# Abu Bakr

Abū Bakr ibn Abu Quhhafa (c. October 573–22 August 634) was a companion of and the first Muslim ruler after Muhammad (632–634). Sunnis regard him as his rightful successor (caliph) and the first of four righteous Caliphs (Rashidun). The Shi'a believe he violated Muhammad's direct orders and orchestrated a coup d'état. Scholarly consensus lists him as the first Muslim Caliph.

## Quotes

* I have been given the authority over you, and I am not the best of you. If I do well, help me; and if I do wrong, set me right. Sincere regard for truth is loyalty and disregard for truth is treachery. The weak amongst you shall be strong with me until I have secured his rights, if God wills; and the strong amongst you shall be weak with me until I have wrested from him the rights of others, if God wills. Obey me so long as I obey God and His Messenger. But if I disobey God and His Messenger, you owe me no obedience. Arise for your prayer, God have mercy upon you.
** After assuming the office of Caliph, Abu Bakr's first address was as follows, quoted in Tareekh Ibn Kathir, Vol. 6, p. 305-306, As quoted in Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources (1983) by Martin Lings, p. 344
* In the name of the most merciful God, Abdallah Athik Ibn Abi Quhafa, to the rest of the true believers; health and happiness, and the mercy and blessing of God be upon you. I praise the most high God, and I pray for his prophet Mohammed. This is to acquaint you that I intend to send the true believers into Syria, to take it out of the hands of the infidels, And I would have you know, that the fighting for religion is an act of obedience to God.
** Letter to the inhabitants of Mecca, translated by Simon Ockley in History of the Saracens, 1708
* How wretched are those in the sight of God who disobey Him.
** Abdul Jaleel Qureshi, Hazrat Abu Bakr Nay Farmaya (Ferozesons, 2011), p.64)
* It is a matter of great shame that the birds wake up in the morning before you.
** Abdul Jaleel Qureshi, Hazrat Abu Bakr Nay Farmaya (Ferozesons, 2011), p.65)
* Give brief orders; speeches that are too long are likely to be forgotten.
** Advice to his army; R. W. Maqsood Sayings of Abu Bakr (1989)

#### Last Decree

* In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. This is the (final) command of Abu Bakr ibn Abu Quhafah, which he writes as he is exiting this world of the Hereafter... a time during which a disbeliever comes to believe, a wicked-doer comes to have faith, and a liar tells the truth: Verily, I appoint over you Umar ibn al-Khattab as my successor, so listen to him and obey him... If he acts justly, then that is what I think of him and that is what I know about him. But if he changes for the worse (i.e., he begins to act unjustly), then for each person is that which he has earned. Goodness is what I wanted, and I do not know anything of the Unseen world. "And whose who do wrong will come to know by what overturning they will be overturned." Quran, Chapter 26, verse 227
** The Biography of Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq, p. 726, also quoted in Tareekh ul-Islam by Imam Al-Dhahabi, p. 116-117.

## External links

* Simon Ockley: History of the Saracens, 1708
* Dr. Ali Muhammad as-Sallabi: The Biography of Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq, Darussalam Publications, New York & Lahore, 2005