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Saturday, June 20, 2009

ABU BAKR AS-SIDDIQUE: THE TRUTHFUL COMPANION


ABU BAKR AS-SIDDIQUE:

THE TRUTHFUL COMPANION

by Hamzah Qassem



"No one has been a better Companion to me than Abu Bakr".



These were the words of the Holy Prophet in his last sermon, about
the Companion who will feature in this issue.



Abu Bakr the First Among Men to Enter Islam



Abu Bakr was always a very close Companion of the Holy Prophet, he
knew him better than any other man. He knew how honest and upright
the Prophet was. Such knowledge of the Prophet made Abu Bakr be the
first man to follow the Message of Prophet Muhammad (saw). He was
indeed the first adult male to accept Islam.



The Holy Prophet told Abu Bakr what had happened at Mount Hira', he
told him that Allah (swt) has revealed to him and made him His
Messenger. When Abu Bakr heard this from the Prophet (saw), he did
not stop to think, he at once became a Muslim. He submitted to Islam
with such determination that once the Holy Prophet himself
remarked "I called people to Islam, everybody thought over it, at
least for a while, but this was not the case with Abu Bakr, the
moment I put Islam before him, he accepted it without any
hesitation". He was titled As-Siddique by the Prophet because his
faith was too strong to be shaken by anything.



In fact, Abu Bakr was more than a great believer, as soon as he
became a Muslim, he immediately began to preach Islam to others.
Among those who accepted Abu Bakr's invitation to Islam were:
Uthman, Zubair, Talha, Abdul Rahman bin Auf, Saadi bin Waqqas and
others who later became the pillars of Islam.



Abu Bakr's love of the Prophet (saw) was so great that he was
willing to sacrifice his life for the sake of protecting and
comforting the Prophet (saw). Such love and sacrifice were
demonstrated when one day the Holy Prophet was saying his prayers in
the Ka'aba, while some of the chiefs of Mecca were sitting in the
court yard of the Ka'aba. Seeing the Prophet praying, 'Uqbah bin Abi
Mu'eet took a long piece of cloths and put it around the Prophet's
neck and twisted it hard in an attempt to strangle the Prophet (saw)
to death. At that moment Abu Bakr happened to pass by from a
distance, he saw 'Uqbah trying to strangle the Prophet to death.
Immediately Abu Bakr ran to the help of the Prophet, he
pushed 'Uqbah aside and took the cloth from around the Prophet's
neck. Thereupon the enemies of Islam came down upon Abu Bakr and
beat him, although Abu Bakr with faith like a rock did not care for
his own suffering, he was glad that he was able to save the Prophet
of Allah, even at the risk of his own life.



Abu Bakr, with the wealth he had, had a major role in freeing some
of the Muslim slaves, who were barbarically tortured by their
heartless Mushrik (idol-worshipping) masters to give up the Faith
and return to their masters' beliefs. The heartless monsters tried
all kinds of torture: they made them lie all naked on the burning
desert sand, putting big stones on their chest, as well as other
kinds of torture. Here Abu Bakr's wealth came to the rescue, as he
bought the poor helpless slaves from their inhuman masters and set
them free, Bilal Al-Habashi, the slave of Umayya bin Khalaf, was
among those who were set free by Abu Bakr. Bilal became afterwards
the Mu'azzin (caller to prayer) at the Prophet's mosque.



Migration to Madinah



Islam was growing rapidly in Mecca, the enemies of Islam were
getting frustrated by this rapid growth. The Chiefs of Mecca found
that it is necessary for them to get rid of the Prophet (saw) before
Islam can cause a real threat to them, so they planned to kill the
Prophet. Allah (swt) revealed to his Prophet the intentions of the
non-believers and ordered him to migrate to Madinah. So the Prophet
quickly went to Abu Bakr's house who was among the few that were
left in Mecca with the majority of Muslims having already migrated
to Madinah.



The Prophet informed Abu Bakr that he was commanded to migrate to
Madinah that night and that he has chosen him to have the honor of
joining him on his migration. Abu Bakr's heart was full of joy, "I
have been looking forward to this day for months" he exclaimed.



The Meccans were so eager to find the Prophet they were searching
for him like mad hounds. Once they came to the mouth of the cave,
Abu Bakr grew pale with fright, he feared not for himself, but for
the life of the Holy Prophet. However, the Prophet (saw) remained
calm and said to Abu Bakr "do not fear, certainly Allah is with us".
Such words quickly calmed down Abu Bakr and brought back tranquility
to his heart.



Participation in Battles



Abu Bakr, being the closest of Companions to the Prophet (saw), took
part in all the battles that Prophet Muhammad had fought. At Uhud
and Hunain, some members of the Muslim army showed signs of
weakness. However, Abu Bakr's faith never wavered. He always stood
like a rock by the side of the Prophet.



Abu Bakr's faith and determination to raise the banner of Islam were
so great that at Badr, one of his sons, who had not yet embraced
Islam was fighting among the enemies, Abu Bakr was so eager to find
his son in the battle that he was searching for him amongst the
enemies in order to slay him.



Abu Bakr's great love of the Prophet was demonstrated when peace
talks at Hudaibiya were held. During the negotiations, the spokesman
of Quraish was touching the beard of the Prophet every now and then.
Abu Bakr's love for the Prophet was so great that he could bear no
more, he took out his sword and looked angrily at the man saying "if
that hand touches the beard of the Prophet again, it will not be
allowed to go back".



Tabuk was the last expedition of the Holy Prophet. He was keen to
make it a great success, he therefore asked people to help the
expedition with whatever they could. This brought the best out of
Abu Bakr who beat all records as he took all his money and household
articles and heaped them at the Prophet's feet.



"Have you left anything for your children?" asked the Prophet. Abu
Bakr then responded with great faith "Allah and his Messenger are
enough for them". Companions standing around were stunned they
realized that whatever they do they could not outdo Abu Bakr in the
field of service to Islam.



The Successor of the Prophet



The first Hajj under Islam was in the ninth year of Hijra. The
Prophet (saw) was too busy at Madinah to lead the Hajj, so he sent
Abu Bakr as his agent, he was to lead the Hajj in place of the
Prophet.



The Prophet (saw) led the prayers himself ever since he arrived to
Madinah. During his last illness, the Prophet could no longer lead
the prayers, he was too weak to go to the mosque, he therefore had
to choose someone to fill such high position after him. Abu Bakr was
also the one who was honored to be chosen by the Prophet for such a
task.



Thus in the lifetime of the Prophet, Abu Bakr came to fill the
highest position under Islam - the Imam leading prayers. While one
day Abu Bakr was away Omar was appointed by the Companions to lead
the prayers in his absence. Realizing the change of voice, the
Prophet said "This is not Abu Bakr's voice. None but he should lead
prayers, he is the fittest person for this position!".



When the news of the Prophet's death came out, many Muslims were
confused and stunned. Omar himself was so overcome with emotions
that he drew his sword and declared "If anyone says that the
Messenger of Allah is dead, I will cut off his head".



Muslims stayed in such state until Abu Bakr arrived and gave his
famous address: "O People! If anyone among you worships Muhammad,
let him know that Muhammad is dead. But if anyone among you who
worships Allah, let them know that He lives and will never die. Let
all of us recall the words of the Qur'an: "Muhammad is only a
Messenger of Allah, there have been Messengers before him. What
then, will you turn back from Islam if he dies or is killed?"



Suddenly, Abu Bakr's words started to sink in, and in no time the
confusion was gone. Having shrugged off the shocking news of the
Prophet's death, Muslims realized that they need someone to fill the
position of leadership amongst them.



The two main groups amongst Muslims were the Muhajirun (migrants
from Mecca) and the Ansar (the helpers of Madinah). The Ansar
gathered at a meeting place called Thaqifa Bani Saida. Saad bin
Abada, the Ansar leader, suggested that the Khalifa should be from
amongst them. Although many refused saying that the Muhajirun in
right have a better claim to the Khilafah. When the news reached Abu
Bakr, he quickly went to their gathering, fearing that confusion
might spread once again, and said "Both Muhajirun and Ansar have
done great service to Islam. But the former were the first to accept
Islam, they were always very close to the Messenger of Allah. O
Ansar, let the Khalifa be from amongst them". After a short
discussion, the Ansar agreed that they should choose the Khalifa
from amongst the Muhajirun, being from the tribe of Quraish and
being the first to accept Islam.



Abu Bakr then asked people to choose between Omar Ibn al-Khattab and
Abu Ubaida Ibn al-Jarrah. Hearing this, both men jumped to their
feet and exclaimed "O Siddique, how can that be? How can anyone else
fill this position as long as you are among us? You are the best
person from the Muhajirun. You were the Companion of the Prophet
(saw) in the Thawr cave. You led prayers in his place, during his
last illness. Prayer is the foremost thing in Islam. With all these
qualifications you are the fittest person to be the successor of the
Holy Prophet. Hold out your hand that we may pledge loyalty to you!"



But Abu Bakr did not stretch out his hand. Omar saw that the delay
might lead to the reopening of the disagreements, so he himself took
Abu Bakr's hand out and pledged loyalty to him. Others followed by
example, and Abu Bakr became the first Khalifa by general consent of
the Muslims.



The next day, Abu Bakr addressed the gathering of Muslims in the
Prophet's mosque urging them to continue their path as true Muslims
and to give him loyalty and support as long as he is obeying the
Commands of Allah (swt) and His Messenger.



Ali (raa), along with some of his relatives, delayed their pledge of
loyalty to Abu Bakr for six months. Although both men respected each
other, there was a difference of opinion with the Khalifa as to the
right of inheritance of the Prophet's land. But Ali soon after the
death of his wife Fatima (raa) gave the pledge of loyalty to Abu
Bakr.



Such was the quality of the humble and generous Companion who
believed the Prophet in everything, to the extent that he was called
As-Siddique by the Prophet. His great personality and service to
Islam and Muslims earned him the love and respect of all Muslims, so
that he was chosen as the first Khalifa after the death of the
Prophet by all Muslims.



(courtesy of http://www.islam.org.au)

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