Khilafat Of Hazrat Abu Bakr

Introduction
The Arabic word Khailfa is short for Khilafat-ur-Rasul-Allah. It means the
successor of the messenger of Allah. Hazrat Abu Bakr who was elected as the head
of the Muslim community was the first one to use this title.

Life Before Khilafat

Hazrat Abu Bakr was born in a noble and respectable family of Quraish. He was
two years and three months younger than the Holy Prophet. The Holy Prophet and
Hazrat Abu Bakr had a common ancestor Murra. He was a very close friend of the
Holy Prophet. In fact, they were friends from their childhood and remained friends
throughout their lives.
As a very young child Hazrat Abu Bakr was taken to Kaabah, dedicated to the
gods and named Abdul Kaabah. In his early years, he played with the young ones
of the camels which earned him the name of Abu Bakr i.e the father of the foal of
camel

Election As Khalifa
Immediately after the demise of Holy Prophet the question as to who was to be the
leader of the Muslims after the Holy Prophet came as a big threat to the solidarity
of the Muslim community. The Ansar insisted that in view of their services to
Islam the office of Khilafat should be given to them while the Quraish argued that
since the Holy Prophet was amongst the Quraish so the Khalifa should be one of
them. Then it was suggested that there should be two leaders, one from Quraish
and the other from Ansars. Hazrat Umar immediately rejected the idea saying that
this would cause confusion amongst the Muslims. He then held the hand of Hazrat
Abu Bakr and swore allegiance to him. Afterwards all the Muslims came in
batches to pay homage to the new Khalifa.
There are many ahadis which show that the Holy Prophet held Hazrat Abu Bakr in
the highest esteem among his companions. He was fully aware of his eminent
qualities and considered him to be the most suitable person to be elected Khalifa
after him. For example, Abdullah bin Masud reported him as saying If I were to
take anyone as my best friend, I would take Abu Bakr, but he is my brother and my
successor.

Problems Faced by Hazrat Abu Bakr

Hazrat Abu Bakr was confronted with many problems when he assumed the office
of Khalifa. The newly established Muslim state faced many serious challenges. For
instance, people refused to pay Zakat and the apostasy movement i.e the curse of
the abandonment of Islam followed by the appearance of false prophets.

Refusal To Pay Zakat

At that time, many tribes such as Banu Asad, Banu Ghatafan, Banu Abbas, Banu
Murrah and others surrounded Madinah. After the conquest of Makkah when other
tribes accepted Islam they also came forward and accepted Islam. Shortly after the
demise of the Holy Prophet they came to the Khalifa stating they want to remain
on friendly terms with the Muslims as long as they are not obliged to pay Zakat.
Hazrat Abu Bakr dealt the situation firmly and said If with reference to Zakat you
withhold even as much as a string to tie a knot to a camel, as a Khalifa of the Holy
Prophet it would be my duty to fight for it

Apostasy Movement

The short khilafat of Hazrat Abu Bakr was occupied with apostasy wars. Most of
the tribes that had accepted Islam during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet stood up
in open rebellion during the khilafat of Hazrat Abubakr. Hazrat Abu Bakr due to
his excellent leadership qualities was able to crush the rebellion within two years.

False Prophets
Another challenge that Hazrat Abu Bakr faced during his khilafat was the
appearance of false Prophets. They appeared in the different states of the Arabian
Peninsula and challenged the solidarity of Islam but Hazrat Abu Bakr was able to
get rid of them. There were mainly four false Prophets namely
1.
2.
3.
4.

Aswad Ansi
Tulayha
Sajjah
Musailma

Wars during the Khilafat of Abu Bakr

A lot of battles were fought during the Khilafat of Hazrat Abu Bakr in which the
Muslims emerged victorious and as a result of these wars the whole Byzantine
Empire and the Persian Empire came under the direct rule of the Muslims.

Death of the First Khalifa

Hazrat Abu Bakr died in Madinah in 13 A.H/634 A.D and was buried by the side of
the Holy Prophet. At the time of his death, he was sixty-three. His khilafat lasted
for two years and four months. Before his death, he nominated Hazrat Umar as the
successor to the khilafat. His appointment was accepted by all the people.