A man came to the gathering of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and began slandering his closest companion, Abu Bakr radiAllahu anhu.
At first, Abu Bakr remained silent despite the torrent of disrespectful allegations being directed towards him.
The Holy Prophet ﷺ observed with a smile.
However, after some time, Abu Bakr protested against the inaccuracy of the allegations.
This led the Holy Prophet ﷺ to stand up and leave the gathering.
Distressed, Abu Bakr pursued the Holy Prophet ﷺ, and asked why the Holy Prophet ﷺ had left.
He received the reply “As you were silent, the angels were defending you. When you spoke, they were replaced by a devil.”
One of the most common responses to the existence of our own darkness is to project it onto another.
In this case, the accuser seems to have been projecting his own shadow onto the noble Abu Bakr.
It takes an immensely conscious being to resist the temptation of reacting to the projections of another, just as Abu Bakr did.
As Abu Bakr held the accuser’s projections, he was surrounded by an army of angels who supported and protected him.
When Abu Bakr retorted, the angels were replaced by a devil.
Now, by all accounts, Abu Bakr’s response was dignified and calm.
Abu Bakr was the most virtuous of the companions and beloved to the Beloved of Allah.
This incident was part of the spiritual training of Abu Bakr radiAllahu anhu, an indication of the immensely powerful inner condition the Holy Prophet ﷺ was preparing him for.
Yet, the angels were still replaced.
Do we have the inner stillness and God-consciousness to hold the projections of others in a detached, indifferent manner?
Are we sufficiently secure in our relationship with the Divine to know that He knows our reality, not the myopic humans who surround us?
Can we remain courteous even in times of provocation and discomfort?
Are we nurturing the inner strength to see through the human who stands in front of us, seeing instead the Almighty Educator who is teaching us by means of our circumstances?
Do we project our own sadness, frustration, anger, disappointment, or regrets onto others, making them bear the brunt of our own shadow?
This is an important area of focus for the last few days of Ramadan.