Abu Bakr (RA)

📰 Biography

• Full Name: Abdullah ibn Uthamn

• Titles: Al Siddiq (The Truthful One)

• Father: Uthman Abu Quhafa

• Mother: Salma Umm al-Khair

• Birth: 573 CE

• Death: 634 CE

• Length of Rule: 632 - 634 (2 Years)

❓Before Accepting Islam

Conversion

• He was the friend of the prophet from childhood and amongst the first to convert (first free adult male);

• When the revelation came, the Prophet (pbuh) went to see Abu Bakr who became Muslim straight away.

  "Abu Bakr was the only person who accepted Islam without any reluctance or hesitation, and without any argument."

• He became Muslim without hesitation, the Qur'an describes his acceptance as:

  And the one who has brought the truth and those who embrace it—it is they who are the righteous. (Surah Az-Zumar, 39:33).

• Was open about calling others to the new faith and persuaded many to accept Islam;

🌟 Abu Bakr during the Prophet's Lifetime

• His original name was Abdul Ka’ba, and was later given the name Abu Bakr due to his fondness of camels.

• He was a cloth merchant and quite wealthy. He was honest in trade and used his wealth to help others.

• Before Islam, he did not worship other gods nor did he drink wine as was customary for those of his status.

• He was the Prophet’s childhood friend, and the first adult male to accept Islam.

• He was a staunch supporter of the Prophet (pbuh), and was open about practising Islam.

• He brought other prominent Meccans to Islam.
  • E.g: Uthman (RA), Talha (RA), Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqqas (RA), Abdurrahman bin Awf (RA).

• Suffered persecution at hands of Quraish – hair pulled out while defending the Prophet.

• He purchased slaves and set them free like Bilal (RA);

• He gave his Aisha in marriage to Muhammad.

• He believed without reluctance the Prophet's account of the Night Journey, and was given the title Al Siddiq.

• At one point he set off for Abyssinia but returned when his friend offered him protection.

• He accompanied the Prophet on the hijra.
  • During that journey he was reassured by the Prophet and is referred to in the Qur'an.

    ‘’He being the second of the two when they were in the cave’’ (9:40).

• He participated in all major battles with the Prophet
  • In the battle of Uhad, he negated the rumour of the Prophet’s death and acted as a shield to save him.
  • He gave all his possessions to support the Tabuk expedition.

• He led 300 Muslims the first pilgrimage to Mecca.
  • Appointed Amir al-Hajj in 9AH

• He led the prayers during the Prophet's illness.
  • While Prophet was dying, all doors of the mosque were closed except the one leading to his apartment.

• When the Prophet passed away many companions refused to believe it, and it was Abu Bakr who came to address them telling them that the Prophet (pbuh) had passed away but God was alive and will never die.

  "Mohammad is no more than a messenger: many messengers that were before him passed away, if he died or were slain will you then turn back on your heels?’’ (3:144).

• He was elected as caliph soon after this.

👑 Abu Bakr as a Caliph (632-634)

🗳 Nomination

• The Prophet (pbuh) did not nominate a successor.

• Umar took Abu Bakr to the Saqifa of Bani Sa'ad where the Ansars and Muhajireen had gathered to elect a caliph;
  • ‘Ali was not present at this meeting as he was busy with the preparations of the final rites of the Prophet (pbuh).

• Whether the caliph was to be from the ansar, or the Quraysh was discussed at the meeting.
  • The ansars wanted a caliph from amongst them in view of their sacrifices for Islam, but Abu Bakr argued that the Arabs would not agree on any Amir other than a person from the Quraysh, at which point the ansars suggested the option of electing two Amirs, one from the Quraysh and one from the ansars, to which ‘Umar objected saying it would cause confusion in the umma.

• ‘Ubayda bin Jarra addressed the ansars at this point and said, ‘O Ansar! You were the first to uphold Islam do not be the first to sow the seeds of dissension in it.’ The ansars immediately withdrew their claim.

• Abu Bakr reminded them that the Prophet instructed that the leader should be from the Quraish tribe.
  • Abu Bakr’s persuasive argument to the gathering of why a Quraysh should lead the Muslims;

• Abu Bakr suggested the name of ‘Ubayda bin Jarrah and ‘Umar held the hand of Abu Bakr and pledged his allegiance.

• On seeing this people from all sides rushed to pledge their loyalty to Abu Bakr and a general pledge was taken the next day.

• Abu Bakr gave a speech (ELABORATE)
  • Candidates could also mention the speech made by him upon his election and that will be seen as development of the answer.

Expedition to Syria

Expansion into Persia and Byzantium

⚔ Wars of Apostasy

Refusal to pay Zakat

• The issue of the refusal to pay Zakat was a great test of the moral courage of Abu Bakr as the first Caliph of the Holy Prophet.

• After the demise of the Holy Prophet many surrounding tribes of Medina which had offered allegiance to Islam, sent a deputation to Abu Bakr with the proposal that their agreement with the Muslims had ended.

• A fresh agreement was necessary in which they should be relieved from the obligation to pay Zakat. Abu Bakr argued that Zakat was a fundamental injunction of Islam and had to be paid.
  • He called the Shura to discuss this matter who advised him to not take action against the rebelling tribes at the time.

• Seeing their proposal being rejected these tribes decided to forego Islam. Their decision was to attack Medina when the main Muslim army was in Syria.

• They attacked at night but found Abu Bakr with his army ready to fight.
  • The tribes were eventually defeated at Abraq by Abu Bakr.

• The apostates were defeated; many tribesmen died while others fled in confusion.

• After this battle many tribes sent their delegates to Medina, offered allegiance and paid Zakat.

• Once the main army returned from Syria, Abu Bakr led the force personally and defeated the tribes which resulted in them sending delegates to Madina not only offering their allegiance to the caliph but also expressing their willingness to pay zakat.

Significance

• They could say that had Abu Bakr not fought those who refused to pay zakat then perhaps one of the Pillars of Islam would have been abolished which would have meant the corruption of the faith. It was to maintain the integrity of Islam that this action had to be taken. Some candidates could also say that as collection of zakat was a state responsibility he may have felt that as caliph it was his duty to collect zakat from all Muslims in his caliphate. Evaluative responses are being looked for and candidates should for this answer give their opinion and back it up.

False Prophets

• After the Prophet’s death, some of the people rose in revolt against the authorities in Medina and renounced Islam.
  • Abu Bakr, without any delay, launched an expedition against this movement.
  • After collecting the troops at Medina, he divided them into eleven battalions each with an experienced commander, and sent them in eleven different directions to crush these revolts.
  • He instructed each commander to first invite these tribes to Islam. If any refused to comply they were to be attacked.
  • Some of the tribes accepted Islam but the others were stubborn and were dealt with harshly.
  • All campaigns were successful and Abu Bakr was able to re-establish control of Islam throughout the Peninsula.

• One of the problems facing Abu Bakr was a number of people in Arabia who claimed to be prophets like Muhammad.
  • When Abu Bakr was elected as the Caliph they started their preaching openly.
    • Among these false prophets were Tulaiha, Aswad al Ansi, Musailamah and Sajjah.

Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid ibn Nawfal al-Asadi:

• He was a wealthy leader of the Bani Asad and Ghatafan tribes in North Arabia.

• He was a renowned warrior who after initially opposing Islam embraced the faith in 630 only to rebel and proclaim himself as a prophet.

• He was accepted as a prophet by many tribes and he raised a strong force against the Muslims.

• Khalid ibn al-Walid was sent by Abu Bakr to quell his revolt and in the Battle of Buzakha in September 632 Tulayha was defeated.

• He escaped to Syria and after the Muslim conquest of that country converted to Islam again and participated in the battles of Jalula, Qadissiyah and Nihawand.

Al-Aswad al-'Ansi

• He was the leader of the 'Ansi tribe in Yemen.

• His dark complexion earned him the title al Aswad i.e. the black man,.

• He was also known as the veiled prophet as he covered his face to create an aura of mystery about himself.
  • He was an ugly man who kept his face veiled all the time.

• In the later years of the Prophet’s life al-Aswad claimed to receive divine guidance and used tricks to convince people of his miracles.
  • Being leader of his tribe, he revolted with the cooperation of the neighbouring chiefs.
    • With a large army he invaded Narjan and most of Yemen.

• He was the first false prophet who collected a large army in open revolt against Islam.

• He was defeated and killed by a Persian Muslim Firuz al Dhalaymi.

• After the Prophet’s demise his followers regrouped and revolted under Qais ibn ‘Abd Yaghus but were again defeated by Firuz.

Sajah bint-al-Harith:

• She was an Arab Christian from the tribe of Taghlib.

• She had a following as a soothsayer and after the Prophet’s death when many of her tribesman rejected Islam she declared herself as a prophetess.

• With a force of 4000 she marched towards Madina, but learning of Tulayhas defeat Sajah dropped her plans.

• She then joined forces with another false prophet Musailimah.

• She went on to marry him and accept his prophethood.

• Khalid ibn Walid crushed Sajah’s forces and then moved to tackle Musailimah who was killed in the battle of Yamama after which Sajah embraced Islam.

Musaylimah al-Kadhab

• The most dangerous of the false prophets was Musaylimah, who belonged to the large and influential tribe of Banu Hanifain in Yamama, Central Arabia.

• He was wealthy and powerful and used his influence to misguide people and declared himself a prophet during the Prophet’s lifetime.

• He parodied the verses of the Qur’an and invented some verses and even wrote to the Prophet saying he had been given a share in his prophethood.
  • The Prophet called him an ‘arch-liar’.

• He abolished the injunctions of the Qur’an and made permissible what was forbidden and succeeded in gaining a large following.

• After the Prophet’s death he challenged the caliphate of Abu Bakr which led to the Battle of Yamama in 632 and decided his fate.

⚔ Battle of Yamama

• In December 632, Musaylimah was in command of 40 000 Bedouin, some of whom did not believe his claims but had joined forces with him to support their tribe.

• Abu Bakr first sent Shurhbeel bin Hasanah and ‘Ikrimah to crush the rebellion and instructed them to wait for each other to launch a combined attack on Musaylimah.
  • They disobeyed him and hence were defeated.

• Abu Bakr then sent a larger force under the command of Khalid bin Waleed to Yamama.

• The Muslims, numbering 13 000, fought a long drawn out battle with many casualties as they met with a strong resistance.

• Eventually Musaylimah was killed by Wahashi al Harb

• In this battle about 800 Muslims were martyred. Amongst them were 360 Huffaz (memorizers of the Holy Qur’an).

Dangers

• The teachings of Islam could have been corrupted;
  • Unless they were overthrown Islam could not uphold its claims

• The purity of the religion would have been lost and many who called themselves Muslims in reality would be following a manmade faith.

• The first pillar of Islam would have been challenged as the second part of the shahada which deals with the risala and finality of the Prophet Muhammad would be contradicted if one believed in the so called prophets after Muhammad.
  • Their claims suggested that Muhammad was not the last prophet sent from God

• If variant readings were allowed the message of the Qur’an might be obscured.
  • These readings threatened the purity of God’s instructions
  • If they were allowed to continue the community might be split over different teachings

🥇 Main Achievements

1) 📗 Compilation of Qur'an

• In the battle of Yamamah several Huffaz laid down their lives.

• Hazrat Umar approached Hazrat Abu Bakr about the compilation of the Holy Qur’ran.

• He was of the opinion that soon the preservation of the Qur’an will become a major problem owing to the deaths of the Huffaz.

• Abu Bakr did not agree in the beginning but was later convinced by Umar and he ordered the compilation of the Holy Book under the supervision of Zaid bin Sabit.

2) 🦸‍♂️ The Saviour of Islam

• Abu Bakr is rightly called the saviour of Islam because of the vital services rendered by him. Soon after the Prophet’s death, he was the one to calm down the shocked Muslim community.

• Most of the companions including Umar were not ready to believe in the Prophet’s death. Abu Bakr on this occasion, delivered a convincing speech told all about the mortality of Mohammad by reciting:

  ‘’Mohammad is no more than a messenger: many messengers that were before him passed away, if he died or were slain will you then turn back on your heels?’’ (3:144).

• Later as a Caliph he suppressed the apostasy movement and thus preserved the fundamentals of Islam.

• False prophets challenged the second component of Shahada ‘’Mohammad is the final Messenger of God.’’ He defeated the false prophets and thus kept the unity of Islam.

• He fought and won against the tribes refusing to pay Zakah. By eradicating both, Abu Bakr defended the basic principles of Islam. (Shahadah and Zakah)

• Finally, by compiling the Qur’an, Abu Bakr ensured the unity of the Muslim community that depended on the Qur’an.

• He continued the Prophet’s intention to send expeditions to the north. [1 mark for the basic point, and 1 extra mark for details]

3) 📜 Administration

• Laid the foundation of a truly democratic state.

• Majlis e Shura — Always took advice from the great companions of the Prophet in all important matters.

• Divided the Calipahte into provinces under a governor.
  • The governor was responsible for military and administrative affairs.
  • Governer had an ‘’amil’’ to collect taxes and ‘’qazi’’ to administer justice.
  • All commanders and governors were selected on merit.

• He offered himself and his officers for strict accountability.
  • Even though there was no police force, all crimes and their perpetrators were dealt with in the light of the teachings from the Qur’an and sunna and if they were silent ijma was practiced.

• He built a ‘’bait-ul-maal’’ (treasury) to collect revenue.

• Established military cantonments and maintained a reserve force.

• Expanded the Muslim Empire into Persia and the Byzantines.

• Ensured the safety of non-Muslim subjects and allowed them to perform their religious duties.

• His annual income was 6000 Dirhams which he returned to the state by issuing instructions to sell a piece of land he owned when he was on his death bed