Part 9

“Umar added, "I met Abu Bakr As-Siddeeq and said to him, ‘If you wish, I will give my daughter Hafsah in marriage to you." Abu Bakr kept silent and did not say any word to me in reply. | got more furious with him than with ~Uthmaan. I waited for a few days, and then Allah's Messenger asked for her hand, and I gave her in marriage to him. Afterwards I met Abu Bakr who said to me, ‘Perhaps you got angry with me when you offered Hafsah in marriage to me, and I did not give you a reply?' I said, 'Yes.' Abu Bakr said, 'Nothing prevented me to respond to your proposal except that I knew that Allah's Messenger had mentioned her, and I never wanted to let out the secret of Allah's Messenger. And if Allah's Messenger had refused her, I would have accepted her.' " (Reported by AlAl-Bukhari.)

Abu Bakr's Tender Heart:

On the authority of *Aa'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, who says: “I had seen my parents practicing Islam since I attained the age of puberty. Not a day passed but the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, visited us, both in the morning and the evening. My father Abu Bakr thought of building a mosque in the courtyard of his house, and he did so. He used to pray and recite the Quran in it. The polytheist women and their children used to gather around him and look at him astonishingly. Abu Bakr was a softhearted man and could not help weeping while reciting the Quran. The chiefs of the Quraysh disbelievers became afraid of that (ie. that their

children and women might be affected by the recitation of Quran)." (Reported by Al-Bukhari.)

Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, reports that after the death of Allah's Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, Abu Bakr said to ~Umar, "Let us visit Umm Ayman as Allah's Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, used to visit her." When they went to her, she wept. They (Abu Bakr and ~Umar) said to her, "What makes you weep? What is in store (in the next world) for Allah's Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, is better than (this worldly life)." She said, "I weep not because J am ignorant of the fact that what is in store for Allah's Messenger (in the next world) is better than (this worldly life), but I weep because the Divine Revelation has ceased to come from Heaven. This moved both of them to tears and they began to weep along with her." (Reported by Moslem.)

Abu Bakr's Interpretation of Dreams:

Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, was an acknowledged interpreter of dreams. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, himself used to consult only him for interpreting his dreams.

Sa*eed Ibn Mansoor narrates on the authority of Sa* eed Ibn Al-Musayyib who said: "* Aa'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, saw in a dream that three moons fell in her house. So she narrated her dream to Abu Bakr - who was the best interpreter of dreams - he said: "If you have truly seen that, then three of the best of all Allah's creation will be buried in your house." When the Prophet , peace and blessings be upon him, died, Abu Bakr said to ~Aa'ishah, "This is the best of your three moons.”

Saeed Ibn Mansoor also narrates on the authority of “Umar Ibn Sharahabeel who said: "The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "I saw that I was followed by black sheep then I was followed by white sheep that outnumbered the black ones in a way that you could hardly see the black ones. Abu Bakr interpreted the dreams saying: "O Prophet of Allah, the black sheep stand for the Arabs who will embrace Islam in large numbers, and the white sheep stand for the non-Arabs who will embrace Islam in far larger numbers than the Arabs. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, "That was exactly how the angel interpreted it before dawn."

Ibn Sa*eed further narrates on the authority of Ibn Shihaab who said: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, saw a dream and narrated it to Abu Bakr. He said: "I saw in a dream that we were racing and I was ahead of you by steps. “Abu Bakr said, "You will die and rest in peace in Heaven, and I will live two years and a half after your passing away.

On the authority of Abu Qilaabah who says: A man said to Abu Bakr As-Sideeq, "I saw in a dream that I urinate blood," Whereupon Abu Bakr said, "You are a man who copulates with his wife in the time of her menses, so seek Allah's Forgiveness and do not do this again."

Verses, Hadiths and Scholars Saying Referring to Abu Bak's Caliphate:

On the authority of Hudhayfah, may Allah be pleased with him, who quotes the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, as saying: "Among those who will succeed me, follow Abu Bakr and *Umar." (Reported by Al-Tirmidhi and Al-

Jubayr Ibn Mut'am, may Allah be pleased with him, reports: "A woman came to the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, to ask him about something, but he told her to come some other time. She said, "O Messenger of Allah! What if I come but do not find you? [t seemed as if she meant that he might die?" The Prophet said. "If you do not find me, then go to Abu Bakr." (Reported by AlBukhari and Moslem.)

Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, narrates: "Banu Al-Mustaliq sent me to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, in order to ask him to who would they pay alms after the Prophet's demise. I went to the Prophet to ask him about this, and he said to me, "To Abu Bakr." (Reported by AlHaakim.)

*Aa'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, reports that Allah's Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, said to her in his (last) illness.’ "Call Abu Bakr, your father and your brother too, so that I may write a document, for he fear lest someone else might be desirous (of succeeding me) and (that some claimant might say, ‘I have better claim to it, whereas Allah and_ the believers do not substantiate the claim of anyone but that of Abu Bakr. "(Reported by Moslem.)

Ibn Abu Mulaykah reports that * Aa'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, was asked about the person Allan's Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, would have nominated his successor if he had to nominate one at all. She said, "Abu Bakr.” It was said to her, "Then who after Abu Bakr?" "Umar,' she replied. It was said to her, ‘Then who after “Urnar?" She said, ~Abu *Ubaydah Ibn Al-Jarraah, and then she kept silent, (Reported by Moslem.)

Abu Moosa Al-Ash*aryy, may Allah be pleased with him, narrates: "The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, fell ill and when his illness aggravated, he said, "Tell Abu Bakr to lead the people in Salaah." ~ Aa'ishah said, "O Messenger of Allah, "Abu Bakr is a softhearted man, he would not be able to lead the Salaah in your place." The Prophet said again, "Tell Abu Bakr to lead the people in Salaah." She repeated the same reply, and the Prophet said: "Tell Abu Bakr to lead the people in Salaah. You are even as the women who were with Prophet Yoosuf (Joseph)." So the Messenger of Allah went to Abu Bakr (with that order), and he led the people in Salaah in the lifetime of the Prophet. (Reported by Al-Bukhari and Moslem.)

Scholars have deduced the reference to Abu Bakr's caliphate from some verses of the Quran. Al-Hasan Al-Basri, commenting on the verse:

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"O ye who believe if any from among you turn back from his Faith, soon will Allah produce a people whom He will love as they will love Him, lowly with the Believers, mighty against the rejecters, fighting in the way of Allah, and never afraid of the reproaches of such as find fault. That is the Grace of Allah, which he will bestow on whom he pleaseth. And Allah encompasseth all, and he knoweth all things." (Al-Maa' idah: 54), he said: "By Allah, they arc Abu Bakr and his companions. When some Arabs relinquished Islam after the death of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, Abu Bakr and his Companions fought them until hey returned back to Islam.

Abu Bakr Elected Caliph:

It_ is reported that “Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab, may Allah be pleased with him, addressed the people, upon his return from Hajj, saying: “I have heard that someone said, 'If ~ Umar were dead, 1 would pledge allegiance to such-and-such person.’ No one should deceive himself by saying that the election of Abu Bakr was an unpremeditated affair (Faltah) which was ratified. Admittedly it was so; However, Allah averted any evil which might have resulted from it. There is none amongst you to whom people would devote themselves as they did to Abu Bakr who was the best of us.

It happened that when Allah's Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, passed away, ~ Ali and Az-Zubayr and their Companions withdrew from us in the house of Faatimah, and the Ansaar opposed us and assembled with their chiefs in the hall (Saqeefah) of Banu Saa*idah; while the Muhajireen gathered around Abu Bakr. ~Umar continued: "I told Abu Bakr that we should go to our brothers, the Ansaar, when two righteous men met us and told us the conclusion the people had come to. They asked us, "Where are you going, O people of the Muhajireen?" 1 replied, ‘To our brothers, the Ansaar.' They told us that there was no need of approaching them, and that we must make our own decision. I said, 'By Allah, we will go to them: we found them in the hall of Banu Saa*idah. In the middle of the hall was aman wrapped up ina cloak. I asked who that man was, and the people answered that he was Sad Ibn ~Ubadah. I wondered, ‘What's wrong with him?’ 'He is ill," came the answer. When we sat down, their orator stood up to address the assembly. He praised and thanked Allah as He deserves, and then said: "We are the Helpers (Ansaar) of Allah and the battalion of Islam; and you, O Muhajireen are a family

of ours and a group of your people have settled amongst us. You are trying to cut us off from our origin and wrest authority from us." When _ he finished, 1 wanted to speak, because I had prepared a speech which pleased me much, and wanted to deliver it before Abu Bakr. I was trying to soften a certain asperity of his, but he (Abu Bakr) was more forbearing and wiser than I was. He said, 'Gently, ~Umar!' I did not like to anger him so | allowed him to speak. He is a man with more knowledge than [, and by Allah he did not omit a single word which T had thought of, and he uttered it in his inimitable way better than I could have done. The orator said: "Truly, you deserve all the good you have said about yourselves, but the Arabs will never accept the authority of anyone other than a man of this clan of Quraysh; they being the best of the Arabs as regards descent and country. I offer you one of these two men. Pledge allegiance to whichever of these you please." Thus saying he took hold of my hand and that of Abu ~ Ubaydah Ibn Al-Jarraah who was silting amongst us. Nothing he said displeased me more than that (proposal). By Allah, I would rather have come forward and have my neck chopped off - if that were no sin — than become the ruler of a people of whom Abu Bakr was one.