar said: I am a branch with which itching is scratched (i.e., my opinion and advice are acted upon in matters), and a date palm that is protected (i.e., my tribe stands behind me). One leader from us, O group of Quraysh, and one leader from you. At this, voices were raised, and there was disagreement among the people. So I said: O Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), extend your hand. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) extended his hand, and I pledged allegiance to him. Then the Muhajirun and Ansar also pledged allegiance to him. We completely ignored Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him), so someone said: You have killed Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him). I said: Allah the Exalted has killed Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him). At that time, we found nothing better than pledging allegiance to Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). I feared that if we separated from those people, they might pledge allegiance anew after us, and then we would have to pledge allegiance to something we were not pleased with, or oppose it, which would lead to discord and division. Therefore, we all pledged allegiance to Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and were satisfied with it.

Imam Ibn Hibban (may Allah have mercy on him) says: The statement of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him): Allah the Exalted has killed Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him), means: it happened in the way of Allah.