Companion of the Prophet ﷺ
أبو بكر الصديق
Abu Bakr al-Siddiq
Abd Allah ibn Abi Quhafa al-Taymi al-Qurashi
The Prophet's closest companion and first caliph, remembered for truthfulness, tender-hearted worship and giving everything for Allah.
- al-Siddiq (the Truthful)
- al-Atiq
- al-Sahib (the Companion of the Cave)
- First Caliph
- Kunya
- Abu Bakr
- Tribe
- Quraysh (Banu Taym)
- Born
- c. 573 CE (approx.), Makkah
- Died
- 634 CE / 13 AH (22 Jumada II), Madinah
- Resting place
- Beside the Prophet ﷺ in the Prophet's Mosque (Rawdah), Madinah
- Known as
- Ten promised Paradise, Muhajirun, Caliphs, Badr, Narrators, Companions of the Cave
Introduction
Abu Bakr was a Makkan merchant of the Banu Taym who was respected for his honesty long before Islam. He was the Prophet's closest friend, and the title al-Siddiq, the one who confirms the truth, marks how readily he believed whatever the Prophet brought.
He spent his wealth freeing enslaved believers, stood beside the Prophet through the years of persecution, and was the one chosen to travel with him in the Hijra, sheltering with him in the cave of Thawr.
When the Prophet was too ill to come out, Abu Bakr led the congregation in his place. After the Prophet's death he became the first caliph and steadied the community through a fearful and uncertain time, before dying about twenty-seven months later.
A day in their footsteps
Small, repeatable practices from Abu Bakr al-Siddiq's life, each with the sources it rests on.
Weeping while reciting the Quran
He prayed and recited in a small mosque beside his home in Makkah, and he was a man of many tears who could not keep from weeping as he recited.
Let the Quran move you; recite slowly enough to feel it.
Show the wording
“Abu Bakr was a man who used to weep too much, and he could not help weeping on reciting the Quran. That situation scared”
Sahih al-Bukhari 3905
Asking for a dua to use inside prayer
He asked the Prophet to teach him a supplication for his prayer and was given a short plea for forgiveness and mercy admitting that no one forgives sins but Allah.
Learn one forgiveness dua by heart and say it before the salam.
Show the wording
“I asked Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) to teach me an invocation so that I may invoke Allah with it in my prayer. He”
Sahih al-Bukhari 834
Praying witr early, before sleep
When the Prophet asked when he prayed witr, he said he prayed it early in the night. The Prophet described this as taking the careful course.
If you might sleep through the night, pray witr before you go to bed.
Show the wording
“The Prophet (ﷺ) asked AbuBakr: When do you observe the witr? He replied: I observe the witr prayer in the early hours of the night. The Prophet (ﷺ)”
Sunan Abi Dawud 1434
Giving everything and trusting Allah with the rest
When the Prophet called for charity, Abu Bakr brought all he owned. Asked what he had left for his family, he said he had left them Allah and His Messenger.
Give a share you can feel, with real trust in Allah to provide.
Show the wording
“AbuBakr brought all that he had with him. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) asked him: What did you leave for your family? He replied: I left Allah and His Apostle for them.”
Sunan Abi Dawud 1678
Forgiving a relative and resuming support
After a relative he supported joined those slandering his daughter Aisha, Abu Bakr vowed to cut him off. When the verse urging forgiveness came, he resumed the help and swore never to stop it again.
Keep helping someone who has hurt you, for the sake of being forgiven yourself.
Show the wording
“So he resumed giving Mistah the aid he used to give him before and said, "By Allah, I will never withhold it from him”
Sahih al-Bukhari 4750
Quick repentance after a harsh word
After speaking harshly to Umar he regretted it straight away, asked Umar's forgiveness, and went to the Prophet about it. The Prophet prayed for Abu Bakr to be forgiven.
Apologise the same day, before the matter settles in the heart.
Show the wording
“I talked to him harshly and then regretted that, and requested him to forgive me, but”
Sahih al-Bukhari 3661
Spending to free the oppressed
Umar would say Abu Bakr was their master who had freed their master, meaning Bilal, whom he freed from torture in Makkah.
Use wealth and influence to lift someone out of hardship.
Show the wording
“Abu Bakr is our chief, and he manumitted our chief," meaning Bilal”
Sahih al-Bukhari 3754
Virtues
The Prophet said no one had favoured him more with company and wealth than Abu Bakr, and that he would have taken him as a closest friend if such a friend were to be taken besides his Lord.
The Prophet named him among the ten given the news of Paradise.
In the cave, the Quran refers to the Prophet telling him not to grieve because Allah was with them.
Sayings and moments
Asked what he left behind for his family, he replied that he left Allah and His Messenger.
Resuming the support he had stopped, he swore he would never withhold it from that relative again.
Timeline
- c. 573 CEBorn in Makkah into the Banu Taym clan of Quraysh.
- c. 610 CEAmong the earliest to accept Islam and the first free adult man to do so; he went on to spend his wealth on freeing persecuted believers.
- 622 CE / 1 AHTravelled with the Prophet in the Hijra and hid with him in a cave; the Quran records the Prophet comforting him.
- 11 AH / 632 CELed the people in prayer during the Prophet's final illness, then became first caliph.
- 13 AH / 634 CEDied in Madinah and was buried beside the Prophet.
Related companions
Sources
- Abu Bakr - Wikipedia (dates and life events)
- hadith-api (mirror used to confirm hadith text, numbering and grades; mirrors sunnah.com)
Hadith links go to sunnah.com and Quran links to quran.com. Grades are those shown there.
About this page. This material is compiled from public sources and is pending scholar review. If you notice a mistake or a missing source, please tell us on the support page.