Abu Bakr

“ Abu Bakr was a man who used to weep too much, and he could not help weeping on reciting the Quran. That situation scared the nobles of the pagans of Quraish, so they sent for Ibn Ad-Daghina. When he came to them, they said, "We accepted your protection of Abu Bakr on condition that he should worship his Lord in his house, but he has violated the conditions and he has built a mosque in front of his house where he prays and recites the Quran publicly. We are now afraid that he may affect our women and children unfavorably. ”

“ For a few months, indeed, Arabia wavered, the Bedouin tribes 'started aside like a broken bow' and revolted; but Abu Bakr, by a perfectly magnificent exhibition of fortitude, faith, and skill, proved that he was the successor of the Prophet, inheriting from his master that one thing which carries conviction to every Arab—success. United for the first time in their history, the fierce tribes of the desert poured forth to the conquest of the world. Mohammed had stamped Islam upon Arabia. His successors and their wild, earnest armies stamped Islam upon the world. ”

“ At these words, a flame of indignation lit up the eyes of the companions standing, the lower half of their faces veiled, behind the Prophet. From out of the group, strode Abu Bakr. He went up to the Infidel and shouted to him: 'Begone and bite the belly of Lat, thine idol! Dost thou think for a moment that we could abandon Allah's Messenger?'—'Who is this man, O Mohammad?' queried Ora.—'The son of Abu Kuhafah.'—'By our gods!' Ora went on, turning to Abu Bakr, 'if I were not bound to thee by a debt of gratitude, I would have rewarded thee according to thy deserts. ”

“ He will be terrible in war as Khaled ibn Walid, his namesake, the Sword of the Lord, and gentle and just in peace as Abu Bakr of blessed memory. He is as brave as the lion, as strong as the camel, as swift as the ostrich, as sagacious as the fox and as generous as the pelican, who feeds her young with the blood of her own breast. ”

“ So Allah's Apostle came and asked permission to enter, and he was allowed to enter. When he entered, he said to Abu Bakr. "Tell everyone who is present with you to go away." Abu Bakr replied, "There are none but your family. May my father be sacrificed for you, O Allah's Apostle!" The Prophet said, "i have been given permission to migrate." Abu Bakr said, "Shall I accompany you? May my father be sacrificed for you, O Allah's Apostle!" Allah's Apostle said, "Yes." Abu Bakr said, "O Allah's Apostle! May my father be sacrificed for you, take one of these two she-camels of mine." ”

“ Abu Bakr — the Prophet's father-in-law and one of his chief companions — therefore, in consequence of the danger of internal disruption, was rather hurriedly and irregularly elected. He then rose and addressed the people thus:
"Oh people! Now I am ruler over you, albeit not the best amongst you. If I do well, support me; if ill, then set me right. Follow the true wherein is faithfulness, eschew the false wherein is treachery. The weaker amongst you shall be as the stronger with me, until, that I shall have redressed his wrong ”

“ Abu-Bakr spared his life and set him free. Ṭulaiḥah ibn-Khuwailid took to flight and entered a tent of his, where he took a bath and went out. Then he rode on his horse, intending to visit the sacred places, and came to Makkah, then to al-Madînah professing Islâm. According to others, he came to Syria, was taken hold of by those of the Moslems who were on a campaign, and sent to abu-Bakr in al-Madînah, where he became Moslem. Later, he distinguished himself in the conquest of al-ʿIrâḳ and Nihâwand. One day, ʿUmar said to him, "Didst thou kill the faithful servant ʿUkkâshah ibn-Miḥṣan?" ”

“ Rejoined Mubarak, "The end of my master's wishes is to see thy worship, O my lord Abu Bakr, and be exalted by thy presence and therethrough to win a blessing." So saying he bussed the reverend's hand and returned to his own place. On the next day, as Abu Bakr was leading the dawn-prayer of Friday, he took his station amongst the folk amiddlemost the Mosque and cried, "O, our brethren the Moslems great and small and folk of Mohammed one and all, know ye that envy falleth not save upon the wealthy and praiseworthy and never descendeth upon the mean and miserable. ”

“ They rushed at him, all at one bound. 'Art thou the man who dareth to insult the gods of our fathers?' they shouted. 'Aye, I am that man!' he replied, undisturbed.
One of the enraged citizens caught hold of the collar of his mantle, and twisting it roughly, tried to strangle him. Abu Bakr, who chanced to be standing near, interfered. 'How now? Would ye kill a man who proclaimeth that Allah is his God?' he said sadly, and freed the Prophet, not without suffering ill-treatment himself, for a portion of his beard was plucked out by Mohammad's assailant. ”

“ Orthodox Moslems do not fail to quote this circumstance in honour of the first Caliph, upon whom moreover they bestow the title of "Friend of the Cave." The Shi'ahs, on the other hand, hating Abu Bakr, see in it a symptom of treachery, and declare that the Prophet feared to let the "Old Hyena," as they opprobriously term the venerable successor, out of his sight for fear lest he should act as spy to the Kuraysh. The voice of history and of common sense is against the Shi'ahs. M.C. de Perceval justly remarks, that Abu Bakr and Omar were men truly worthy of their great predecessor. ”

“ Ibn-ʿÂʾishah at-Taimi from umm-Hâni:—Fâṭimah, the Prophet's daughter, called on abu-Bakr and asked: " Who will inherit thee when thou art dead?" to which he replied, "My son and family." "Why then," asked she, "hast thou—and not we—inherited the Prophet's possessions?" "Daughter of Allah's Prophet," answered abu-Bakr, "by Allah, I have inherited from thy father neither gold nor silver, neither this nor that." " But," said she, "thou hast inherited our share in Khaibar and our ṣadaḳah in Fadak." ”

“ Be constant in meditation on death: if thou bein straitened case 'twill enlarge it, and if in affluence 'twill straiten it upon thee." He died. poisoned, it is said, in A.H 101,
[FN#287] Abu Bakr originally called Abd al-Ka'abah (slave of the Ka'abah) took the name of Abdullah and was surnamed Abu Bakr (father of the virgin) when Mohammed, who before had married only widows, took to wife his daughter, the famous or infamous Ayishah. "Bikr" is the usual form, but "Bakr," primarily meaning a young camel, is metaphorically applied to human youth (Lane's Lex. s. c.) ”

“ Allah's Apostle and Abu Bakr had hired a man from the tribe of Bani Ad-Dail from the family of Bani Abd bin Adi as an expert guide, and he was in alliance with the family of Al-'As bin Wail As-Sahmi and he was on the religion of the infidels of Quraish. The Prophet and Abu Bakr trusted him and gave him their two she-camels and took his promise to bring their two she camels to the cave of the mountain of Thaur in the morning after three nights later. ”

“ Abu-Bakr threatens those who withhold ṣadaḳah. When abu-Bakr was proclaimed caliph, certain Arab tribes apostatized from Islâm and withheld the ṣadaḳah. Some of them, however, said, "We shall observe prayer but not pay zakât." In reference to that abu-Bakr said, "If they refuse me a one-year ṣadaḳah, [1] I shall surely fight against them." According to other reports he said, "If they refuse me a two-year ṣadaḳah." ”

“ Verily, I know that thou art nothing more than a stone, powerless to do harm, or be of any use. Then he kissed it.... In this conjuncture, Abu Bakr, followed by Umar, one after the other, came and kissed it, declaring: By Allah! I know that thou art nothing more than a stone, powerless to do harm or be of any use, and if I had not seen the Prophet kiss thee, I should not have kissed thee!"
In like fashion, by the "Sa'y" and the ablutions at the well of Zamzam, Mohammad kept alive the touching remembrance of the Arab's ancestor Ishmael and of his mother Hajar (Hagar) . ”

“ Moved by their despair, the Prophet made an urgent appeal to the devotion of all the Believers who, with admirable emulation, replied at once by bringing considerable sums. Abu Bakr placed the whole of his fortune at the disposition of the Prophet. Usman ibn Affan furnished ten thousand warriors with provisions and weapons. All vied with each other in acts of generosity and women stripped themselves of their most precious jewellery. ”

“ The patronymic was, of all of these, the most in favour. At first it was assumed when the eldest son was born; when Bakr came into the world his father took the name of Abu Bakr, and acquired a new importance. This was not by any means peculiar to the Arabs: "O Queen," says Das, a king of Indian folk-song, "O Queen, the name of childless has departed from me." ”

“ Abu-Bakr gave him horse and arms. Al-Fujâʾah began to molest the people, killing both Moslems and apostates. He, moreover, gathered a large body of men. Abu-Bakr wrote to Ṭuraifah ibn-Ḥâjizah, a brother of Maʿn ibn-Ḥâjizah, ordering him to go against him. This, ibn-Ḥâjizah did and captured him. He then sent him to abu-Bakr, who ordered him burned in the neighborhood of al-Muṣalla [place of prayer] . Others say that abu-Bakr wrote to Maʿn concerning al-Fujâʾah, and Maʿn directed against him his brother, Ṭuraifah, who captured him.
Khâlid in al-Buṭâḥ and al-Baʿûḍah. ”

“ The essence of a woman's mind is jealousy; and when jealousy masters her, she is incapable of seeing in what direction runs the current of a wadi!'
On arriving at the encampment of Al-Arj, the camel carrying the provisions of the Prophet and of Abu Bakr was missing. Ayishah's father laid the blame on the driver: 'How's this? Thou hadst but one camel to look after and thou hast let it go astray?' Carried away by great anger, Abu Bakr, with his whip, gave the man a good hiding. 'Admire the conduct of this pilgrim in the state of "Ihram!"' said the Prophet, ironically. ”

“ Both opinions rallied an equal number of partisans.
The Prophet sided with Abu Bakr. He gave orders to respect luckless valour and to treat the captives with the greatest humanity. He caused them to be freed from their bonds and had them guarded by all the Mussulmans in turn who, faithfully obeying his commands, deprived themselves of bread in favour of their prisoners; the Believers being content with dried dates.
The ransom was fixed according to each prisoner's wealth. Abbas, Mohammad's uncle, had to give the largest amount; the others were liberated without paying anything. ”

“ Abu Bakr and Usman, finding him one day busily engaged in drawing water from a well, bade him halt in his work, and reminded him of a former desire of his, when he had thought of marrying Fatimah, the Prophet's daughter. Ali got out of temper. 'Ye know how poor I am,' he told them. 'It's cruel of you to bring up a dream that can never come true!'
But they were so persistent, affirming that he could count upon their good offices, that Ali repressed his timidity, and carrying his sword, armour and sandals, that constituted his sole wealth, went and knocked at the Prophet's door. ”

“ A certain right was recognized in the Khalifa to nominate his successor, provided he chose one suitable and eligible in other respects. Unlike Cromwell in a similar case, Abu Bakr did not nominate one of his own sons, but the man who had been his right hand and who, he knew, could best build up the state. His foresight was proved by the event, and Umar proved the second founder of Islam by his genius as a ruler and organizer and his self-devotion as a man. ”

“ The Quraish, disturbed and maddened by the flight of Mohammad and Abu Bakr, despatched two town-criers, one on each side of the city of Makkah, charging them to offer a reward of a hundred she-camels for anyone who should overtake the fugitives. The most cunning trackers set out in all directions. ”

“ It is reported on the authority of al-Wâḳidi that abu-Bakr assigned ʿAmr to Palestine, Shuraḥbîl to the Jordan, and Yazîd to Damascus saying, "When ye all fight together, your commander is the one in whose province ye are fighting." It is also reported that to ʿAmr he gave oral instructions to lead the prayers in case the armies are united, and to have each commander lead the prayer of his own army when the armies are separate. Abu-Bakr ordered the commanders to see that each tribe flies a banner of its own. ”

“ This met with Umar's approval: 'No, verily, the Prophet is not dead! He hath gone to visit the Lord, even as Moses did, when after an absence of forty days, he reappeared to his people. In like fashion, Mohammad will be restored to us. Those who say he is dead are traitors to the cause of Islam. Let their hands and feet be cut off!'
At that juncture, Abu Bakr, who had been fetched from the As-Sunuh quarter where he lived, arrived on horseback, galloping as fast as possible. ”

“ Obey God! Fear God, who created life and death and who scrutinizes our good actions. O God! be pleased with Abu Bakr, the righteous, the Sáhib-ul-Ghár, [207] and with Omar Ibn-ul-Khattáb, the chief of the holy men; and with Osmán the possessor of two lights, who was martyred when reading the Holy Qurán, and upon 'Alí Murtuzá, the destroyer of infidels and sinners. O God! be pleased with the great Imáms Hasan and Husain. Be pleased with their mother Fatimat-uz-Zuhra, the chief of women, and with Hamza and 'Abbás, the uncles of the Prophet. Also be pleased with all the Asháb (Companions) . ”

“ If he sentence any of you to death, or confiscate your property, it is for your good; therefore do not disobey him. The Prophet says that, in next degree to the Prophet, Abu Bakr was the greatest living man under the sun, and also the most righteous. The Khalifa Abdullahi is his representative; and, by order of the Prophet, he is my Khalifa. All those who believe in God and in me must also believe in him ”