Signs from Allah: History, Science and Faith in Islam
2: Abu Bakr (r)
By Professor Nazeer Ahmed
Concord, CA
Summarily, Abu Bakr as Siddiq (r) provided the bridge between the Prophet (sas) and historical Islam. He waged an unceasing struggle to preserve the institution of Zakat and to silence the false Prophets who sprang up all over Arabia. He continued the defensive measures taken by the Prophet (sas) to guard the Muslim homeland against external threats from the Persian and the Eastern Roman empires.
The Qur’an as it was revealed to the Prophet (sas) had been committed to the memory of the Hufaz. After the Battle of Yamama when a large number of Hufaz perished, Abu Bakr (r) ordered the Qur’an to be committed to paper. This first writing is known as Mashaf e Siddiqi. We must emphasize here that Mashaf e Siddiqi was a documentation not a compilation. The compilation and arrangement was done by the Prophet (sas) himself as it was revealed to him. Every word in the Qur’an is as it was revealed to the Prophet (sas). Mashaf e Siddiqi had no vowels and we shall see in later sessions the challenges it presented in recitation as people with different accents entered the fold of Islam from distant parts of the world.
Among the spiritual circles, Abu Bakr (r) is known for Ma’rifa or the inner knowledge he received from the Prophet during the Hijra as they sought refuge together in Ghar at Thaur (a cave in mount Thaur near Mecca), an event that is celebrated in the Qur’an in the Ayah “La Tahzan, Inn AllahaMa’ana” (Do not grieve, indeed Allah is with us). The Prophet said: What I received, I poured into the heart of Abu Bakr.
Abu Bakr (r) is a towering figure in Islamic history. While Khadija (r) was the first lady to accept Islam, and Ali (r) was the first youth to accept Islam, Abu Bakr (r) was the first adult to accept Islam. His trust in the Prophet was unflinching. When the Prophet called him to Islam, Abu Bakr accepted immediately and unhesitatingly. When the Prophet revealed his ascension during Meraj and so many people doubted the narrative, Abu Bakr did not flinch. His dedication to the Master was total. When the Prophet called for donations for a campaign and Abu Bakr (r) gave all he had and when the Prophet asked what he had left for his own family, Abu Bakr replied, “Allah and his Messenger”. When he fell terminally ill, Prophet (sas) honored Abu Bakr (r) by appointing him as the Imam to lead the prayers.
In his first address, Abu Bakr (r) said to the believers:
“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. Obey me so long as I obey Allah and His Messenger. But if I disobey God and His Messenger, you owe me no obedience.” Abu Bakr understood that leadership was a Trust from God and His Messenger and was entrusted to him by ijma or the collective will of the community.
Upon accession to the Khilafat, Abu Bakr was faced with several crises. The immediate issue was the dispatch of defensive forces to the north to contain the Roman armies. The Muslims had faced a stalemate with the Byzantines at the Battle of Tabuk and had lost their leader Zaid bin Haris. A follow up defensive expedition had been initiated by the Prophet (sas) to safeguard the northern approaches to Madina. Abu Bakr reaffirmed the decision of the Prophet and dispatched an expedition under Usama bin Zaid. The expedition was successful and it demonstrated the strength and cohesiveness of the Muslims even in the absence of the Prophet.
The second challenge was the refusal of certain Arab tribes to pay the Zakat. Pre-Islamic Arabia was tribal. Many of these tribes had reluctantly accepted Islam towards the last days of the Prophet (sas). When he passed away, these tribes saw an opportunity to stop paying the mandatory Zakat, which they misunderstood as another form of taxation.
Zakat is not only a moral obligation in Islam; it is also a legal obligation. It is an act of purity. It is regarded as one of the five pillars of Islam and is an article of faith. In Islam, the economic well-being of humankind is as important as that of the individual. No man’s belief is complete unless he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself. The Qur’an discourages hoarding, forbids ribaand encourages sharing, investment and trade. Zakat works to circulate money and operates against hoarding. Wherever the Qur’an emphasizes the establishment of prayer, it also emphasizes charity and Zakat. Foregoing Zakat would have destroyed the moral foundation of the nascent Islamic state and would have reduced Islam to a litany of personal beliefs and observances. Abu Bakr (r) conducted a vigorous police action against the non-payers of Zakat. He personally went on several expeditions and brought the rebellious tribes under the authority of the state.
The third crisis faced by Abu Bakr was that of false prophets. Seeing the success and prosperity of the Muslims, many false prophets (and prophetesses) sprang up all over Arabia. Religion was and remains to this day, good business. Many a pretender saw in the success of Islam an opportunity to establish his own religion and get rich in the process. Abu Bakr declared war on the false prophets. He sent eleven expeditions against as many pretenders. Of these the best known was the expedition of Khalid bin Walid against Musailimah al Kazzab, which culminated in the Battle of Yamama. Similar expeditions were sent towards Yemen, Amman and Hazeefa. All of these expeditions were successful.
It was in the campaign against Musailimah al Kazzab that a large number of the Companions of the Prophet (sas) perished. Many of them were hufaz (those who had memorized the Qur’an). The Qur’an was revealed to the Prophet as the spoken Word, which was then memorized by hundreds of companions. It was the age of the spoken word and the Arabs were very proud of their language and their eloquence. The martyrdom of so many hufaz at the Battle of Yamama was a matter of great concern to the Companions. Upon the advice of Omar ibn al Khattab, Abu Bakr Siddique ordered the writing down of the Qur’an to preserve it, as it was revealed to the Prophet (sas), for all generations to come. The first written copy of the Qur’an is known as Mashaf e Siddiqi.
In the geopolitics of West Asia, neither the Byzantines nor the Persians could tolerate an independent, united and strong Arabia. Both powers had coveted the Arabian Peninsula for centuries. The Romans had occupied Syria and Jordan while the Persians had subjugated Iraq, Yemen and the Hejaz. To the geopolitical element was now added the religious element. Prophet Muhammed (sas), in the fulfillment of his mission as the Messenger of God, had sent greetings to the rulers of the two powers inviting them to accept Islam. Heraclius, the Byzantine governor, had sent a polite reply but had ordered his troops into action on the northern borders of Arabia. Khosroe, the Persian emperor, had torn up the Prophet’s letter and had ordered his forces in Yemen to march on Madina and arrest the Prophet. It was to forestall the ambitions of the Byzantines and the Persians that the Prophet (sas) had initiated defensive actions to the north and the east. The campaigns undertaken by Abu Bakr Siddique against the Byzantines and the Persians were thus a continuation of those that had been initiated by the Prophet himself.
Political developments in West Asia soon worked in favor of the emerging Islamic state. There was murder and mayhem in the Persian court. The weakness of Persia created military opportunities for its neighbors. Heraclius, the new Byzantine Emperor, waged a series of campaigns (625-635) and won back some of the territories his predecessor had lost to the Persians. The explosive growth of the Islamic state since the Hijra (622 CE) brought its borders to the River Euphrates, which marked the southwestern boundary of the Persian Empire. The Arab tribes near the Persian border, were restive. They had for a long period enjoyed an autonomous status under the protection of the Persian court. But Khosroe, the Persian monarch, had revoked that autonomy and had turned the areas into imperial colonies. Resentment had built up over increased taxes. Some of these tribes had accepted Islam during the life of the Prophet (sas) but had become apostates when he passed away. Abu Bakr (r) was aware of these developments. So, when Al Muthannah ibn Harithah, chief of the BanuShaiban clan in eastern Arabia, approached him with a proposal to rally the Arab tribes against Persia, the Caliph agreed.
Meanwhile, Khalid bin Walid had completed his operations against the Arabs who had refused to pay the Zakat. Abu Bakr (r) ordered him to join up with Al Muthannah. The two together captured Kuwait, Barah, as well as provinces of Al Hirah and Al Anbar and stabilized the Persian front at the Euphrates River in modern Iraq (633CE).
The emergence of a unified Arab state under Islam was no more acceptable to the Byzantines than it was to the Persians. The Byzantines had probed Muslim defenses at the time of the Prophet (sas) in preparation for a possible invasion of Arabia. It was to contain this threat that the Prophet (sas) had conducted the campaign of Tabuk. Continued Byzantine pressure had prompted the Prophet (sas) to send an expedition under Zaid bin Haris. The engagement had proved indecisive and Zaid bin Haris was killed in the campaign. The Prophet had organized a second campaign under Usama bin Zaid, but had passed away before the campaign got under way.
Abu Bakr (r) reaffirmed the decision of the Prophet (sas) to send an army to the northern borders. The instructions given by Abu Bakr (r) to Usama bin Zaid, commander of the Muslim forces, are noteworthy for their ethical content:
• Do not harm children, women and old men.
• Do not harm the disabled and do not disfigure the bodies of those killed in battle.
• Do not destroy standing crops and do not cut down trees bearing fruit.
• Do not be dishonest and misappropriate war booty.
• Do not kill animals except as is necessary for food.
These injunctions have served, for kings and soldiers alike, as a canonical basis for a Muslim code of ethics during the last 1,400 years. How sad it is that these ethical injunctions are so often forgotten in modern warfare.
The campaigns under Usama bin Zaid were also inconclusive. The threat of an invasion from the north grew each day as the Byzantines made preparations for war. Abu Bakr (r) decided to preempt the enemy and ordered an invasion of Syria. The main Byzantine forces under Theodorus, brother of the Byzantine Governor Heraclius, blocked the advance of the Muslim armies in the narrow gorge between Mount Hermon and Mount Hawran.
The initial skirmishes were in favor of the Muslims. However, Heraclius was not willing to concede the strategic province of Syria so easily. He was one of the most capable and respected generals of his age and had defeated the Persians in numerous battles. He raised a new army of 200,000 and marched south along the coast and the two armies met on the banks of the Yarmuk River.
The Battle of Yarmuk, fought in 636 CE, was one of the decisive battles in history. The Arab triumph in this battle marked the end of Byzantine rule in West Asia and paved the way for further Arab conquests in Egypt and North Africa. Abu Bakr (r) died a few days after the Battle of Yarmuk. He was 63 years old and his Khilafat lasted two years and three months.
Abu Bakr (r) accomplished so much in so little time. He provided the bridge between the prophetic period and historical Islam. Without his leadership, Zakat would have disappeared as an institution and the nature of religion itself would have been altered. The legal basis of the state would have been seriously undermined and the community would have fallen apart. Abu Bakr continued the traditions of the Prophet (sas), overcame internal dissensions, established the rule of law, suppressed false prophets and successfully defended the nascent state against the Roman and Persian Empires.
He demonstrated that the Muslims were a living, dynamic community. Under his leadership, Islam embarked on the process of history bereft of its Prophet but animated by the message of the Qur’an and his Sunnah.
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