Different names of Abu Bakr
His actual name was “Abdullah Ibn Usman”. According to some narrations, before Islam, he was called Abdul Kabaa (servant of Kabaa). Later Prophet Muhammad changed it to “Abdullah” (servant of Allah). He was called “Abu Bakr” (father of a young camel) because of his interest in animals, particularly camels. Another one of his nicknames was “Ateek” which means freed.
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said, “Whoever wants to see someone who’s been freed from the fire then let them look at Abu Bakr.”
lastly, the famous name which is very commonly known is “Siddiqui” which means “truthful”.
Birth
Abu Bakr was born in the year 572. Hence, he was about 2 and a half years younger than Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), who was born in 570.
Tribe and parents
Abu Bakr was born into a wealthy family of the Banu Taym group. His father’s name was “Abu Quhafa” whose actual name was Usman. His mother’s name was “Salma Umm Al-Khayr”. Banu Taym was not one of the big tribes of Makkah, but a subtribe of Quraish. Unlike the prominent tribes, Banu Taym was a noble one. They don’t participate in tribal warfare. They used to have a specific reputation as being peacemakers.
Spouse and children
Hazrat Abu Bakr married 4 wives in all. He had 6 children, 3 of them were sons and 3 were daughters. His 1st wife was “Qutaila”. From her, Abu Bakr had a son and a daughter named Abdullah and Asma respectively. She didn’t accept Islam, so he divorced her.
“Umm Ruman” was his 2nd wife. She was the mother of 2 children of Abu Bakr, Abdur Rahman and Ayesha. She died in Madinah. Her funeral prayer was led by the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said about her, “If anyone wishes to see an hour of paradise, let them see Umm Ruman.”
The 3rd wife of Abu Bakr was “Habibah”. She was the mother of Umm Kulsum, who was born after her father’s death.
“Asma” was the 4th wife of Abu Bakr. She had one son from Abu Bakr who was named Muhammad. She was a stepsister of Umm Salma, wife of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
Interests
Abu Bakr loved poetry. But he intensely disliked shirk-containing poetry even before becoming Muslim. He was also known in his area for studying ancestry. He had an incredible understanding of the Arab lineage.
Line of work
Abu Bakr Siddiqui was a merchant by profession, and he used to trade in garments and clothes. His sharpness and honesty were the factors that caused him to be wealthy and good at trade. People love to do business with him because of these specialties.
Role in building the Islamic society:
First Muslim
Among the adult men, Abu Bakr was the first one to accept Islam. As soon as Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) told him about who he was and the first revelation, he didn’t think about his rank or any consequences and immediately accepted Islam.
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said, “Never did I invite any person to accept Islam who did not doubt and hesitate and express anxiety save only Abu Bakr who embraced it without the slightest hesitation when I spoke to him of the faith.”
This is obviously about outside of the Holy Prophet’s family as Hazrat Khadija also supported him in the same way as Abu Bakr.
Ashara Mubashara
7 out of 10 Ashara Mubashara are the people who were brought into Islam by Abu Bakr Siddique including himself. Other than him, the remaining 6 were; Hazrat Usman Ibn Affan, Hazrat Talha Ibn Ubaydullah, Hazrat Zubair Ibn Al-Awwaam, Hazrat Abdur Rahman Ibn ‘Awf, Hazrat Abu ‘Ubayda Ibn Al-jarrah and Hazrat Sa’d Ibn Abi Waqqas.
Freeing slaves
Abu Bakr used to buy and free slaves who their masters abused for accepting Islam. Whenever he hears that a Muslim slave is being mistreated somewhere in Makkah, he immediately goes for their freedom. He freed multiple slaves and the most famous one is Bilal. He spent almost all his wealth on this work. When he came into Islam, he had forty thousand dinars and at the time of migration, he only had five thousand dinars left.
Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The wealth of no one has benefited me as much as the wealth of Abu Bakr.”
Hazrat Abu Bakr wept and he said, “Are my life and my wealth for anyone besides you, O Messenger of Allah?”
Abu Bakr’s Caliphate:
Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique was the first caliph of Muslims and remained in this position from 632 to 634. As he was the first to have this responsibility, no one knew what this title meant and what powers it held. So, the first title holder would have to fill in those details, which was no doubt effectively done by the first Caliph. In his reign, many temptations and fitna arose.
One of the major problems was that many tribal leaders refused to pay zakat to the treasury of Madinah. A few even claimed themselves to be new prophets. Regarding this issue, Abu Bakr established a new religious principle. He said if there is only one God (Allah) then there should be just one embodiment of Islam, one community, one ummah. Any kind of separation or breakaway would be considered treason at that time. This was a logical short-term solution. After this within a year, the secessionist rebellion was crushed by Khalid Bin Walid.
After building a proper strategic campaign with his advisors and military commanders, he decided to attack the Sassanids and the Byzantines. Because invasion by either of the empires was inevitable in the long term, that’s why Abu Bakr decided to strike first their two larger neighbors. This action, started by the first caliph, within a few decades, led to one of the largest empires in history.
Abu Bakr’s death:
In the year 634, at the time when winters were near, Abu Bakr Siddiqui was caught by high fever, and he knew that death was near. So, he called the community’s top notables and in front of them nominated Umar bin Khattab as his successor. Umar was also a close companion of Muhammad, but due to his fierce nature and temper, the council wasn’t sure that Umar could be a suitable person to lead the ummah. At this issue, Hazrat Ali stepped forward and supported Abu Bakr’s decision to make Umar the next caliph. Hazrat Ali’s words tipped the scale and eventually, everyone agreed upon this. Hence the ummah had selected their second caliph. The first Caliph died in the same month.
