43 - Muhammad informed us, saying: Waki' reported, from Ja'far ibn Burqan, from Thabit ibn al-Hajjaj al-Kilabi, from Ibn al-'Afif, who said: I witnessed Abu Bakr while he was receiving the pledge of allegiance from the people after the death of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. A group of people would gather around him, and he would say to them: "Do you pledge your allegiance to me upon hearing and obeying Allah, His Book, and the leader?" He said: So I came to him while I was like a boy approaching puberty, or something similar, and I said: "I pledge my allegiance to you upon hearing and obeying Allah, His Book, and then the leader." He said: So he looked at me up and down, and I felt that I had impressed him."