Editing Abu Bakr (section)

=== Abu Bakr as Amir al-Hajj ===
In 630–631 (AH 9), Muhammad assigned Abu Bakr as the {{Transliteration|ar|[[amir al-hajj]]}} to lead around 300 pilgrims from Medina to Mecca.{{sfn|Hathaway|2015}} In 631 AD, Muhammad sent from Medina a delegation of three hundred Muslims to perform the [[Hajj]] according to the new Islamic way and appointed Abu Bakr as the leader of the delegation. The day after Abu Bakr and his party had left for the Hajj, Muhammad received a new revelation: Surah [[At-Tawbah|Tawbah]], the ninth chapter of the [[Quran]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Razwy |first1=Sayed Ali Asgher |title=A Restatement of the History of Islam & Muslims |page=255}}</ref> It is related that when this revelation came, someone suggested to Muhammad that he should send news of it to Abu Bakr. Muhammad said that only a man of his house could proclaim the revelation.<ref>{{cite book |last1=ibn Ishaq |first1=Muhammad |title=The Life of the Messenger of God}}</ref>

Muhammad summoned Ali and asked him to proclaim a portion of Surah Tawbah to the people on the day of sacrifice when they assembled at [[Mina, Saudi Arabia|Mina]]. Ali went forth on Muhammad's slit-eared camel and overtook Abu Bakr. When Ali joined the party, Abu Bakr wanted to know whether he had come to give orders or to convey them. Ali said that he had not come to replace Abu Bakr as Amir Al-Hajj and that his only mission was to convey a special message to the people on behalf of Muhammad.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-11-10 |title=The Proclamation of Surah Bara'ah or Al Tawbah |url=https://al-islam.org/restatement-history-islam-and-muslims-sayyid-ali-asghar-razwy/proclamation-surah-baraah-or-al-tawbah |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=al-islam.org |language=en}}</ref>

At Mecca, Abu Bakr presided at the Hajj ceremony, and Ali read the proclamation on behalf of Muhammad. The main points of the proclamation were:

#Henceforward the non-Muslims were not to be allowed to visit the [[Kaaba]] or perform the pilgrimage;
#No one should circumambulate the Kaaba naked;
#[[Polytheism]] was not to be tolerated. Where the Muslims had any agreement with the polytheists such agreements would be honoured for the stipulated periods. Where there were no agreements, a grace period of four months was provided and thereafter no quarter was to be given to the polytheists.

From the day this proclamation was made, a new era dawned, and Islam alone was to be supreme in Arabia.