The Meeting at Saqifah of Banu Sa'idah

While the Prophet's body was still unburied, the Ansar gathered at the roofed meeting place (saqifah) of Banu Sa'idah to discuss succession. Sa'd ibn Ubadah, chief of the Khazraj, was proposed as leader by the Ansar, who argued that they had given the Prophet refuge when the Muhajirun had not. When Abu Bakr, Umar, and Abu Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah learned of the meeting, they rushed to the Saqifah. Abu Bakr spoke with remarkable composure, acknowledging the Ansar's indispensable contribution to Islam but arguing that the Arabs would only accept a leader from the Quraysh, the Prophet's own tribe. He proposed either Umar or Abu Ubaydah. Umar immediately seized Abu Bakr's hand and pledged allegiance, saying: 'Who among us would put himself ahead of the man whom the Prophet ordered to lead us in prayer?' Abu Ubaydah followed, then the Ansar, and by morning the general community had pledged. This swift resolution prevented a potential civil war at the most vulnerable moment in Islamic history.