Presenting Etiquette or Obedience in the Appointment of Abu Bakr

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: In the narration regarding the appointment of Abu Bakr, scholars discuss the issue of which takes precedence: etiquette or obedience? So, if the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered...

Answer:
The commentator mentioned it; al-Shawkani mentioned it. Abu Bakr prioritized etiquette with the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) over obeying the Messenger’s order for him to remain as the leader. The Prophet approved of what he did, indicating that prioritizing etiquette is more appropriate than prioritizing the order in such a case. Al-Shawkani cited evidence for this: when the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was at the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, and Suhayl ibn Amr, the representative of the polytheists, said, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Ali: “Write: In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy.” Suhayl said: “We do not recognize the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. Write: In the name of your Lord.” He said: “This is what Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, has made a treaty with.” Suhayl said: “If we had known you were the Messenger of Allah, we would not have fought you.” So Suhayl refused to write “Messenger of Allah.” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Ali: “Erase it.”
[The word] “Messenger of Allah,” so Ali refused to erase it, out of etiquette with the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Ali refused to erase it. So the Messenger took the paper and said: “Show me the word ‘Messenger of Allah’,” meaning the Messenger [did not read it], so he showed it to him, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) erased it. This falls under the category of committing the lesser of two harms to avert the greater of them. Erasing it does not harm the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Therefore, he said: Erasing it does not remove the message; rather, this is in the nature of averting the greater of the two harms. Yes, and Allah bestowed favor upon Suhayl ibn Amr, so he embraced Islam after that, and his Islam was good, and he became a leader among the leaders of jihad in the path of Allah. Yes.