Abū Bakr b. Abī Quḥāfa was one of the early Muslims, a migrant, a famous companion, the father-in-law, and the first caliph of the Prophet Muhammad(s). He accompanied the Prophet during his migration from Mecca to Medina and participated in all the expeditions alongside him. In the ninth year of the Hijra, during the first Hajj pilgrimage of the Muslims from Medina, Abu Bakr was appointed as the leader of the pilgrimage. According to reports, in the 11th year after Hijra/632-3, during his caliphate, Abu Bakr also supervised the Hajj pilgrims.
The name and lineage
Abu Bakr Abdullah b. Abi Quhafa belonged to the Banu Taym clan of the Quraysh tribe.[1] And his mother was Umm al-Khair Salma bint Sakhr, the cousin of Abu Quhafa.[2] According to reports, he was born three years before the Year of the Elephant.[3] It is said that Abu Bakr, at the time of his death, in 13AH/ 634, was 63 years old. His name before Islam was Abdul Ka'ba, which the Prophet changed to Abdullah.[4] He was famously known as Abu Bakr and It has been called with nicknames such as Sadiq[5] and Atiq.[6]
Wives and Children
His wives were Qutaylah, the daughter of Abdul-Uzza, and Umm Ruman, the daughter of Amir ibn Umair.(8)( Balādhurī, Aḥmad b. Yaḥyā al-. Ansāb al-ashrāf.vol10.p101) His daughters were Asma, the daughter of Umais Khathami, and Habiba, the daughter of Kharija ibn Zaid Khazraji.(9)( Ibn Saʿd, Muḥammad. Al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā..vol3.p126) Abu Bakr's wives were Qutaylah, the daughter of Abdul-Uzza, and Umm Ruman, the daughter of Amir ibn Umair. His sons were Abdullah, Abdul-Rahman, and Muhammad, and his daughters were Asma, Aisha, and Umm Kulthum. Aisha became the wife of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), while Asma married Zubayr ibn al-Awwam and became the mother of Abdullah ibn Zubayr.(10)( Balādhurī, Aḥmad b. Yaḥyā al-. Ansāb al-ashrāf..vol3.p167,,, Mufīd, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-. Kitāb al-amālī..p79)
The conversion to Islam
The conversion of Abu Bakr to Islam is remembered to have occurred after Ali (may Allah be pleased with him).(11)( Ibn Hishām, ʿAbd al-Malik. Al-Sīra al-nabawīyya'.vol1.p266,,, Ibn Saʿd, Muḥammad. Al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā.vol3.p128,,, Kūfī, Ibn Abī Shayba al-. Al-Muṣannaf'.vol7.p498)(12)( Ṭabarī, Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-.Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk.vol2.p316)(13)( Balādhurī, Aḥmad b. Yaḥyā al-. Ansāb al-ashrāf.vol10.p100) After embracing Islam, Abu Bakr bought and freed a number of tortured Muslim slaves from the Quraysh.(14)( Ibn Qutayba al-Dīnawarī, ʿAbd Allāh b. Muslim . Al-Maʿārif.p177) During the Prophet's invitations to the tribes during the Hajj and in the final years of his presence in Mecca, Abu Bakr, due to his familiarity with Arab genealogies, accompanied the Prophet (peace be upon him).(15)( Ṭabarānī, Sulaymān b. Aḥmad. Al-Muʿjam al-kabīr.vol6.p62,,, Maghribī, Qāḍī Nuʿmān al-. Sharḥ al-akhbār'.vol2.p382-386) With the Prophet's migration to Medina, Abu Bakr also accompanied him.(16)( Ṭabarī, Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-.Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk.vol2.p100) After the migration to Medina The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) stood between Abu Bakr and Salim, the freed slave of Hudhaifah.(17)( Ibn Qutayba al-Dīnawarī, ʿAbd Allāh b. Muslim . Al-Maʿārif.p273) Or Harithah ibn Zaid.(18)( Ibn Ḥabīb Baghdādī, Muḥammad b. Ḥabīb. Kitāb al-muḥabbar'.p73) A brotherhood pact was established. Earlier in Mecca, a brotherhood pact had been made between him and Umar(19)( Ibn Hishām, ʿAbd al-Malik. Al-Sīra al-nabawīyya.vol4.p206) Abu Bakr participated in all the expeditions and some crucial events during the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).(20)( Ibn Athīr, ʿAlī b. Muḥammad. Usd al-ghāba.vol3.p318) Abu Bakr participated in all the expeditions and some crucial events during the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Based on a report, in the Battle of Bani Mustaliq in the fifth year of the Hijri calendar, the flagbearer was from the Muhajirun (Emigrants). (21)( Wāqidī, Muḥammad b. ʿUmar al-. Al-Maghāzī.vol1.p407)
Emirate of Hajj in the ninth year of Hijrah Abu Bakr, in the ninth year, as the Emir of Hajj, led the first pilgrimage of the Muslims.(22)( Wāqidī, Muḥammad b. ʿUmar al-. Al-Maghāzī.vol3.p1077,,, Ibn Saʿd, Muḥammad. Al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā.vol3.p132) And according to a report, for the proclamation of Surah Bara'at (Al-Tawbah) by the Messenger of God (peace be upon him), he set out from Medina to Mecca with 300 people.(23)( Ibn Hishām, ʿAbd al-Malik. Al-Sīra al-nabawīyya.vol4.p188)
In this journey, he had five sacrificial camels with him and was instructed to perform the standing (wuquf) on the Day of Arafah in Arafat, not in Muzdalifah, contrary to the polytheists. He would leave Arafat after sunset and depart from Muzdalifah after sunrise.(24)( Wāqidī, Muḥammad b. ʿUmar al-. Al-Maghāzī.vol3.p1077) After becoming muhrim in Dhul-Hulayfah, he met Ali (peace be upon him) at Arj. At first, he thought that he had been relieved of the emirate of Hajj.(24)( Wāqidī, Muḥammad b. ʿUmar al-. Al-Maghāzī.vol3.p1077). But with the words of Ali (peace be upon him), he realized that Ali (peace be upon him) had been solely tasked with conveying the initial verses of Surah Al-Tawbah (Bara'at).(24)( )( Wāqidī, Muḥammad b. ʿUmar al-. Al-Maghāzī.vol3.p1077).(25)( ( Ibn Hishām, ʿAbd al-Malik. Al-Sīra al-nabawīyya..vol4.p190) Based on this, Abu Bakr went to Mecca alongside Ali (peace be upon him) and during the pilgrimage, he delivered sermons in Mina on the afternoon of the seventh day, the Day of Arafah, and the afternoon of Eid al-Adha.(26)( Wāqidī, Muḥammad b. ʿUmar al-. Al-Maghāzī,vol3.1078) According to reports, including a narration from Ibn Abbas, Abu Bakr was relieved of the emirate of Hajj and returned to Medina.(27)( Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal. Musnad al-Imām Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal'.vol1.p3,,, Mufīd, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-. Al-Irshād.vol1.p65) Caliphate
After the passing of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and before his burial, a group of Ansar gathered at the Saqifah of Bani Sa'idah and pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr as the successor to the Prophet (peace be upon him).(28)( Ṭabarī, Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-.Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk.vol2.p459,,, Mufīd, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-. Al-Jumal wa al-nuṣra li sayyid al-ʿitra fī ḥarb al-Baṣra.p119) Members of Banu Hashim and some companions refrained from pledging allegiance for a long time because they deemed Imam Ali (peace be upon him) more deserving of the caliphate.(29)( Ibn Qutayba al-Dīnawarī, ʿAbd Allāh b. Muslim . Al-Imāma wa l-sīyāsa al-mʿrūf bi-tārīkh al-khulafā,,, Yaʿqūbī, Aḥmad b. Abī Yaʿqūb al-. Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī.vol2.p124,,, Jawharī Baṣrī, Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz. Al-Saqīfa wa Fadak.p49)
Supervision of Pilgrims During the Caliphate In the eleventh year of the Hijri calendar, Abu Bakr appointed Umar ibn Khattab as the supervisor of the pilgrims, while he himself performed Umrah in the month of Rajab of the twelfth year of the Hijri calendar. During the pilgrimage season of that same year, he took charge of supervising the pilgrims.(30)( Ibn Saʿd, Muḥammad. Al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā..vol3.p139) Some reports suggest that during his caliphate, Abu Bakr did not perform Hajj, and Umar or Attab bin Usaid, the agent of the Prophet (peace be upon him) in Mecca, carried out the pilgrimage.(31)( Ibn Ḥabīb Baghdādī, Muḥammad b. Ḥabīb. Kitāb al-muḥabbar'.p12) Or he appointed Abdur Rahman bin Awf to the emirate of Hajj.(32)( Ibn ʿAsākir, ʿAlī b. Ḥasan. Tārīkh-i damishq.vol30.p217)
Death Abu Bakr passed away due to illness on the seventh of Jumada al-Akhirah in the year 13 AH, after two years, three months, and 26 days of caliphate, at the age of 63.(33)( Ibn Saʿd, Muḥammad. Al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā.vol3.p150-151) And upon his death, he left behind a date palm grove from the spoils of Banu Nadir, as well as lands in Bahrain, Ghabah, and Khaybar.(34)( Ṣanʿānī, ʿAbd al-Razzāq b. Humām. Al-Muṣannaf.vol9.p101-102)
References
Mufīd, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-. Al-Irshād. Edited by Muʾassisat Āl al-Bayt li-Taḥqīq al-Turāth. Beirut: Dār al-Mufīd li-ṭibaʿat wa al-Nashr wa al-Tawzīʿ, 1414 AH
Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, Yūsuf b. ʿAbd Allāh. Al-Istīʿāb fī maʿrifat al-aṣḥāb. Edited by ʿAlī Muḥammad al-Bajāwī. Beirut: Dār al-Jīl, 1412 AH.
Ibn Athīr, ʿAlī b. Muḥammad. Usd al-ghāba. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyya, 1415 AH
Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī. Al-Iṣāba fī tamyīz al-ṣaḥāba. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyya, 1415 AH.
Mufīd, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-. Kitāb al-amālī. Edited by Ḥusayn Ustād Walī and ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī. Beirut:Dār al-Mufīd, 1414 AH.
Ibn Qutayba al-Dīnawarī, ʿAbd Allāh b. Muslim . Al-Imāma wa l-sīyāsa al-mʿrūf bi-tārīkh al-khulafāʾ. Edited by ʿAlī Shīrī. Beirut: Dār al-Awḍāʾ. 1410AH-1990.
Balādhurī, Aḥmad b. Yaḥyā al-. Ansāb al-ashrāf. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1417 AH.
Ṭabarī, Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-.Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk. Edited by Muḥammad Abu l-faḍl Ibrāhīm. Second edition. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1387 AH.
Mufīd, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-. Al-Jumal wa al-nuṣra li sayyid al-ʿitra fī ḥarb al-Baṣra. Qom: Maktibat al-Dāwarī, [n.d]
Jawharī Baṣrī, Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz. Al-Saqīfa wa Fadak. Edited by Hādī Amīnī. Beirut: Shirkat al-Katbī, 1413 AH.
Ibn Hishām, ʿAbd al-Malik. Al-Sīra al-nabawīyya. Edited by Muṣṭafā al-Saqā. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, [n.d]
Maghribī, Qāḍī Nuʿmān al-. Sharḥ al-akhbār. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, 1414 AH.
Ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd, ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd b. Hibat Allāh. Sharḥ Nahj al-balāgha. Cairo: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Kutub al-ʿArabīyya, 1378 AH.
Ibn Saʿd, Muḥammad. Al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā. Beirut: Dār al-Ṣādir, [n.d].
Ibn Ḥabīb Baghdādī, Muḥammad b. Ḥabīb. Kitāb al-muḥabbar. Edited by Elza Lichten Stetter. Beirut: Dār al-Āfāq al-Jadīda, [n.d].
Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal. Musnad al-Imām Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal. Beirut: Dār al-Ṣādir, [n.d]
Kūfī, Ibn Abī Shayba al-. Al-Muṣannaf. Edited by Saʿīd al-Laḥām. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr li-ṭibaʿat wa al-Nashr wa al-Tawzīʿ, 1409 AH.
Ṣanʿānī, ʿAbd al-Razzāq b. Humām. Al-Muṣannaf. Edited by Ḥabīb al-Raḥmān Aʿzamī. Beirut: al-Majlis al-ʿIlmī,1403 AH.
Ibn Qutayba al-Dīnawarī, ʿAbd Allāh b. Muslim . Al-Maʿārif. Edited by Tharwat ʿAkkāsha. Qom: Sharīf Raḍī, 1373 sh. Ṭabarānī, Sulaymān b. Aḥmad. Al-Muʿjam al-kabīr. Edited by Ḥamdī ʿAbd al-Majīd Salafī. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1405 AH.
Wāqidī, Muḥammad b. ʿUmar al-. Al-Maghāzī. Edited by Marsden Jones. Beirut: Muʾassisa al-Aʿlām, 1409 AH.
Yaʿqūbī, Aḥmad b. Abī Yaʿqūb al-. Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī. Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, n.p.
Ibn ʿAsākir, ʿAlī b. Ḥasan. Tārīkh-i damishq. Edited by ʿAmr-i b. Gharāma al-ʿAmrawī. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1415 AH/ 1995.
- ↑ Ibn Saʿd, Al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 5, p. 142; Balādhurī, Ansāb al-ashrāf, vol. 10, p. 51.
- ↑ Balādhurī, Ansāb al-ashrāf, vol. 10, p. 100.
- ↑ Ibn Saʿd, Al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 3, p. 151.
- ↑ Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, Al-Istīʿāb fī maʿrifat al-aṣḥāb, vol. 3, p. 963.
- ↑ Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, Al-Istīʿāb fī maʿrifat al-aṣḥāb, vol. 3, p. 963; Ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd, Sharḥ Nahj al-balāgha, vol. 3, p. 207.
- ↑ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Al-Iṣāba fī tamyīz al-ṣaḥāba, vol. 4, p. 146-147; Ibn Saʿd, Al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 3, p. 126-128; Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, Al-Istīʿāb fī maʿrifat al-aṣḥāb, vol. 3, p. 963.