THE EARLY CALIPHATE IN HISTORY: ABU BAKR AL-SIDDIQ (FIRST PART)

The Caliphate in history: Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq, a trustworthy Muslim and Leader

 

In this and the next posts, we will begin to discover how events unfolded in real history; at first glance, we can present a rough timeline with the main events from 630, when Makkah was conquered by Islamic forces, and 661, the end of the rule of Ali, the 4^th Caliph.

 

In the picture below, you can see the historical timeline:

 

 

As you can see, there have been 4 Caliphs in 34 years, and this period coincided with the first expansion of Islam and the Caliphate. As a matter of fact, Islam has been tied to the Caliphate from the very beginning; furthermore, it is a feature that will mark Islam forever, until our time. It seems impossible, in fact, to conceive Islam without, at least, the aspiration to the Caliphate. In other words, there is and there never will be a purely spiritual Islam, or a purely secular Islam, as the two ‘institutions’, the State and the True Religion are one and the same thing and cannot be separated.

 

Anyway, in this post we will concentrate on the first Caliph, Abu Bakr, known as ‘Al-Siddiq’, which means the trustworthy. This is a title given to him directly by the Messenger of Allah (May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon Him), and tells much about the personality of this great man and believer. As we can see from the picture above, its rule lasted roughly two years; nonetheless, he left a lasting mark on history and on Islam as well.

 

How Caliphs came to power?

 

This is a fundamental question, as the Caliphate is a fundamental part of Islam; well, the first four Caliphs were chosen after a consultation by the people who had a vast knowledge of Islam and of state matters. In the case of Abu Bakr, he was begged by its own people to rule them and he had no choice but to accept; he was quite old when he assumed the head of the Caliphate and of Islam and had no close relatives. This way, it is quite easy to understand how a Caliph cannot auto-proclaim itself as such, but he must be chosen in a way which we can define meritocratic. In fact, what was important was the knowledge and practice of Islam, and the capacity to rule a State. These features gave Abu Bakr the credentials to rule.

 

Battles fought under Abu Bakr rule

 

Abu Bakr, the first Caliph, ruled for about 2 years and 2 months; during this period, though, 2 main battles were fought. We are talking about the battle of Al-Amarna, and the beginning of the liberation of Iraq and Palestine; this is, in fact, the first expansion outside the Arabic Peninsula, and these territories belonged, respectively, to the Persian Empire and to the Byzantine Empire, the two super-powers back then.

The consolidation of the Arabic peninsula under Islamic rule, on the other way, was reached through the so called ‘ridda’ wars.

This way, Islam began to expand its reach, and to conquer territories which will stay Muslim in the centuries to come. As a matter of fact, the expansion was reached manu militari and this is not a problem; many Muslims today, though, seems not to be comfortable with that. They should learn the history and appreciate what these men did; otherwise, Islam would have remained a regional cult, and did not rise to the level of excellence it naturally deserves.

 

The election of Abu Bakr 

 

This glorious history, the history of Caliphate, was carried out after the death of Prophet Muhammad (May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon Him), by his immediate successor, one of the first Companions, Abu Bakr. Its election is very well known and testifies about the orthodoxy of the methodology adopted; on this point, it is interesting to note that some historians objected that the succession in the early Caliphate was determined by the pre-Islamic practices. Nevertheless, it is easy to see how there were many differences between the tribal institution and the Caliphate. Among them, we can mention the age, which was a fundamental aspect in the tribal setting; another feature was wealth. Finally, there was no oath of allegiance to the ruler; the only common feature was the institution of ‘consultation’. In Islam, the chances to be elected as Caliphs depended mainly on the commitment to Islam and to the closeness to Prophet Muhammad (May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon Him). The succession of Abu Bakr, in fact, followed immediately after the death of Prophet Muhammad (May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon Him), after the meeting held at the ‘Saqifat’, a hall used to hold meetings and choose the Arab leaders in Madina. After a brief discussion, Umar indicated Abu Bakr as the natural successor to the Caliphate, as he was the one chosen by the Prophet (May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon Him) himself to lead the congregational prayers. He then gave his allegiance to the new Caliph, followed by the other Muslims at the meeting.

 

In the next post of this series, we will talk more extensively of the war fought by the Muslims in the early years of expansion.

 

In the game, you can find the first video of the new series here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BEW2AZ8sxg) with the conquest of the Arabian territories which were still held by the Persian Emperor. I hope you enjoy it, put a like and subscribe for new contents!

AND DON'T MISS THE NEXT POSTS ON THIS BLOG!!!!