Abu Bakr

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Abu Bakr (c.573–634) First Muslim caliph (632–34). One of the earliest converts to Islam, Abu Bakr was chief adviser to the Prophet Muhammad. After Muhammad's death he was elected leader of the Muslim community. During his short reign, he defeated the tribes that revolted against Muslim rule in Medina and restored them to Islam. By invading the Byzantine Christian provinces of Syria and Palestine and the Persian province of Iraq, he launched the Holy Wars through which the first major expansion of the Islamic world was accomplished.

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