Shaykh ibn ‘Abdi Rabbihi narrates in his book Bahjat al-Majaalis that the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon Him) has said: “A throne will be placed near the siraat (bridge) on the Day of Judgement. An Angel will appear and will stand on its first step. The Angel will announce, “O Muslims! Those who have recognized me have indeed recognized me, and those who have not then they should know that I am the Maalik of the hellfire. I have been ordered by Allah to hand over the keys of hell to Muhammad and Muhammad has ordered me to hand over the keys to Abu Bakr. Yes! Yes! Bear witness! Bear Witness!” Then a second Angel will come and will stand on the second step of the throne and will say, “O Muslims! Those who have recognized me have indeed recognized me, and those who have not then they should know that I am Ridwan of Jannah [paradise]. I have been ordered by Allah to hand over the keys of paradise to Muhammad and it is the order of Muhammad that I hand over the keys to Abu Bakr. Yes! Yes! Bear witness! Bear Witness!”
(This hadith has also been mentioned by Allama Ibrahim bin Abdullah al-Madani al-Shafi’i in the seventh chapter, Al-Tahqiq fi Fadli Al-Siddiq, in his book, Al-Iktifa Fi Fadli al-Arba’ati al-Khulafa.)
