454. Humayd bin Ziyad narrated from Al-Hassan bin Muhammad Al-Kindy from someone else from Aban ibn Uthman from Al-Fadhl from Zurara that Abu Ja’far (al-Baqir) (as) said: "When the people did what they did, they pledged their allegiance to Abu Bakr. Nothing prevented Amir al-Mu'minin (as) from inviting people to follow him except that he looked at the people and feared that they might turn away from Islam, worship idols, and not testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. It was dearer to him to affirm their actions than to risk them apostatizing from Islam altogether. Those who perished were those who committed what they committed. As for the one who did not engage in that and entered what the people entered without animosity towards Amir al-Mu'minin (as), that does not make him an apostate or expel him from Islam. For that reason, Ali (as) kept his affair secret and gave allegiance under compulsion where he found no support."