Abu Bakr al-Siddiq

Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, Abd Allah ibn Uthman ibn Amir, called "Atiq" and "al-Siddiq", the first of the Prophet's caliphs. He accompanied him in the emigration and succeeded him in leading the people in prayer. His full biography in "Usd al-Ghaba" runs from page 701 to page 713. ¹

It is disputed why he was called "Atiq". It is said for the beauty of his face; it is said that there was nothing in his lineage that could be faulted; it is said that the Prophet told him: "You are God's freed man from the Fire." ² He was called "al-Siddiq" because he affirmed the Prophet when he told him of the Night Journey, and he said: "I affirm him in what is even more distant than that." ²

Ibn al-Athir relates from Abu Bakr himself that he was in Yemen before the mission, and heard someone say that a prophet was awaited; then he met Waraqa ibn Nawfal and told him, and Waraqa said that this prophet would be of the middle of the Arabs in lineage; when the Prophet was sent, he believed and affirmed him. ³ Ibn Abbas relates that Abu Bakr was the first man to accept Islam, as he cites from the verse of Hassan. ⁴ Abu Bakr himself said: "I saw myself, and I was the fourth of Islam." ⁴

Anas relates that when the Prophet went out emigrating to Medina, Abu Bakr was with him, and he knew the road better; if anyone asked him "who is this with you?" he said: "This guides me to the way." ⁵ Al-Bara' relates the story of Abu Bakr buying a saddle, and his asking al-Bara' to carry it, and al-Bara' insisted that he tell him about the departure. ⁵

The Prophet said to Abu Bakr, according to Ibn Umar: "You are my brother and my companion in the cave." ⁶ Ali relates that the Prophet said to the two of them on the day of Badr: "With one of you is Gabriel, and with the other Michael and Israfil." ⁶ This is among the reports circulated in the books; its chain has not been checked here.

Ibn al-Athir relates that one of the polytheists choked the Prophet until he nearly killed him, and Abu Bakr came, seized his shoulder and pushed him away, and said: "Will you kill a man because he says: my Lord is God?" ⁷

Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf (may God be pleased with him) relates that the Prophet said: "Abu Bakr is in Paradise, and Umar is in Paradise..." and he counted ten. ⁷

Ibn Umar relates that the people used to say that the best of the community was the Prophet, then Abu Bakr, then Umar. ⁸ Al-Sha'bi relates from Ibn Abbas that he was the first to accept Islam. ⁴ Abu Salih relates that Umar beat the man who preferred anyone to Abu Bakr, then preached: "Lo, the best of this community after its prophet is Abu Bakr." ⁹

The latest report Ibn al-Athir gives from al-Hasan al-Basri is that the Prophet appointed Abu Bakr as successor, and that there is no doubt of that. ¹⁰ Ibn Mas'ud relates that the Prophet said: "Follow those after me: Abu Bakr and Umar." ¹⁰ It is related that Umar used to look after a blind old woman on the outskirts of Medina, and found that Abu Bakr had got to her before him, while he was then caliph, and said: "By my life, you are the one." ¹¹

When the Prophet died Umar said that no one would say the Prophet had died without him striking him with his sword. They went to Abu Bakr and he came, uncovered the Prophet and confirmed his death, and recited: "Indeed you will die, and they will die." ¹² People asked him about the prayer over him and his burial, and he answered them. ¹²

Ibn Ishaq said he died on Friday, seven nights before the end of Jumada al-Akhira 13 AH, and Umar ibn al-Khattab (may God be pleased with him) prayed over him. Others said he died on the evening of Monday, and it is said on the night of Tuesday, and it is said on the evening of Tuesday, eight nights before the end of Jumada al-Akhira. ¹³

• All of the above is from Ibn al-Athir's "Usd al-Ghaba", which gathers the reports with their chains and notes the differences among them. The reports have not all been checked against the Sahihs and the Sunan.
• The reports that the Prophet designated Abu Bakr for the caliphate are the subject of well-known disagreement between the Sunnis and others; here we give the view of al-Hasan al-Basri as Ibn al-Athir reports it, and we do not weigh between the views.
• The duration of the caliphate and the day of death are not fixed here by a particular day; the reports differ in the same text, and a second source is needed before naming a day.
• The Quranic link: Abu Bakr recited the verse at death, namely Surat al-Zumar, 30.

On the expedition of Dhat al-Salasil Rafi' ibn Abi Rafi' al-Ta'i accompanied him to learn from him, and he charged him with the oneness of God, the prayer, the alms, fasting in Ramadan, the pilgrimage and the washing from major impurity, and never to be in command over two men of the Muslims; he gave as the reason that the Muslims are God's protected ones and His neighbours and under His covenant, so God's protection should not be betrayed among them. ¹⁴ Rafi' mentions his Fadakiyya cloak which he used to fasten with a skewer, and that the people of Najd said when they apostatised: "We give our allegiance to the one with the cloak." ¹⁴ When he became caliph Rafi' reminded him of his prohibition, and he said: "I find no alternative; I feared division for the community of Muhammad." ¹⁵

The book counts him among the four who accepted Islam on the first day of the call, the intimate friend of the Prophet. ^{16 17} He then became active in calling to Islam; he was a sociable, beloved and easy man of character and kindness, whose people came to him and befriended him for his knowledge, his trade and his good company. He began to call those he trusted among those who came to him and sat with him, and by his call Uthman, al-Zubayr, Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, Sa'd and Talha accepted Islam (the secret call). ^{18 19}

When the harm grew after the death of Abu Talib, he sought to emigrate from Mecca, until he reached Barak al-Ghimad, and Ibn al-Dughunna brought him back under his protection. ²⁰ One day while he was circling the House, Utba ibn Rabi'a struck him very hard with two sandals until the Banu Taym carried him away in a garment, thinking he was dead. When he came to himself he asked about the Prophet, and his mother and Umm Jamil carried him to the house of al-Arqam. ²¹

The book says that he was called al-Siddiq for affirming the Night Journey when people denied it (the Night Journey and the Ascension). ²²

He prepared for the emigration; the Prophet said to him: "Wait a little," and he held himself back to accompany the Prophet, and fed two riding camels with the leaves of the sumac for four months (the emigration of the Muslims). ^{23 24}

He went out with the Prophet from a small door in his house to the cave of Thawr. He entered it before him to clean it, and blocked a hole in it with his garment; he was stung in the foot, and did not move, lest he wake the Prophet (the Prophet's departure from his house and hiding in the cave). ²⁵

The Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.) entry on Abu Bakr, the first caliph, gives his birth as shortly after 570, three years younger than Muhammad. His father was Abu Quhafa 'Uthman b. 'Amir of the Taym clan of Quraysh, and his mother was Umm al-Khayr Salma bint Sakhr. The article notes that he was called 'Abd Allah or 'Atiq as well as Abu Bakr, and that his title al-Siddiq is read by some as "one who counts true", since he alone believed at once in the night journey. He had four wives: Qutayla, by whom he had 'Abd Allah and Asma'; Umm Ruman (may God be pleased with her), by whom he had 'Abd al-Rahman and 'A'isha; Asma' bint 'Umays, by whom he had Muhammad; and Habiba bint Kharija, by whom he had Umm Kulthum after his death. The article calls the last two marriages political. Before his conversion he was a merchant worth 40,000 dirhams. ²⁶

The Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.) entry says that Abu Bakr was Muhammad's chief adviser and the first to know the aim of the expedition that took Mecca in 8/630. He had no separate command except a small party in 6/627 and a minor expedition against Hawazin in 7/628, and in 8/629 he served under Abu 'Ubayda. Muhammad had him lead the pilgrimage of 9 AH and the public prayers in his last illness, which marked him as successor. After Muhammad's death on 13 Rabi' I 11/8 June 632, the Ansar were persuaded by 'Umar and others to accept him, and he took the title Khalifat Rasul Allah. The article says that the ridda involved six centres of revolt, four led by men with a religious claim: al-Aswad al-'Ansi in the Yemen, Musaylima among the Hanifa, Tulayha among Asad and Ghatafan, and the prophetess Sajah among Tamim. Musaylima was defeated and killed at 'Aqraba' about May 633, and Abu Bakr showed clemency to many captured leaders. The traditional view that the ridda ended before the end of 11 AH is doubted by Caetani, who puts the end into 13/634; the article holds that the ridda was more probably both religious and political. ²⁷

Abu Bakr kept Muhammad's plan of sending Usama towards Syria, and once Musaylima was removed he sent Khalid to Iraq; the article calls this the start of the great conquests, whose chronology modern critics have revised. By his death, Khalid had raided Iraq and joined the Muslim columns under Yazid b. Abi Sufyan, Shurahbil b. Hasana and 'Amr b. al-'As in Palestine, and the united forces defeated the Byzantines at al-Ajnadayn in Jumada I 13/July 634. Abu Bakr died on 22 Jumada II 13/23 August 634 and was buried beside Muhammad. The article notes that the legend of his simplicity has a kernel of truth, and that the claim that he began the collection of the Qur'an is now usually held to be mistaken. ²⁸

The Sheikh reports that Abu Bakr al-Siddiq said that even if one of his feet were inside Paradise and the other outside, he would not feel secure from God's plan (needs_source) ²⁹. The Sheikh explains the word hadiqa, saying it is so called because it is enclosed by trees, in the course of speaking of the gardens of the God-fearing An-Naba 31 ²⁹.

The Sheikh says the Prophet used to climb the minbar, which had three steps, from his migration to Medina until his death (needs_source) ³⁰. He mentions that Abu Bakr would sit on the first step of the minbar, always looking at the face of the Messenger of God ³¹. He describes Umar as a man of frank opinion who could not hide it, who argued with Abu Bakr, while Abu Bakr, a man of few words, did not answer him ³¹. He relates that the Prophet took Abu Bakr and embraced him, asking whether they would leave his companion to him (needs_source) ³². He tells that Abu Bakr and Umar visited the Prophet, Bilal called the afternoon prayer, and the two Companions went out with him, his hand on the shoulder of Abu Bakr on his right and on the shoulder of Umar, and that he said the three of them enter Paradise in just this way (needs_source) ³³.

The Sheikh says that Abu Bakr was named al-Siddiq from that day on, because he told the Prophet that he had spoken truly (needs_source: the Sheikh's statement; the lecture gives no source for the episode). ³⁴

The Sheikh relays a saying attributed to Abu Bakr: whoever sees him angry should keep away from him, since a forbearing man who is angry is like a violent wind (needs_source). ³⁵

He says that Abu Bakr told people that he was their leader but not the best of them, and asked them to obey him only so long as he obeyed God (needs_source). ³⁶

He quotes Abu Bakr describing being afflicted by the devil, the world, his own soul and his desire, and asks how one may be saved from them (needs_source). ³⁷

He recounts that when Abu Bakr was asked about the Prophet on a journey, he said that this man was his guide along the road, and people took the answer to mean that he would guide them through the desert. ³⁸

He draws out that Abu Bakr's answer was true in meaning, since the Prophet guides all people (needs_source). ³⁹

He recounts Abu Bakr's advice to Umar that God has duties by night and by day, and that none of them is accepted outside its time (needs_source). ⁴⁰

He cites a hadith in which the Prophet asked who had fed a poor man that morning: Umar said he had been with the Prophet all morning, and Abu Bakr said he had been on his way to the mosque (needs_source). ⁴¹

The Sheikh divides lies into kinds according to their colours, says that lying to reconcile people is permitted, and cites Abu Bakr's answer to the Quraysh as an example of a permitted lie (needs_source). ⁴²

He recounts that Abu Bakr vomited milk after doubting where it came from, and says that doubtful food is a main reason why prayers are not answered (needs_source). ⁴³