I he two Shaykhs narrated that Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said: I heard the Messenger of Allah say, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ‘While a shepherd was in the middle of his flock, a wolf rushed upon it and carried off from it a sheep and the shepherd pursued it. The wolf turned to him and said, “Who will look after it on the Day of Rising, the day when there will be no other shepherd than me?” And as a man was driving an ox which he had laden it turned to him and said, “I was not created for this, but I was created for tillage,”’ and the people said, ‘Glory be to Allah, that an ox should talk?’ The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘I believe in that and Abu Bakr and cUmar (believe),’ and Abu Bakr and cUmar weren’t there at that time, i.e. they weren’t in the gathering. He bore witness to their belief in that, perhaps meaning the perfection of their belief.

At-Tirmidhi narrated that Abu Sacid al-Khudri said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘There has been no prophet but that he had two deputies from the people of heaven and two deputies from the people of earth. As for my two deputies from the people of heaven, they are Jibril and Mika’il, and as for my two deputies from the people of earth they are Abu Bakr and cUmar.’ The authors of the Sunan collections and others narrated that Sacid ibn Zaid said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, saying, ‘Abu Bakr is in the Garden, cUmar is in the Garden, cUthman is in the Garden, cAli is in the Garden, ...’ and he mentioned all of the ten (who were promised the Garden).

At-Tirmidhi narrated that Abu Sacid said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘The ones of the highest ranks, those beneath them will see them as you see the stars rising over the horizon of the sky, and Abu Bakr and cUmar are among them.’ At-Tabarani also recorded it in hadith of Jabir ibn Samurah and Abu Hurayrah.

At-Tirmidhi narrated that Anas said that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to come out to his i ompanions of the Muhajirun and the Ansar while they were sitting, ttnlong them Abu Bakr and cUmar, and none of them would lift thci r eyes to him except for Abu Bakr and cUmar. They used to gaze upon him and he would gaze upon them and they would smile at him and he would smile at them.

At-Tirmidhi and al-Hakim narrated that Ibn cUmar said that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, went out one day and entered the mosque, with Abu Bakr and cUmar, one on his right hand side and the other on his left hand side, he holding their hands. He said, ‘Like this we will be raised up on the Day of Rising.’ At-Tabarani also recorded it in al-Awsat from Abu Hurayrah.

At-Tirmidhi and al-Hakim narrated that Ibn cUmar said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, laid, ‘I will be the first over whom the earth will split open, then Abu Bakr and cUmar.’ At-Tirmidhi and al-Hakim, and he declared it sahih, narrated that 'Abdullah ibn Hantab said that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, saw Abu Bakr and cUmar and said, ‘These t wo are hearing and sight.’ At-Tabarani also recorded it from hadith of Ibn cUmar and Ibn cAmr.

Al-Bazzar and al-Hakim narrated that Abu Arwa ad-Dawsi said:

I was with the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, (seated) and then Abu Bakr and cUmar came up, so he said, ‘Praise belongs to Allah Who has helped me through you two.’ It has been t ransmitted also in a hadith of al-Bara’ ibn cAzib, which at-Tabarani recorded in al-Awsat.

Abu Yacla narrated that cAmmar ibn Yasir said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘Jibril came to me previously and I said, “O Jibril, tell me of the merits of cUmar ibn al-Khattab.” He said, “Even if I were to tell you his merits for the length of time that Nuh remained among his people the merits of 'Umar would not be exhausted, and truly cUmar is one of the good actions of Abu Bakr.’” Ahmad narrated that cAbd ar-Rahman ibn Ghanam said that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to Abu Bakr and cUmar, ‘If you two were to agree on a counsel I would not oppose you.’ At-Tabarani also recorded it from a hadith of al-Bara’ ibn cAzib.

Ibn Sacd narrated that Ibn cUmar was asked, ‘Who used to give fatwa in the time of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace?’ He said, ‘Abu Bakr and cUmar and I know of no others apart from them.’ He narrated that al-Qasim ibn Muhammad said: Abu Bakr, cUmar, cUthman and cAli used to give fatwa in the time of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

At-Tabarani narrated that Ibn Mascud, may Allah be pleased with him, said that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘Truly, every prophet has an elect from his ummah and my elect from my ummah are Abu Bakr and cUmar.’ Ibn cAsakir narrated that cAli said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘May Allah show mercy to Abu Bakr. He wed me his daughter, and he carried me to the abode of the Hijrah, and he set Bilal free. May Allah show mercy to cUmar. He says the truth even if it is bitter. The truth has left him without a friend. May Allah show mercy to cUthman. The angels are shy of him. May Allah show mercy to cAli. O Allah, make the truth turn with him wherever he turns.’ At-Tabarani narrated that Sahl, may Allah be pleased with him, said: When the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came back from the Farewell Hajj, he ascended the minbar and praised Allah, then said, ‘People, Abu Bakr has never harmed me, so know that about him. People, I am pleased with him, and with cUmar, cUthman, cAli, Talhah, az-Zubayr, Sacd, cAbd ar-Rahman ibn cAwf, and the first emigrants (;muhajirun), so know that of them.’ cAbdullah ibn Ahmad [Ibn Hanbal] narrated in Zawa’id az-Zuhd that Ibn Abi Hazim said: A man came to cAli ibn al-Hussein and said, ‘What was the position of Abu Bakr and cUmar with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace?’ I Ic said, ‘Just like their position with respect to him this very hour.’ ( I hey are buried right beside the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace).

Ibn Sacd narrated that Bistam ibn Muslim said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to Abu Bakr and cUmar, ‘No-one shall have command over you after me.’ Ibn cAsakir narrated that Anas related, as a marfuc hadith, ‘Love of Abu Bakr and cUmar is iman (belief) and hatred of them is kufr (disbelief).’ He narrated that Ibn Mascud said: Love of Abu Bakr and cUmar and a knowledge of them is (a part) of the Sunnah.

And he narrated that Anas related as a marfuf, ‘I hope for my ummah in their love for Abu Bakr and cUmar what I hope for them in the saying, “No god but Allah.’”