رَاجَعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فِي ذَلِكَ، وَمَا حَمَلَنِي عَلَى كَثْرَةِ مُرَاجَعَتِهِ إِلاَّ أَنَّهُ لَمْ يَقَعْ فِي قَلْبِي أَنْ يُحِبَّ النَّاسُ بَعْدَهُ رَجُلاً قَامَ مَقَامَهُ أَبَدًا، وَلاَ كُنْتُ أُرَى أَنَّهُ لَنْ يَقُومَ أَحَدٌ مَقَامَهُ إِلاَّ تَشَاءَمَ النَّاسُ بِهِ، فَأَرَدْتُ أَنْ يَعْدِلَ ذَلِكَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَنْ أَبِي بَكْرٍ.
`Aisha added, "I argued with Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) repeatedly about that matter (i.e. his order that Abu Bakr should lead the people in prayer in his place when he was ill), and what made me argue so much, was, that it never occurred to my mind that after the Prophet, the people would ever love a man who had taken his place, and I felt that anybody standing in his place, would be a bad omen to the people, so I wanted Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) to give up the idea of choosing Abu Bakr (to lead the people in prayer).
Reported by Al-Bukhari (No. 4445) and Muslim (No. 418d).
