Abu Bakr was born in Mecca, a Quraishi of the Banu …show more content…
Taim clan. According to early Muslim historians, he was a merchant, and highly esteemed as a judge, as an interpreter of dreams, and as one learned in Meccan traditions. He was one of the last people anyone would have expected to convert to the faith preached by his kinsman Muhammad. Yet he was one of the first converts to Islam (see below) and instrumental in converting many of the Quraish and the residents of Mecca.
Originally called Abd-ul-Ka'ba ("servant of the house of God"), on his conversion he assumed the name of Abd-Allah (servant of God). However, he is usually styled Abu Bakr (from the Arabic word bakr, meaning a young camel) due to his interest in raising camels. Sunni Muslims also honor him as Al-Siddiq ("the truthful", or "upright"). His full name was Abd-Allah ibn Abi Quhaafah.
He was one of Muhammad's constant companions. When Muhammad fled from Mecca in the hijra of 622, Abu Bakr alone accompanied him. Abu Bakr was also linked to Muhammad by marriage: Abu Bakr's daughter Aisha married Muhammad soon after the migration to Medina. Once a wealthy man, he was known to have impoverished himself by purchasing the freedom of several Muslim slaves from polytheist masters.
During the prophet's last illness, it is said by some traditions that Muhammad allowed Abu Bakr to lead prayers in his absence, and that many took this as an indication that Abu Bakr would succeed Muhammad. Soon after the latter's death (on 8 June 632), a gathering of prominent Ansar and some of the Muhajirun, in Medina, acclaimed Abu Bakr as the new Muslim leader or caliph. What happened at this meeting, called Saqifah, is much disputed.
Abu Bakr's assumption of power is an extremely controversial matter, and the source of the first schism in Islam, between Sunni and Shia Islam. Shi'a believe that Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, Ali ibn Abu Talib, was his designated successor, while Sunnis believe that Muhammad deliberately declined to designate a successor. They argue that Muhammad endorsed the traditional Arabian method of shura or consultation, as the way for the community to choose leaders. Designating one's successor was the sign of kingship, or mulk, which the independence-minded tribesmen disliked. Whatever the truth of the matter, Ali gave his formal bay'ah, or submission, to Abu Bakr and to Abu Bakr's two successors. (The Sunni depict this bay'ah as enthusiastic, and Ali as a supporter of Abu Bakr and Umar; the Shi'a argue that Ali's support was only pro forma, and that he effectively withdrew from public life in protest). The Sunni/Shi'a schism did not erupt into open warfare until much later. Many volumes have been written on the affair of the succession. A detailed treatment can be found at Succession to Muhammad.
After suppressing internal dissension and completely subduing Arabia, Abu Bakr directed his generals towards the Byzantine and Sassanid empires. Khalid bin Walid conquered Iraq in a single campaign, and a successful expedition into Syria also took place. Fred Donner, in his book The Early Islamic Conquests, argues that Abu Bakr's "foreign" expeditions were merely an extension of the Ridda Wars, in that he sent his troops against Arab tribes living on the borders of the Fertile Crescent. Given that the steppes and deserts over which Arabic-speaking tribes roamed extended without break from southern Syria down to Yemen, any polity that controlled only the southern part of the steppe was inherently insecure.
Some traditions about the origin of the Qur'an say that Abu Bakr was instrumental in preserving Muhammad's revelations in written form. It is said that after the hard-won victory over Musailimah, Umar ibn al-Khattab (the later Caliph Umar), saw that many of the Muslims who had memorized the Qur'an from the lips of the prophet had died in battle. Umar asked Abu Bakr to oversee the collection of the revelations. The record, when completed, was deposited with Hafsa bint Umar, daughter of Umar, and one of the wives of Muhammad. Later it became the basis of Uthman ibn Affan's definitive text of the Qur'an. However, other historians give Uthman the principal credit for collecting and preserving the Qur'an. Shi'as strongly refute the idea that Abu Bakr or Umar had anything to do with the collection or preservation of the Qur'an.
Muslim scholars agree that the first woman to adopt Islam was Khadijah, Muhammad's first wife.
However, there is some disagreement whether Ali ibn Abu Talib or Abu Bakr was the first male to convert. Many Muslims learn only that "Abu Bakr was the first adult male; Ali was the first boy". This glosses over the difficulty. One of the earlier sources we have for Islamic history is a work called the Sirat Rasulallah, by Ibn Ishaq, known only from excerpts quoted by Ibn Hisham and Tabari. Ibn Ishaq tells two stories about Abu Bakr's and Ali's conversion. One story puts Abu Bakr first in time, another puts Ali. Since the Sunni/Shi'a schism was hardening just at the time Ibn Ishaq wrote, it seems predictable that two stories would be current: one, Shi'a, putting Ali first, and one, Sunni, putting Abu Bakr first. Without any further evidence, it is impossible to say which story is …show more content…
correct.
Troubles emerged soon after Abu Bakr's succession, threatening the unity and stability of the new community and state.
Various Arab tribes of Hejaz and Nejd rebelled against the caliph and the new system. Some withheld the zakat, the alms tax, though they did not challenge the prophecy of Muhammad. Others apostatized outright and returned to their pre-Islamic religion and traditions, classified by Muslims as idolatry. The tribes claimed that they had submitted to Muhammad and that with Muhammad's death, they were again free. Abu Bakr insisted that they had not just submitted to a leader but joined the Muslim religious community, of which he was the new head. Apostasy is a capital offense under traditional interpretations of Islamic law, and Abu Bakr declared war on the rebels. This was the start of the Ridda wars, Arabic for the Wars of Apostasy. The severest struggle was the war with Ibn Habib al-Hanefi, known as "Musailimah the Liar", who claimed to be a prophet and Muhammad's true successor. The Muslim general Khalid bin Walid finally defeated al-Hanefi at the Battle of
Akraba.
In conclusion Abu Bakr died on August 23, 634 in Medina. Shortly before his death (which one tradition ascribes to poison, another to natural causes) he urged the Muslim community to accept Umar ibn al-Khattab as his successor. The community did so, without serious incident.
(This succession also is a matter of controversy; Shi'a Muslims believe that the leadership should have been assumed by Ali ibn Abu Talib, without any recourse to shura.)
Abu Bakr initially served without pay. His followers insisted that he take an official stipend. At his death, his will returned all these payments to the treasury (Age of Faith, Durant, p. 187).
Abu Bakr lies buried in the Masjid al Nabawi mosque in Medina, alongside Muhammad and Umar ibn al-Khattab.