Firstly: Abou Bakr Who Accompanied Muhammad in the Cave:

 In Sunnite history books, it is claimed that Abou Bakr was the one mentioned with Muhammad in the following verse: "If you do not help him, God has already helped him, when those who disbelieved expelled him, and he was the second of two in the cave. He said to his friend, "Do not worry, God is with us." And God made His tranquility descend upon him, and supported him with forces you did not see…" (9:40). We contemplate this verse in the following way, seeking the aid of God:

1- It is NOT a Quranic fact or a faith tenet to think that Abou Bakr was the one intended in 9:40, as no names are mentioned here. To insist on a certain historical figure intended by 9:40 is to reject and deny the Quran. History is not religion and vice versa; history is relative, while Quranic verses are absolute truths. History is a field of research, as for Quranic facts, we cannot venture to say that the Quran means a specific personality in 9:40, and this detail is omitted by God because it is of minor importance. It is OK to be ignorant of history, but it is not OK for one's faith to assert something as part of faith tenets that does NOT exist in the Quran.

2- The word 'friend' in 9:40 does not imply just merely accompaniment in the cave, but a friend whose relation with Muhammad lasted a lifetime, as 'friend' as a Quranic terms indicates a long relationship lasted for a long time or a lifetime. These verses illustrate this meaning: "O My friends in prison…" (12:39): this indicates cell inmates for a long time, and "His female friend and his brother" (70:12): this indicates a female spouse remaining as one's wife for a lifetime.

3- The term 'friend' in 9:40 does not indicate any sort of piety or guidance, nor a close friend as in 24:61, and thus, this friend was not necessarily a true faithful one; yet, Sunnites describe Abou Bakr as Seddiq (the truthful one) and the closest friend to Muhammad. How come they knew the veracity, or lack of it, of such a claim! 

4- In 9:40, Muhammad said to the one with him in the cave: "…Do not worry, God is with us…" (9:40), but later on in the same verse, tranquility and divine support are exclusively to Muhammad and NOT to this 'friend', and thus, the shared point between Muhammad and this friend is accompaniment and not anything else, whether this person is Abou Bakr or not is a matter of no importance at all.

5- the Quranic term 'friend' comes mostly in context of people who differed in faith. In one Quranic context, it indicates the ones with the same faith in the following verse: "But they called their friend, and he dared, and he slaughtered." (54:29). Elsewhere, the term 'friend' indicates differences in faith. Let us quote this example of two debating persons who differ in faith: one is a believer and one is a disbeliever: "And thus he had abundant fruits. He said to his friend, as he conversed with him, "I am wealthier than you, and greater in manpower." And he entered his garden, wronging himself. He said, "I do not think this will ever perish." "And I do not think the Hour is coming. And even if I am returned to my Lord, I will find something better than this in return." His friend said to him, as he conversed with him, "Are you being ungrateful to Him who created you from dust, then from a sperm-drop, then evolved you into a man?" (18:34-37).

6- What proves our point above is that Muhammad is described as a friend to those polytheists around him in Mecca, despite differences in faith between him and them: "Do they not think? There is no madness in their friend. He is but a plain warner." (7:184). "…There is no madness in your friend. He is just a warner to you, before the advent of a severe punishment." (34:46). God here asserts that Muhammad remained with them a lifetime, enough to know he was wise and reasonable, and they cannot accuse him of being mad or crazy or being misguided. "By the star as it goes down. Your friend has not gone astray, nor has he erred." (53:1-2).

7- Hence, we conclude from the above Quranic facts that whether Abou Bakr or someone else was in the cave, this 'friend' is not necessarily a guided believer, and the verse 9:40 contain indicators of the exact opposite: this 'friend' was not tranquil and aided by God like Muhammad. In sum, the Quran does not recommend Abou Bakr as a guided person. This verse is in Chapter Nine, the last one revealed shortly before the death of Muhammad, toward the end of the life of Abou Bakr, who was in the last two years of his life responsible for the calamities and atrocities of Arab conquests. Hence, the indicators in 9:40 show that this 'friend' is a mere company beside Muhammad, not necessarily a guided chosen person, but merely a contemporary like any other.

8- It is enough proof that Muhammad is described as a 'friend' to the polytheists despite differences in faith, in 7:184, 34:46, and 53:1-2; likewise, 9:40 shows friend in this sense, two men different in faith: Muhammad and the unknown person in the cave.

9- Hence, as per Quranic terminology, 'friends' of Muhammad were contemporaries around him who were adamant resisting polytheists, while true believers were poor and common ones away from him in terms of locality.

Secondly: Muhammad Tended to Accompany Rich Polytheists, and Not Poor Believers:

1- Let us contemplate this verse: "And be patient and content with those who pray to their Lord, morning and evening, desiring His Presence. And do not turn your eyes away from them, desiring the glitter of this world. And do not obey him whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance-so he follows his own desires-and his priorities are confused." (18:28). We understand three interlacing points from this verse: 1) Muhammad used to feel awkward and embarrassed from the poor believers, 2) he drove them away from his company, and 3) he tended to get closer to the rich polytheists to the extent that he obeyed them and he liked their material possessions.

2- The Quranic rebuke for Muhammad to turn away from the glitter of the material possessions in 18:28 is repeated in another verse: "And do not extend your glance towards what We have given some classes of them to enjoy-the splendor of the life of this world-that We may test them thereby. Your Lord's provision is better, and more lasting." (20:131). Even after immigration to Yathreb, Muhammad admired the wealthy ones, feeling they would influence the rest of city dwellers, as wealth exerts influence on people in all eras, and hypocrites in Yathreb were the wealthiest, but God has rebuked Muhammad twice in Chapter Nine: "Let neither their possessions nor their children impress you. God intends to torment them through them in this worldly life, and that their souls depart while they are disbelievers." (9:55) and "Do not let their possessions and their children impress you. God desires to torment them through them in this world, and their souls expire while they are disbelievers." (9:85). The repetition of the order means that Muhammad did not obey at once but made the mistake again. 

3- We notice the following points in the topic of Muhammad's feeling awkward and embarrassed by the poor believers to the extent that he drove them away to draw nearer to the rich unbelievers to the extent that he used to obey them:

3/1: let us note the strong expression in the following Quranic verse: "And be patient and content with those who pray to their Lord, morning and evening, desiring His Presence. And do not turn your eyes away from them, desiring the glitter of this world. And do not obey him whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance-so he follows his own desires-and his priorities are confused." (18:28).  Muhammad is commanded here to be patient with daily living alongside with poor believers and he should not look at and be impressed with the affluent ones that did not believe in the Quran; he should not obey them in anything as well.

3/2: Let us note the strong Quranic rebuke to Muhammad when he frowned upon a blind man among the believers hoping to appeal to one of the affluent ones among the unbelievers: "He frowned and turned away, when the blind man approached him. But how do you know? Perhaps he was seeking to purify himself or be reminded, and the message would benefit him. But as for him who was indifferent, you gave him your attention though you are not liable if he does not purify himself. But as for him who came to you seeking in awe, to him, you were inattentive" (80:1-10).

3/3: The arrogance of the retinue and affluent elite of non-believers in all eras and locations do not change; even those of Noah's people felt repugnant because the poor impecunious ones followed Noah, and used this pretext so as not to believe the divine message conveyed by him: "they said: "Shall we believe in you, when it is the lowliest who follow you?"" (26:111). ''…we see that only the worst among us have followed you, those of immature judgment…'' (11:27). Yet, Noah refused to drive away the poor believers and said to the unbelievers: "…And I am not about to dismiss those who believed…" (11:29). "And I am not about to drive away the believers." (26:114). As for Muhammad, he drove away the poor believers from his presence before the Qorayish affluent retinue told him to do it, thinking he would appeal to them to become believers, as they felt repugnant to look at and sit with the poor ones. The same divine order to Muhammad not to drive them away is repeated in another verse, indicating that Muhammad at first did not obey the divine order: "And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord, morning and evening, seeking His attention. You are not accountable for them in any way, nor are they accountable for you in any way. If you drive them away, you would be one of the unjust." (6:52). 

4- We note the following points in the topic of Muhammad's obeying the polytheists:

4/1: The divine order of not obeying them is repeated several times in the Quranic text from the very beginning, indicating that Muhammad at first did not obey this divine order. Let us quote verses that illustrate this: "So do not obey the deniers…And do not obey any vile swearer" (68:8-10), "…and do not obey the sinner or the blasphemer among them." (76:24), and "So do not obey the disbelievers…" (25:52).

4/2: Muhammad's obedience to them was to the extent that they were about to mislead Muhammad away from the Quranic revelation: "They almost lured you away from what We have revealed to you, so that you would invent something else in Our name. In that case, they would have taken you for a friend.Had We not given you stability, you might have inclined towards them a little." (17:73-74)

4/3: After immigration to Yathreb and moving away from Qorayish, Muhammad went on obeying some hypocrites among the affluent ones, and God repeats in the Quran the order twice in one chapter: "O Prophet! Fear God, and do not obey the unbelievers and the hypocrites…" (33:1) and "And do not obey the blasphemers and the hypocrites, and ignore their insults…" (33:48).

4/4: After the strong opposition of hypocrites and their manifested animosity toward Muhammad and the believers, and Islam in general, Muhammad kept trying to appeal to them to believe and cared to accompany them, even when they established a mosque to plot against the burgeoning religion, and he left the original mosque based on piety and filled with poor believers who sought to purify themselves: "Then there are those who establish a mosque to cause harm, and disbelief, and disunity among the believers, and as an outpost for those who fight God and His Messenger. They will swear: "Our intentions are nothing but good." But God bears witness that they are liars.Do not stand in it, ever. A mosque founded upon piety from the first day is worthier of your standing in it. In it are men who love to be purified. God loves those who purify themselves." (9:107-108).

4/5: Hypocrites used to mock and deride the poor believers in the presence of Muhammad because they contribute a little financially in charity and in military preparation of self-defense, and Muhammad used not to feel angry about this mockery as he used to ask pardon for mockers, but God warns these mockers that He will not forgive them even if Muhammad asked pardon for them: "Those who criticize the believers who give charity voluntarily, and ridicule those who find nothing to give except their own efforts-God ridicules them. They will have a painful punishment. Whether you ask forgiveness for them, or do not ask forgiveness for them-even if you ask forgiveness for them seventy times, God will not forgive them. That is because they disbelieved in God and His Messenger. God does not guide the immoral people." (9:79-80).

Thirdly: Reasons of Muhammad's Tendency to Accompany Rich Polytheists, and Not Poor Believers:

1- Of course, Muhammad felt sure of the strong faith and devotion of the poor weak ones; he used to fear for their being swept over by the others; that was why he tried hard to convince the strong and the affluent ones to convert to Islam. In striving to achieve that aim, he tended to accompany often the affluent polytheists, and not he poor believing ones. Yet, God asserts to him that most people will not believe despite his endeavors to guide them: "But most people, for all your eagerness, are not believers." (12:103). The Qorayish retinue and elite of affluent non-believers used to misguide not only themselves but others as well, and that was why God asserts they will never be guided despite the endeavors of Muhammad to guide them: "Even though you may be concerned about their guidance, God does not guide those who misguide others…" (16:37).

2- Muhammad focused on the endeavor and the arduous task of guiding them to the extent that God has reproached him: "…Will you compel people to become believers?" (10:99).

3- God orders Muhammad in the Quran not to feel grief because of their lack of belief, as their degree of misguidance could not allow them to be guided by him: "Perhaps you may destroy yourself with grief…if they do not believe in this…" (18:6). "What of him whose evil deed was made attractive to him, and so he regards it as good? God leads astray whomever He wills, and He guides whomever He wills. Therefore, do not waste yourself sorrowing over them. God knows exactly what they do." (35:8).

4- In Sum, Muhammad used to prefer the company of the rich affluent ones aiming to guide them to Islam, and he used to shun the common poor believers, and this habit persisted in both Mecca and Yathreb.

Fourthly: Political Conditions Entailed that Muhammad Was to Accompany Rich Polytheists, and Not Poor Believers:

1- Muhammad acted on his own using his human efforts, without knowing yet miracles worked by God via previous prophets. Muhammad had no miracles whatsoever, except the Quran itself, and he used to set plans along with the poor believers and execute these plans himself to strive and convince non-believers to convert to Islam. When he mistook, the Quranic revelation rebukes and commands him about what to do. Muhammad succeeded to face all challenges that were more than the ones anybody could face, and he managed to establish a utopic city-state of democracy, dreamt of by most philosophers, amidst Arabian deserts of aggression, enslavement, and tyranny typical of the Middle Ages. This city-state in Yathreb was pioneer in its era in terms of freedom and human rights.   

2- Islam in the Yathreb city-state has been an exceptional phase in that era in the 7^th century Arabia with its sharia and higher values of justice, absolute freedom, mercy, charity, human rights, and direct democracy, amidst Middle-Ages culture of enslavement, raids, tyranny, massacres, corruption, and military dominance. It was an age of religious wars and inquisition-like persecution, centuries before and after Muhammad. Islam was a light flashed for some time amidst such Dark Ages, when applied by Muhammad in Yathreb city-state, and then this light went off because of the crime of the Arab conquests committed once Muhammad died. Darkness reigns supreme in the life of the Muhammadans until the present moment, but the light of the Quran remains preserved in its verses despite of the Muhammadans until now.   

3- We see the vast gap now between the Quranic text and how they are applied now, and we can appreciate how Muhammad strove hard to apply them in Yathreb; this is his real tradition, preserved to the full within the Quranic verses. Of course, Muhammad had to deal with a dominant culture of bad notions represented by Qorayish tribesmen that used to distort the inherited Abrahamic religion and to trade with religious notions.  Tyranny and violence were the dominant features of all the surrounding lands of the ancient world known at the time: in Persia, Byzantium, China, and India. Application of the Quranic sharia entailed a great measure of flexibility and compatibility in how Muhammad dealt with power centers in his society. He managed and succeeded to apply the Quran, but as a human being, he made some mistakes, corrected by the divine revelation in the Quran by orders, commands, warnings, reproaches, etc. Let us not forget that Muhammad belonged to the same people who shared the same mentality: "Is it a wonder to the people that We inspired a man from among them: "Warn mankind, and give good news to those who believe that they are on a sound footing with their Lord"? The disbelievers said, "This is a manifest sorcerer."" (10:2), but he discarded the culture of his age to apply the Quran that represents a different culture altogether amidst those who refuse it. He managed to establish a city-state of real democracy and freedom in Yathreb in the 7^th century, and to appreciate this fully, let us not forget that the culture of corruption, tyranny, and enslavement of others still dominate until now in the majority of countries of the world today in modern times, especially in the countries of the Muhammadans, especially in the axis of evil and terror in the world: the KSA. We cannot possibly blame Muhammad due to the return of the culture of tyranny, corruption, and enslavement once he died, because of the Arab conquests committed by Arabs who still belonged to the Middle-Ages culture of violence. We should be proud of Muhammad who managed to do the impossible: to establish a Quranic utopia in Yathreb in the Middle Ages in Arabian deserts away from known civilizations at the time. He succeeded to establish the civilized application of Islamic sharia of the Quran in Yathreb. People do him injustice when they believe historical accounts about him written centuries after his death; such erroneous accounts show him as a bloodthirsty warrior and conqueror who killed POWs and struggled for looting and committing massacres and assassinations. Such falsehoods were fabricated by gods and deities of the Sunnite creed among scholars and scribes to re-create another character for Muhammad to justify crimes of caliphs in the Middle-Ages. Those who love Muhammad should no believe such fabrications authored by Al-Bokhary and Ibn Ishaq and their likes; his only history is found in the Quran exclusively.

4- In Egyptian civilization, Moses' Pharaoh confiscated power, authority, and wealth, and God has ordered Moses and Aaron to speak to him softly; see 20:44, and this is part of flexibility in terms of politics in dealing with self-deified tyrant. In Mecca, conditions were different with competing and fluctuating balance of power centers; some among Qorayish tribesmen believed in Islam, and the Hashemites defended Muhammad due to tribal rivalry only. That is why struggle was within grey areas. Hence, Muhammad had to try to neutralize the strongest unbelievers in Mecca as much as he could, hoping to guide some of them to Islam and to protect weak and poor believers. In Yathreb, things got more complicated; city-state had to be established while applying the Quranic sharia amidst dangerous mines like hypocrites, Jews, Bedouins, Qorayish military attacks, sieges, etc., and this meant emergency state most of the time, yet martial laws were never applied. The solution lied in absolute freedom of religion and peaceful opposition in deeds and words, with no holding arms of course. On their part, hypocrites made use of such unprecedented levels of freedom and opposition, but they never resorted to holding arms as they were afraid; see 9:56-57. Inside Yathreb, there were also faithful believers devoted to Islam and felt ready to sacrifice everything and their lives for the sake of God; see 3:151 and 3:172-173. The existence of that type of believers caused fright to the hypocrites, who used to show their hatred in words and deeds and then retreated and apologized using swearing falsely to protect themselves; see 63:2, because they feared any sort of confrontation with believers.

5- In sum, there were certain limits never crossed by both sides in Yathreb, believers and hypocrites, which entailed a type of compatibility mode and flexibility in grey areas within a tangled web of power centers relations complicated further by volatile events.

6- Muhammad was a mercy and a compassionate fellow with believers; see 9:61 and 9:128, who used to pardon those who harmed him and ask God's pardon for them; see 3:159 and 9:113-115. Muhammad cared for uniting all power centers in Yathreb to protect the weak against the oppression of the strong and to try to convince the affluent ones to convert to Islam. Muhammad was quite sure of the faith of the poor weak ones among the common people who did not aim at hypocrisy, fame, wealth, and showing off, as their only target was to please God; they were the forerunners in 9:100, whom history never mentions, but the Quran does. Such forerunners left the arena or the scene for those who seek transient worldly possessions and fame as they abused and manipulated Islam for their venal purposes as per Middle-Ages logic and culture: the culture of looting, invasion, massacre, and doing any crimes for money and possessions and authority and power. Once Muhammad died, such wayward hypocrites became the leaders of the Arab conquests, while forerunners sank into oblivion, trying to preserve their real faith from the deluge of crimes and insults and violation of the Quran done by such conquests. Islam is innocent of such crimes of Middle-Ages mentality, despite the fact that Arab conquests abused the name of Islam to justify their crimes.

Lastly: The Intended Meaning behind the Previously Mentioned:

Those who used to remain around Muhammad among the famous, rich, and leading Arabs among the Arab societies of tribalism and its influence of patriarchal culture and values are the ones who cared for maintaining their status of wealth and power and authority, and thus confiscated full power and dominance once Muhammad died. They committed the crime of Arab conquests and history glorified them, but God was angry of them due to their crimes perpetrated in the name of Islam. History ignored the names of believers among the faithful poor ones within the common people who refused to participate in that crime, fearing God and obtaining His mercy.