ABŪ BAKR

ABŪ BAKR (c. 572–634) was the first Caliph and close companion of the Prophet and founder of the Islamic Empire. In the classical Arab tradition a person is given an ism (name), kunyah (an agnomen consisting of Abū [father] followed by the name of a son), and laqab (nickname or title usually of a favorable nature). Hence Abū Bakr was so called, although his name was Abd Allah, and his laqab, Ati Atik (freed slave), was given to him by his mother because he was spared from the death in infancy that befell all her other sons. His father was ʿUthām of the clan of Taym of the tribe of Quraysh. His mother was Salma bint Sakhr of the same clan. He was born around 572 ce. He married four times and had six children, including ʿĀʾishah, who married the Prophet and played a significant role in some of the early events in Muslim history, and who also served as a transmitter of ḥadīth.

Ibn Isḥāq, the author of an early biography of the Prophet, describes Abū Bakr as a kindly man popular among his contemporaries and most knowledgeable about the genealogy of the Quraysh and the values and traditions of their ancestors. The people used to call upon him for his knowledge, his experience as a merchant, and his good companionship. He lived in the same area of Mecca as Khadījah, the wife of the Prophet, which may have brought about their friendship and may have been the reason that Abū Bakr was among the first adult male Muslims. We know very little about his life before the advent of Islam; the reports concerning the details of his life are sometimes contradictory and confusing. Nevertheless a reasonable picture of his life may be glimpsed through the different traditions and reports. As a relatively wealthy merchant, Abū Bakr used his wealth and resources to support the poor among the nascent Muslim community. In particular he bought and freed Muslim slaves, among whom was Bilāl the Abyssinian, who later became well-known as a devout Muslim and as a muezzin (the one who gives the call to prayer).

Abū Bakr's personal influence helped bring to Islam some of the leading members of Meccan society. As a result he faced the hostility of other Meccans, but remained one of the Prophet's closest companions. When the pressure on the early Muslim community became intolerable, some of them took refuge in Abyssinia, but Abū Bakr remained with the Prophet in Mecca. It is unlikely that his comparatively minor clan was able to offer Abū Bakr protection, even though he was its chief, but it might have been that his extended friendships and acknowledged gentle demeanor deterred the Meccans from being too harsh on him.

After the Prophet had built connections among the people of Yathrib he advised those who feared Meccan hostility to emigrate there. Abū Bakr stayed behind because the Prophet wanted him as his companion on the journey to Yathrib. Abū Bakr's family supplied the food and camels and helped to thwart the efforts of the Quraysh to capture the Prophet. Later his family, except his father Abū Kuhafa and his son Abd al-Raḥmān, followed him to Yathrib. Abd al-Raḥmān eventually converted to Islam, but earlier he had engaged in fighting against Muslims in the major battles of Badr and Uḥud.

In Yathrib, which the Prophet renamed al-Madīnah (Medina), Abū Bakr had a special place within the community. He was always at the side of the Prophet and took part in all the campaigns led by the Prophet. Abū Bakr's counsel was always sought and his closeness to the Prophet made him familiar with his ideas and intentions. It is said that among the senior companions he never questioned the judgments of the Prophet. When at Ḥudaybiyah the Prophet decided to make peace with the Meccans on conditions that were seen as humiliating by many other followers, Abū Bakr stood by his leader, who was facing a serious rebellion. This agreement was a prelude to the bloodless conquest of Mecca itself.

Earlier in Mecca, when the Prophet proclaimed the account known in Muslim traditions as the "night journey" (isrāʾ ) from Mecca to Jerusalem and back, some Meccans thought that such a claim would shake Abū Bakr's faith in the Prophet's veracity; but he affirmed his faith in the Prophet and was given the title of al-Siddiq (the firm and trustworthy believer). In Muslim literature he therefore is often referred to as al-Siddiq.

The death of the Prophet in 632 threatened the order that he had established, and created a crisis regarding succession. At the time of his death almost all of the Arabian Peninsula was under his control. Nevertheless there was a possible threat from the north by Byzantium, which encouraged the northern tribes to defect. To ward off this threat the Prophet organized an army under the leadership of young Usāmah ibn Zaid with orders to march to the borders of Syria, deter Byzantium, and subdue the northern tribes. As the army camped outside Medina awaiting the Prophet's orders the news of his death arrived.

There were rebellions among various tribes led by "prophets" who modeled themselves on the Prophet, each claiming to have received their own "Qurʾān" through an angel of revelation. They claimed equal status to his, and one of them, Musaylamah, referred to in history as the "Liar," demanded that Arabia should be divided between himself and the Prophet. In Yemen, a local leader took over from the Prophet's appointed representative of Medina. Individuals claiming to be prophets and prophetesses cropped up among several tribes. Some groups who had given allegiance to Islam reverted to their pre-Islamic religion, while others remained faithful to Islam but refused to pay zakāt, which the Qurʾān had promulgated, to Medina on the grounds that the duty to remit it ended with the death of the Prophet. Muslim historians have named this particular rebellion Riddah (apostasy) and the struggle to subdue them as the wars of Riddah. These were uncoordinated groups, and mostly local, without any common leader; they were all eventually subdued under Abū Bakr's leadership.

When the death of the Prophet was announced the Anṣār (the Muslim inhabitants of Medina) gathered in the saqifa of Banu Saʾidah to elect one of their own as successor to the Prophet. The ancient tribal rivalry between the Aws and Khazradj, the two tribes of Medina, delayed their decision to allow the Muhājirūn (the Muslim immigrants to Medina) to join the meeting. According to historical accounts ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb and Abū Akbr succeeded in persuading the gathering to choose Abū Bakr as the new leader. Abū Bakr gathered his advisors to plan his first move. Against their advice he ordered the army to march to the north, leaving Medina exposed to attack by hostile tribes. This daring move must have impressed his enemies as a sign of self-confidence. During the absence of the army Abū Bakr was able to defeat the tribe who attacked Medina. Abū Bakr came to be known as Khalifat Rasūl Allāh, that is, the deputy or successor to the messenger of God (the Prophet).

Once the Muslim army returned after putting down an early rebellion, Abū Bakr appointed Khālid ibn al-Walid commander of the main army to put down the other major insurgencies. After subduing one of the rebels, Khālid marched towards Yamana, where Musaylamah had gathered a large army that had resisted earlier attempts to subdue him. Khālid defeated and killed Musaylamah at the Battle of al-ʿAkrabaʾ. This was the bloodiest battle of the Riddah wars; thousands lost their lives, and the place came to be called the Garden of Death. This victory was crucial in restoring control of the center of Arabia to Muslim rule. The Muslims lost a good number of reciters of the Qurʾān in this battle. This prompted Abū Bakr, according to Muslim sources, to appoint secretaries to collect the Qurʾān, relying on the already recorded material and the memories of the surviving reciters. He also sent other commanders to subdue the remaining rebel tribes and to secure other regions of the peninsula.

While the Riddah campaigns were still raging, one of the Muslim commanders had already taken control of Persian-held centers and advanced to the Euphrates, opening up the possibility of conquering Iraq. On being advised that a victory against the Persians was likely, Abū Bakr recalled Khālid from Yamama and ordered him to march towards Iraq. This marked the beginning of the conquest of Palestine and Syria. Abū Bakr sent three columns towards Palestine and Syria under Muslim commanders. After some initial success, they were driven back by the superior forces of the Byzantine army. Abū Bakr ordered Khālid to leave Iraq and reinforce the army in Palestine. Their combined forces defeated the Byzantines at the famous Battle of Ajnadayn in July 634. Abū Bakr died soon after on August 23.

The caliphate of Abū Bakr was characterized by the constant struggle to restore the authority of Medina and by direct military action against rebellions in the Arabian Peninsula and eventually against the Persian and Byzantine empires. His rule marks the first major advances in Muslim rule over Byzantine and Sassanian controlled territories.

Abū Bakr was noted for his simple and austere life. It is said that on his deathbed, he gave back all that he had received as salary to the Muslim treasury. During his short tenure as caliph, he sought to bring order at a turbulent time in Muslim history after the death of the Prophet. He did not attempt to alter dramatically the administrative organization and arrangements in Medina or in the newly conquered territories. Before his death, he appointed ʿUmar bin al-Khaṭṭāb to be his successor, believing that this choice would prevent possible strife.

Bibliography

al-Balādhurī. The Origins of the Islamic State. Translated by Phillip Hitti. New York, 1968.

Donner, Fred. The Early Islamic Conquests. Princeton, N.J., 1981.

Kennedy, Hugh. The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: Islamic Near East from the Sixth to the Eleventh Century. London, 1986; 2d ed., Harlow, U.K., and New York, 2004.

Madelung, Wilferd. The Succession to Muḥammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate. Cambridge, U.K., 1997.

al-Ṭabarī, Abu Jahar Muḥammad. Biographies of the Prophets, Companions, and their Successors. Translated and annotated by Ella Landau-Tasseron. Albany, N.Y., 1998.

M. A. Zaki Badawi (2005)