June AD 632

Saqifa

Abu Bakr receives the initial pledge at Saqifa

Abu Bakr first offered the leadership to Umar or Abu Ubayda rather than nominating himself.

A meeting across town

Following Muhammad’s death in Medina, conventionally dated 8 June 632, members of the Ansar assembled with Sa‘d ibn Ubada at the Saqifa of Banu Sa‘ida to decide who should lead the community. Ali and Muhammad’s household were occupied with the body and did not take part.

Abu Bakr, Umar ibn al-Khattab and Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah went to the gathering, where some of the Ansar proposed one leader from the Ansar and another from the Meccan emigrants.

The hand that settled it

Abu Bakr argued that leadership should remain with Quraysh and offered Umar or Abu Ubayda. Umar instead took Abu Bakr’s hand and pledged allegiance to him, and others present followed.

That was not the community-wide inauguration. A hadith account places the broader public pledge at the mosque’s pulpit on the following day.

Contested from the start

The Saqifa decision established Abu Bakr as Muhammad’s political successor — leadership of the community, not succession to prophethood. The gathering did not include every interested party, and it became central to later Sunni–Shia disputes over legitimate succession.

The accounts were also written down later. A comparative University of Leeds study finds that medieval historians selected and shaped the material according to developing theological positions.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 5 sources 2 audit passes Traditional date

How this was checked

Researched from the web into a fact sheet, rewritten from that sheet, then audited against it by a different model. How the pipeline works →

Traditional date. Conventionally dated here; the research places it at 0632-06-08.

What the sources leave uncertain

8 June 632 is the dominant modern conversion for Muhammad’s traditional death date and hence the initial Saqifa pledge, but early-calendar reconstruction is not completely secure.
The event unfolded in two stages: the restricted Saqifa pledge on the day of Muhammad’s death and the public pledge the following day.
Accounts were written down later and became embedded in Sunni–Shia disputes. A comparative University of Leeds study finds that medieval historians selected and shaped material according to developing theological positions.
“Elected” is usable only with qualification: this was not a universal vote, and Muhammad’s family and several prominent companions were absent.