Mufti I got a quick question, where I cannot find the daleel to it eventhough I heard it a lot of times. The question is, will Abu Bakr (radi Allah 3anhu) receive an accountability record on the day of resurrection, if so can you please show me the hadith? I heard it from many sheikhs and I personally believe it is an authentic hadith, but I have no isnad nor do they provide it when they mention this narration. Mufti, just so the question was clear, is there a hadith where the Prophet (peace be upon him) says that Umar (radhi Allah 3anhu) will be the first to receive his book in his right hand of the ummah and the rest of the companions were amazed it wasnt Abu Bakr, so the Prophet exclaimed: “wa ma tathunoo ana lahu kitab?”, that who told you Abu Bakr has a book?

Praise
be to Allah.

Firstly: 

Al-Bukhaari (3671) narrated that Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah said: I said to
my father – who was ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib (may Allah be pleased with him) –:
“Which  of the people is best after the Messenger of Allah (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him)? He said: Abu Bakr. I said: Then who? He said:
Then ‘Umar. 

Imam Ahmad (835) narrated that Abu Juhayfah said: I heard ‘Ali (may Allah be
pleased with him) say: Shall I not tell you the best of this ummah after its
Prophet? (It is) Abu Bakr. Then he said: Shall I not tell you the best of
this ummah after Abu Bakr? (It is) ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him).
The commentators on al-Musnad said: Its isnaad is hasan. 

Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa‘ah are unanimously agreed that the best of this
ummah after its Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) is Abu
Bakr as-Siddeeq, then ‘Umar, then ‘Uthmaan, then ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased
with them all). 

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

They – i.e., Ahl as-Sunnah – affirm that which is narrated in mutawaatir
reports from Ameer al-Mu’mineen ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib (may Allah be pleased
with him) and others: that the best of this ummah after its Prophet is Abu
Bakr, then ‘Umar, and they mentioned the third one as ‘Uthmaan and the
fourth one as ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with them all), as is indicated by
the reports. 

End quote from al-‘Aqeedah al-Waasitiyyah (p. 117) 

Please see also the answer to question no. 34577 

Secondly: 

With regard to the hadith which speaks of Abu Bakr and says that he will
enter Paradise without being detained for the reckoning, it is a weak hadith
that is not saheeh (sound). It was narrated by Abu Nu‘aym in Tareekh
Asbahaan (2/370), and via him by al-Khateeb in al-Muttafaq
wa’l-Muftaraq (2/38), via Ibraaheem ibn Abi Yahya who said: Abu ‘Umar
ad-Dareer narrated to us, from Hammaad ibn Salamah, from Hishaam ibn ‘Urwah,
from his father, from ‘Aa’ishah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “O ‘Aa’ishah, all the people will be
brought to account on the Day of Resurrection except Abu Bakr.” 

Ibn Abi Yahya is al-Mukattab, a man who is unknown. He was mentioned by Abu
Nu‘aym in Akhbaar Asbahaan, but he did not mention any any evaluation
of him as a narrator, therefore his report is odd (munkar); how could he
have been the only one to narrate it with this good isnaad without any other
narrators referring to it? As that is the case, the report is deemed to be
odd and weak. 

One of the reasons why a hadith may be deemed to be odd and weird is that a
report is narrated only by an unknown narrator who is not known to the
scholars of hadith. If a hadith is narrated only by an unknown narrator, the
scholars regard his hadith as odd because of him being the only one to
narrate it. 

See: Manhaj al-Imam Ahmad fi I‘laal al-Ahaadeeth (2/869); al-Hadeeth
al-Munkar ‘inda al-Imam Abu Haatim ar-Raazi – Diraasah Tatbeeqiyyah (p.
13) 

It
was narrated by Ibn al-Jawzi in al-‘Ilal al-Mutanaahiyyah (1/190) via
Dawood ibn Sagheer who said: Katheer an-Nuwa’ narrated to me that Anas ibn
Maalik said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) said: I said to Jibreel when he took me on the Night Journey (al-Isra’)
up to heaven: “O Jibreel, will my ummah be brought to account?” He said: 
All of your ummah will be brought to account except Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq. On
the Day of Resurrection, it will be said to him: O Abu Bakr, enter Paradise.
He will say: I will not enter it until those who loved me in the previous
world enter it with me. 

Immediately after narrating this, Ibn al-Jawzi commented: 

This hadith is not saheeh. Dawood ibn Sagheer is majrooh (i.e., he is not
credible). Al-Khateeb said: He was da‘eef. Ad-Daaraqutni said: He is munkar
al-hadith (i.e., his hadith is odd). As for Katheer an-Nuwa’, an-Nasaa’i
said: He is da‘eef. End quote. 

Adh-Dhahabi said in al-Mizaan (3/500), concerning the biography of
Muhammad ibn Ja‘far al-Baghdaadi: 

It
was narrated from Dawood ibn Sagheer in a false report, from Katheer an-Nuwa’,
from Anas, in a marfoo‘ report: “O Jibreel, will my ummah be brought to
account?” He said: Yes, apart from Abu Bakr… Moreover, Dawood is not
credible. End quote. 

It
was also mentioned by ash-Shawkaani in al-Fawaa’id al-Majmoo‘ah (p.
35). He said: It is mawdoo‘ (fabricated). 

Thirdly: 

With regard to the second hadith, according to which ‘Umar will be the first
one to take his book in his right hand, it was narrated by ath-Tha‘labi in
his Tafseer (2358), by Ibn ‘Asaakir in his Tareekh (30/154),
al-Khateeb in his Tareekh (11/202) and Ibn al-Jawzi in al-Mawdoo‘aat
(1/320), via ‘Umar ibn Ibraaheem ibn Khaalid: Marhoom ibn Artabaan, the
cousin of ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Awn narrated to us that he said: ‘Aasim al-Ahwal
narrated to us, from Zayd ibn Thaabit, who said: The Messenger of Allah
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “The first one of this
ummah to be given his book in his right hand will be ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab,
and it will shine with rays like the rays of the sun.”

It
was said to him: Where will Abu Bakr be?  

He
said: “He will already have been taken by the angels to Paradise.” 

Ibn al-Jawzi said, immediately after quoting this report: The hadith is not
saheeh; the one who is accused is ‘Umar, who is known as al-Kurdi. Ad-Daaraqutni
said: He was a liar who used to fabricate hadiths. End quote. 

It
was also quoted by ash-Shawkaani in al-Fawaa’id al-Majmoo‘ah (p.
336). He said: 

The one who is accused is ‘Umar ibn Ibraaheem ibn Khaalid al-Kurdi.

Regarding this ‘Umar, ad-Daaraqutni said: He was a liar and evildoer. Al-Khateeb
said: His is not trustworthy. He also said: He narrated odd reports. Ibn
‘Uqdah said: He is da‘eef. 


Lisaan al-Mizaan
(4/280) 

It
was narrated by Ibn Abi ‘Aasim in Kitaab al-Awaa’il (82), via Habeeb
ibn Zurayq: the nephew of az-Zuhri narrated to us, from his paternal uncle,
from al-Qaasim ibn Muhammad, from Ibn ‘Abbaas, who said: The first one to be
given his book in his right hand will be Abu Salamah ibn ‘Abd al-Asad. This
is a fabricated hadith, and the problem with it is Habeeb ibn Zurayq. Abu
Haatim said: He narrated fabricated hadiths from the nephew of az-Zuhri. 

Abu Dawood said: He was one of the most mendacious of people. 

Ibn ‘Adiy said: All his hadiths are fabricated. 


Mizaan al-I‘tidaal
(1/452) 

With regard to the words regarding Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him):
“Who told you that he will have a book?” – We do not know of any basis for
this in any of the reports. 

Please see also the answer to question no. 174528

And Allah knows best.