Hazrat Abu Bakar Siddiq (RA) II

Please read this if you havent.

Hazrat Abu Bakar Siddiq Part 1

The First Fitnah

Note: I will not talk about Fadak and Ridda Wars here. Both the topics are controversial and need to be looked upon separately.

Hazrat Abu Bakar Siddiq (RA) was a modest man and his modesty was the one most important aspect of his Caliphate. He maintained the tradition of easy access and concern established by the Prophet (SAW).

Although Hazrat Abu Bakar (RA) was never renowned as a warrior, his war tactics were put to test almost immediately. The Ridda Wars broke out and it was left to Hazrat Abu Bakar Siddiq (RA) how to tackle them. (As mentioned above, I will not go into the details here). When the Ridda Wars ended six months later, many of the muslims who had memorized the Qur’an by heart had died in the hard fought battles. This scared Hazrat Omar (RA) that soon with so many people who knew the Qur’an by heart dying in wars or because of age, the Qur’an might be lost or corrupted and thus on Hazrat Omar’s (RA) suggestion, after initial hesitation, Hazrat Abu Bakar Siddiq (RA) made a committe to collect the scattered copies of Qur’an into one single copy. The committe was headed by Hazrat Zayd ibn Thabit who was the main scribe of the Prophet (SAW). After collecting all Qur’anic verses from texts in the possession of various sahaba, the committee verified the reading by comparing with those who had memorized the Qur’an. After they were satisfied that they had not missed out any verse or made any mistakes in reading or writing it down, the text was written down as one single manuscript and presented in a book form to Hazrat Abu Bakar (RA) before the first death anniversay of the Prophet (SAW).

After the Ridda wars, Hazrat Abu Bakar Siddiq (RA) decided to engage in military expansion. Again, I will not go into the details in this post as wiki has awesome articles on Conquest of Persia and Byzantine-Arab Wars (must reads!).

It is a common Sunni belief that Hazrat Ali (RA) came up to meet Hazrat Abu Bakar Siddiq (RA) for the first time after the Saqifah after Hazrat Fatima’s (RA) death where the two were able to clear out misunderstandings. Some versions also indicate that the two worked in harmony for the rest of the time. It was then that four different ministries were established: Hazrat Ali (RA) served as the chief of secretariat, Hazrat Omar (RA) as the minister of justice, Hazrat Abu Ubaidah (RA) as the minister of finance and Hazrat Usman (RA) was incharge of information and communication. Hazrat Abu Bakar (RA) prefered the recently reverted muslims with proven military abilities for military command.

His death is also controversial. According to one version, he had a fever like the Prophet (SAW) just 3 years back and never recovered. In another version, he was poinsoned which affected him a year later, just a few days before his death. Wallah-u-Alam! Whatever the real reason might be, once he had realized that his end was near, he called upon a group of 6 companions of the Prophet (SAW), including Hazrat Ali (RA) to decide the next Caliph. Hazrat Abu Bakar (RA) was clear that he wanted to nominate Hazrat Omar (RA) and he finally did as well. It is important to note that Hazrat Omar (RA) was only nominated by Hazrat Abu Bakar Siddiq (RA) and it was not an order passed by him. Not everyone agreed immediately because many of them thought Hazrat Omar (RA) was very aggressive and a milder Caliph would be more appropriate. By the end of the meeting, everyone had agreed and Hazrat Usman (RA) was called in write Hazrat Abu Bakar’s (RA) will.

This is the last will and testament of Abu Bakr bin Abu Qahafa (RA), when he is in the last hour of the world, and the first of the next; an hour in which the infidel must believe, the wicked be convinced of their evil ways, I nominate Omar bin al Khattab (RA) as my successor. Therefore, hear to him and obey him. If he acts right, confirm his actions. My intentions are good, but I cannot see the future results. However, those who do ill shall render themselves liable to severe account hereafter. Fare you well. May you be ever attended by the Divine favor of blessing.

After a fortnight of fever, Hazrat Abu Bakar Siddiq (RA) died and was burried at a place which he truly deserved: his head close to the Prophet’s (SAW) shoulder. The next day, Hazrat Aisha (RA) returned the two young cows that had been loaned to her father to Bait-ul-Maal.