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Praise be to Allah and may Allah increase the honor and raise the
rank of our Master Muhammad sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam.
Thereafter, Allah ta^ala said in the Quran:

Verse 23 of Surat-ul-Ahzab means: There are men among the
believers, who were honest in the oath they made to Allah, some have
died and some are still waiting to follow the same path, and they
never changed their oath.

Among these great ones is the best of the Companions and of the awliya
(upright Muslims), our Master Abu Bakr as-Siddiq may Allah raise his
rank.
He is Abu Bakr as-Siddiq and his name is ^Abdullah, the son of Abu
Quhafah, the son of ^Amir al-Qurashiyy. It was said that his name
during the state of ignorance (Jahilyah) was ^Abdul-Ka^bah (means
the slave of Ka^bah), then the Prophet sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam
named him ^Abdullah. His lineage meets the lineage of the Prophet
sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam in Murrah, the son of Ka^b. His mother
is Umm al-Khayr Salma (and it was said Layla), the daughter of
Sakhr, the son of ^Amir, the son of ^Amru. She was the cousin of
Abu Quhafah.

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He was born about three years after the Year of the Elephant, he was
described as being a white man. He was thin built with a swollen
forehead. Anas said: Abu Bakr used to anoint with hena and
al-katam (a plant which people anoint with).

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He was among the leaders and scholars of Quraysh, clement, tolerant,
courageous, brave, patient, generous, and merciful in his disposition;
and was the most generous of the Companions.
He was the first among the men to embrace Islam at the age of 37,
and lived 26 years in Islam. He was given the allegiance as Khalifah
(Caliph) on the day Prophet Muhammad sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam
died in 11 AH, all the Companions agreed on his caliphate.

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Ibnul-Jawziyy mentioned three sayings in his book Sifat-usSafwah about naming Abu Bakr ^Atiq: One is what was related
that ^Aishah said when she was asked why was Abu Bakr named
^Atiq, she said: Once the Messenger of Allah sallallahu ^alayhi wa
sallam looked at him and said: This is the one whom Allah would
spare from Hellfire. The second is what Musa Ibn Talhah said that
his mother named him with that name. The third is what al-Layth Ibn
Sa^d said that he was named with it because of the beauty of his face.

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The Messenger of Allah sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam named him
Siddiq means the trustworthy because of how strongly he believed
in all what the Prophet said. He also said: There will be twelve
caliphs after me, Abu Bakr as-Siddiq will not be around for long.
^Aliyy Ibn Abi Talib used to swear by God that Allah made the
naming of Abu Bakr with as-Siddiq come down from heaven.
Al-Hakim related in al-Mustadrik that ^Aishah may Allah raise
her rank said: The blasphemers came to Abu Bakr and said to him:
Look at what your companion is saying he is claiming that he went
on a journey last night to Jerusalem. He said: Did he say that?
They said: Yes. He said: Then he is truthful, I believe him

concerning the news of the heavens in the morning and in the

evening. At that Abu Bakr was called as-Siddiq. This was
mentioned by as-Suyutiyy in Tarikh al-Khulafa (which means:
History of the Caliphs).

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Ibn al-Jawziyy mentioned in his book Sifat-us-Safwah: Hassan
Ibn Thabit, Ibn ^Abbas, Asma Bintu Abi Bakr, and Ibrahim anNakh^iyy said: The first one who embraced Islam was Abu Bakr.
Yusuf, the son of Ya^qub, the son of Majshun said: My father and
my shayks: Muhammad Ibnul-Munkadir, Rabi^ah Ibn Abi ^AbdurRahman, Salih Ibn Kaysan, Sa^d Ibn Ibrahim, and ^Uthman Ibn

Muhammad al-Akhnasiyy; all of them had no doubt that Abu Bakr

was the first one to embrace Islam.
Ibn ^Abbas said: The first one who prayed was Abu Bakr.
It was mentioned about Abu Bakrs embracing Islam that once while
he was in ash-Sham (This area presently includes: Syria, Palestine,
Jordan, and Lebanon), he saw in his dream that the sun and the
moon fell in his lap; and that he put them in his dress. He woke up
and went to a monk to ask him about this dream. The monk asked
him: Where are you from? He answered: From Makkah. He
asked him: And what do you do? He said: Trading. The monk
said: A man would appear in your lifetime his name is Muhammad
al-Amin (means the trustworthy), he is from Baniyy Hashim; you
will follow him and will be his minister and his successor. His
attributes and description were mentioned in the Torah (Tawrah) the
Zabur.
Abu Bakr, may Allah raise his rank, was moved by what he heard
and was so anxious to meet the Prophet. It was not long before he
met Prophet Muhammad sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam and embraced
Islam, this has made him the first one to embrace Islam among the
men.

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Asma, the daughter of Abu Bakr said: Someone came to Abu

Bakr screaming and said: Rescue your companion. He left us
with braided hair. He entered the mosque and said: Are you

going to kill a man who is saying my Lord is Allah, and his Lord
has sent him to you with the proofs. At that moment they left the
Prophet and came to Abu Bakr. Abu Bakr then came back to us,
touching his braided hair and saying: Glory to You the One Who
deserves to be Exalted and not denied. This was mentioned by
Ibn-ul-Jawziyy in his book Sifat-us-Safwah.

The people of knowledge, the historians, and the biographers

mentioned that Abu Bakr took part in all of the battles with Prophet
Muhammad sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam. In the battle of Tabuk, the
Messenger of Allah sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam gave him his great
flag. They mentioned also that when he embraced Islam he had
forty-thousand Dirhams, which he spent on supporting the Muslims
and buying slaves to free them. In addition to that he never drank
alcohol neither in the state of ignorance (Jahilyah) nor in Islam. They
also mentioned that Abu Bakr was the first one who gathered the
Quran.

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Muhammad Ibn Ishaq mentioned that five out of the ten whom the
Prophet sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam brought them the good news
that they will be in Paradise embraced Islam by the call of Abu
Bakr. They were: ^Uthman Ibn ^Affan, Talhah Ibn ^Ubaydillah,
az-Zubayr Ibn al-^Awam, Sa^d Ibn Abi Waqas, ^Abdur-Rahman
Ibn ^Awf may Allah raise their ranks.



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Abu Bakr was a man who cries a lot, he could not hold back his
tears when he recites the Quran, he was the best Companion and the
most intelligent one among them.

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Among his virtues is what was testified by ^Umar Ibnul Khattab, he
said: The Messenger of Allah sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam ordered
us to give charity and it happened that I had some money available
at that time. I said to myself that today I want to be ahead of Abu
Bakr so I presented half of my money for donation. The Messenger
of Allah sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam said: What did you leave for
your family. I replied: An equal amount. Abu Bakr then came with
all of his money, the Messenger of Allah sallallahu ^alayhi wa
sallam said to him: What did you leave to your family. Abu Bakr
replied: I left for them the care of Allah and his Messenger. I said to
Abu Bakr: You will always be ahead of me.

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Abu Hurayrah, may Allah raise his rank, said: The Messenger of
Allah said: I did not benefit from any wealth as I did from Abu
Bakrs. Abu Bakr then wept and said what means: My money and I
are at your service O Messenger of Allah.

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Qays said: Abu Bakr bought Bilal while he was buried under the
rocks for five ounces of gold. They said to him: If you were to
insist on paying only one ounce, we would have sold him to you.
He said: If you were to insist on selling him for one-hundred
ounces I would have bought him.

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Ibn al-Jawziyy mentioned in his book Sifat-us-Safwah that Zayd

Ibn Arqam said: Abu Bakr used to have an owned slave, he brought
him food one night, Abu Bakr took a bite of it. The slave said to
him: How come, you used to ask me every night and tonight you
didnt? Abu Bakr replied: Hunger is what made me not to ask
you, where did you get this from? He answered:
I passed once by a people during the state of ignorance (Jahiliyah),
I made ruqyah for them, they promised to give me some money for
that; today I passed by them while they were having a wedding;
they gave money and I bought this food from that money.
*In fact this ruqyah is a blasphemous practice, they used to do that by
uttering blasphemous words of worshipping a planet, the sun, the
moon, or a king of the devils.

Upon hearing that, Abu Bakr said: You were going to kill me. He
then inserted his hand in his throat and started to throw up; however,
that bite did not come out. It was said to him that the bite will not
come out unless he sips some water, he began to sip water until it
came out. Then it was said to him: May Allah have mercy upon
you, you did all of that just for that bite. He said: Had it not come
out except with my soul, I would have done so. I heard the
Messenger of Allah sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam saying:

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It means: Hellfire is more deserving of every body that grew from
unlawful consumption

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Abu Bakr was given the allegiance as Caliph at the spot of Baniyy
Sa^idah on the day Prophet Muhammad sallallahu ^alayhi wa
sallam died. It was on Monday the 12th of Rabi^ al-Awal in 11
AH.
This event took place when Abu Bakr, ^Umar, and some of the
Companions went to consult about the Caliphate (succession of
the Prophet), ^Umar said to Abu Bakr: Extend your hand. Abu
Bakr did and ^Umar shook his hand pledging allegiance to him.
Al-Muhajirun (those who migrated with the Prophet from Makkah
to Madinah) followed him and the al-Ansar (those who supported
al-Muhajirun in Madinah). On the following day all the people
gave Abu Bakr the allegiance.

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Hisham Ibn ^Arwah related that his father said: When Abu Bakr
given the allegiance as Caliph, he delivered a speech to the people.
He praised and thanked with the due praise and thanking Allah ,
he then said: O people I was entrusted to lead you and I am not
the best one among you. However, Allah revealed the Quran and
the Prophet sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam set the rules and taught
us. Let it be known that the ultimate intelligence is piety and the
ultimate foolishness is impiety. I will view the weakest among you
as the strongest to me until I give him back what was taken from
him unjustly, and I will view the strongest among you as the
weakest to me until I take back from him the right that he has
taken unjustly. O people I am just a follower and not an innovator,
so support me if I am good and put me back on the straight path if
I deviate.

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It is known that after the death of the Prophet sallallahu ^alayhi wa
sallam, calamity and hypocrisy increased. Some tribes apostatized

and some others refrained from paying Zakah. Abu Bakr, may Allah
raise his rank, rushed to confront these great matters. He ordered the
armies to prepare to fight the people of apostasy and those who
withheld Zakah. The armies moved on and fought the apostates.
Musaylimah al-Kadhab was killed. (Musaylimah was nicknamed
al-Kadhab means the liar for claiming to be a prophet). Tulayhah
Ibnu Khuwaylid, who claimed prophethood, fled to ash-Sham
(The land of present time: Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Jordan).
However, later on he embraced Islam, during the caliphate of ^Umar
Ibn al-Khattab.
Seven hundred of the Companions were martyred and most of them
were from those who recited Quran.
Abu Bakr, may Allah raise his rank, also prepared the armies for
opening the countries of ash-Sham.

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Ibn Sa^d and al-Hakim related that Ibn Mas^ud said: The ones with
the most insight are three: Abu Bakr when he chose ^Umar as his
successor, The woman who her father about Musa: Hire him. [She
later became his wife]. And al-^Aziz when he had an insight about
Yusuf and asked his wife to be generous to him.

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It was related that when Abu Bakr was gravely ill he called upon

^Abdur-Rahman Ibn ^Awf and said to him: Tell me about ^Umar

Ibn al-Khattab. He said: When you ask me about a matter, it turns
out that you know about it more than me. Abu Bakr said: Even
though. ^Abdur-Rahman Ibn ^Awf said: I swear by Allah that he is
the best among those whom you give your opinion about. Then Abu
Bakr called upon ^Uthman Ibn ^Affan and said to him: Tell me
about ^Umar. He said: You know him way better than us. Abu
Bakr then said: I made my decision that it will be him. O God I
know that the hidden part of ^Umar is better than what he shows
openly, and that there is no one among us who is like him. He also
consulted with Sa^id Ibn Zayd, Usayd Ibn al-Hudayr, and others
from al-Muhajirin (immigrants who came from Makkah) and alAnsar (those who supported the immigrants in Madinah).

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Ibn ^Asakir related that Yasar Ibn Hamzah said: When Abu Bakr got
gravely ill, he appeared to people from a small window; he said to
them: O people I have decided to entrust somebody to the caliphate,
are you going to accept that ? The people said: We accepted that O
the Caliph (successor) of the Messenger of Allah. ^Aliyy Ibn Abi
Talib stood and said: We will never accept other than ^Umar. Abu
Bakr said: It will be ^Umar. This was mentioned by as-Suyutiyy in
the Tarikh al-Khulafa.

Abu Bakr as-Siddiq got sick and died in 13AH at the age of 63. His
Caliphate lasted two years, three months and thirteen days. He was
buried in ^Aishahs house. His head was placed by the shoulders of
the Messenger of Allah sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam as he requested

before he died. Madinah was shaken with crying and people were
astonished.

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^Aliyy Ibn Abi Talib may Allah raise his rank heard the news of
Abu-Bakr's death, he rushed to the scene. Weeping and remembering
this great Companion, he stood at the door of ^Aishah's house and
said:
May Allah have mercy upon you Abu Bakr. I swear by Allah that
you were the first among the people to embrace Islam. You believed
the Messenger of Allah when the people belied him and you
supported him when they left him, and Allah the Exalted named you
in the Quran Siddiq.

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The biographers mentioned that Abu Bakr died on Tuesday night

between sunset and nightfall with eight nights remaining from the
month of Jumadal-Ula in 13 AH, he died at the age of 63.
He requested in his will that his wife wash him, and to be buried
beside the Messenger of Allah sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam. ^Umar
prayed for him between the grave and the minbar. His son
^Abdur-Rahman, ^Umar, Uthman, and Talhah Ibn ^Ubaydillah got
down in the hole that was dug to be his grave.

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He was survived by ^Abdullah, AsmaDhatu-Nitaqayn,

^Abdur-Rahman, ^Aishah, Muhammad, and Umm Kulthum.

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O Allah make us in the Hashr (Assembly) with the righteous Muslims
(siddiqs), and make us steadfast to their path and die while loving
them.