Abu Bakr As-Siddique (the first of the rightly guided

caliphs- may Allah be pleased with him)

They both left Makkah under the cover of darkness. With simple provisions on

two camels, they headed towards Yemen. A few miles into the desert they

reached the mountain called Thawr. As they approached the cave in the heart of

the mountain, the younger one took the lead. He walked into the cave first to

make sure there were no dangers inside. The cave was small, barely able to fit the

two men and full of holes in the walls. He tore his garment and kept filling up

the holes one by one to prevent the venomous inhabitants from entering the

cavity. But one hole was left and he had no more garment to spare and so he sat

in a position where he put his bare foot over the hole. But soon he was bitten by

a poisonous being and the pain became excruciating. Yet he kept his lips shut

tightly lest the sacred one sleeping with his head in his lap wakens.

It was only the falling tears from his eyes on the cheeks of the beloved sleeper

that woke him up.

“Abu Bakr, what has happened?” asked the noble Prophet (peace be upon him)

and hearing what had happened to him, he applied his saliva at the bite site with

instant relief.

That is who he was. The closest companion of the Prophet of mercy (peace be

upon him) in life and in death. Father-in-law of the Prophet (peace be upon

him), the first of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, the most pious amongst the

Community after the Prophet (peace be upon him) and “As-Siddique” (the most

truthful) as they, who were with him and we today, remember him.

“Would I to choose any one as a close friend amongst humans, it would be none

other than Abu Bakr,” is what the noble Prophet (peace be upon him) once said.

His name was Abdullah bin Abu Qahafa and he belonged to the tribe of Banu-

Taim. His lineage meets that of the noble Prophet (peace be upon him). He was

called Abdul Ka’bah during the period of ignorance until the Prophet (peace be

upon him) changed his name to Abdullah. He was popularly known as Abu-Bakr

because of his love for camels (meaning the father of the foal of the camel).

The Prophet (peace be upon him) has been reported to have said that when he

presented the message of Islam to people, every one took their time before

answering except Abu-Bakr, who never hesitated for an instant. That is why he is

and always will be remembered as As-Siddique.

Not that his reputation was any different before he embraced Islam, but his

generosity saw no bounds after the conversion. He is credited with buying the

freedom of several of the slaves who had embraced Islam and were persecuted by

their idolater owners; the most celebrated of them was Bilal, the muezzin of the

Prophet (peace be upon him) and the slave of Umayyia-bin-Khalf. The Prophet

(peace be upon him) said that it was about Abu-Bakr that the following verses of

the Qur’an had come down,

“The pious will be far removed from it (Hell). He who spends his wealth

for increase in self-purification,” (Al-Lail, 17-18)

He was also credited with persuading many of his friends to embrace Islam.

Some of the most famous men who entered into Islam at his instance were:

Uthman-bin-‘Affan (the 3rd Caliph), Zubair-bin-‘Awam , Talha-bin-Ubaidullah,

Abdur-Rahman-bin-‘Awf, Sa’d-bin-abi-Waqas, Abu-Ubaidah-bin-al-Jarah.

Almost all Muslim children remember the story of the battle of Tubuk, when the

Prophet (peace be upon him) asked for all Muslims to donate generously for the

difficult expedition. All brought what ever they could. Umar-bin-Khattab was to

latter recall that he brought half of all his possessions and aspired to exceed the

offerings of Abu-Bakr. But Abu-Bakr brought all his possessions and when the

Prophet (peace be upon him) asked him what had he left for his family, Abu-

Bakr said, “Only the love of Allah and His Messenger.”

And though he was not an “Arms-man”, he never left the company of the

Prophet (peace be upon him). He had the honor of being a part of all major

battles, including Badr, Uhud, Khandaq as well as the ones present at the truce

of Hydaybia. His son who was part of the polyeithist army on Badr, later told him

that on that day he had held back from confronting his father, to which Abu-

Bakr replied, “If I had to face you, I would have made you the target of my

arrow.” That was how unflinching his love for Islam had become.

Perhaps the greatest example of his stature is Islam is what transpired at the time

of the death of the noble Prophet (peace be upon him). The Muslims were in a

state of shock at the demise of the Prophet and Umar-bin-Khattab stood up with

a naked sword in his hand and threatened to harm anyone who insisted that the

Prophet (peace be upon him) had died. It was only Abu-Bakr, who addressed the

bereaving crowd in the following words,

“Let it be know to the one who worships Muhammad (peace be upon

him), Muhammad is dead now. But he who worships Allah, He is Ever

Living and He never dies”

And then he recited the following verse of the Qur’an,

“Muhammad is no more than a messenger and indeed (many)

messengers have passed away before him. If he dies or is killed, will you

then turn back on your heels (as disbelievers)? And he who turns back on

his heels, not the least harm will he do to Allah.” (Ale-‘Imran, 144)

Ibn-‘Abbas later said that it was as if we had heard that verse for the first time

and as people started reciting it, better sense began to prevail and they all

including Umar realized that indeed the Prophet (peace be upon him) had

passed away.

His other inestimable service for Islam was the bringing together of the Qur’an

under one cover. At the battle of Yamamah a number of Muslims who were

memorizers of the entire Qur’an were killed. Umar-bin-Khattab expressed his

concern to the Caliph Abu-Bakr that unless efforts were made to preserve the

Qur’an, a large part of the revelation may be lost. Upon his insistence, Abu-Bakr

commanded Zayd-bin-Thabit the most prominent of the scribes of the revelation

to collect the entire Qur’an under one cover and so that is what Zayd did. The

complete manuscript remained with Abu-Bakr till his death and then was passed

on to the 2nd Caliph Umar-bin-Khattab and after his death to Umm-ul-

Mu’mineen Hafsa. Subsequent dispersion of the Qur’an to all over the world was

from this master copy and the credit rests with Umar and Abu-Bakr.

Amongst the honors conferred on to him by the Prophet was the leadership of

the first Hajj delegation as well as leading the congregational prayers of the

believers when the Prophet (peace be upon him) was too ill to lead himself.

Upon being elected as Caliph, his first statement was,

“I have been given the authority over you, and I am not the best of you. If

I do well, help me; and if I do wrong, set me right. The weak amongst

you shall be strong with me until I have secured his rights, if Allah wills;

and the strong amongst you shall be weak with me until I have wrested

from him the rights of others. Obey me as long as I obey Allah and His

messenger.”

His Caliphate lasted only 2 yrs and 3 months and yet during this time, he

successfully crushed the rebellion of the Bedouin tribes in the campaign against

apostasy which had started immediately after the demise of the noble Prophet

(peace be upon him). He also took up arms against those who refused to give the

obligatory Zakat, which was in direct conformity of the edict of the Qur’an, yet

none except him had the courage at that time to take this exemplary step. It was

during the Caliphate of Abu-Bakr that the military campaigns against the Persian

and the Byzantine Empires were launched, which subsequently lead to the fall of

both super powers of the day and the establishment of Islamic rule in land all

around Arabia. And yet he never took any thing from the immense state riches

for himself or his family. Only on the insistence of Umar and Abu-Ubaidah, did

he agree to a nominal salary from state funds and left his own cloth trade.

His instructions to his family at the time of his death were to burry him in an old

shroud, “The living deserve more to be in new clothes,” is what he said to them.

May Allah subhanahu wata’ala shower His Mercy and Blessings on Abu-Bakr As-

Siddique.

By Waqas Ahmed, MD