Abu Baker (1)

Thursday, 11 June 2009 12:40 -

Abu-Baker ( The verifier )

By Magdy Abd Al-Shafy

Holy Quran scientific miracles Researcher & The Editor-in

chief of

"What is Islam magazine "

This great Moslem's share in spreading Islam is

great , all his deeds , sayings , tears prove that
he was a man completely imbued by the true
faith in Allah .

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He was among those who devoted their life to

Islam , he is a true example to be followed . In
this chapter , we will select some of his
touching situations .

Abu-Baker was completely overwhelmed by love

and devotion to the religion of Islam . This is
crystal clear in his being ready to give his life to
save the prophet ( the symbol of the religion ).
His love to the prophet is limitless , he loved
Mohummed the prophet . It is not mere
friendship as we define by our terms , it is 
something that beggars description .

Once the prophet, Abu-Baker and the

companions were in the Mosque . At the time
when Islam hadn't yet been fully-fledged .
Prophet Mohummed stood preaching and
calling people to Islam ,and so did Abu-Baker .
This ruffled the feathers of the idolaters . So
they began to attacked them severely .

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Abu-Baker was severely injured .He was carried

home senseless . People thought he was dead ,
he remained as so till the end of the day . When
he came back to sense, he, with eyes filled with
tears and voice blurred with pains had nothing
to say but " How is the prophet ? " Being
disinterested in hissuffering and wounds , his
relatives were a little displeased with him . When
he was informed that the prophet is fine ,
Nothing to quench the man's love and alleviate
his pains butseeingthe prophet ; It is not

(bu-Naker Abu-Baker ) whom he should care

about , what lends credence to what I say is that
what he himself  said to the prophet " I am just
a simple man ; if I die  , nothing wrong will be
against the message of Allah . If you die ,
prophet of Allah  ,the call to Allah will die "  .
He refused to have any food or drink till he
could see the prophet. At sunset  , so weak and
with wavering legs , he leant on some people till
he reached Aby-Alarkam's house where the
prophet and companions were  . On seeing him

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, the prophet  warmheartedly embraced him

kissing and batting  , and so did the
companions .

Though the idolaters repeatedly harassed the

prophet with similar situations, we will choose
another situation  that Aly Ibn Aby-Taleb
narrated to the companions.

  He said  " once I saw the prophet doing the

prayer . On seeing this ,  the idolaters came and
strangled him with a piece of cloth and none of
us dared to help him  and it happened that
Abu-Baker was passing . On seeing this , he
rushed beating this and beating that saying "
Will ye slay a man because he says, My Lord is
God?"  till he freed the prophet , On finishing
this story , Aly sobbed saying " who  is better in
your view ?" The only believer of pharaohs who
concealed his belief or  Abu- Baker , who
announced his belief  .

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This situation by Abu Baker is reminiscent of a

similar situation of one of the pharaohs ,who
believed in Allah but concealed his belief for
fear of the sway of the king . When the king
decided to kill Moses ; this believer , as
immortalized in the Holy Quran , tried to defend
Moses on the plea that he wouldn't harm anyone
if hecontinued to preach people . This believer
has been given the epithet the "verifier ".
Abu-Baker , if compared with this believer , wins
many points ; first Abu-Baker didn't conceal his
belief , second Abu-Baker defended the prophet
by the same logic , third Abu-Baker defended
the prophet by his hands .

Freeing the slaves :

One of the most important merits that the

Islamic history unfolds about Abu –Baker is that
he was lavished much of his interest on freeing
the slaves . He liberated one of the most

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important personalities in the Islamic

community – It is Bilal , that no one in the
Islamic world doesn't know . He was the slave of
Omayya bin Khalaf. Omayya was a heartless
man. He would strip Bilal of all clothes, make
him lie on the burning sand of the desert  at
mid-day and then lash him mercilessly. Despite
this torture Bilal would go on saying, "Allah is
one! Allah is one!" – A litany that he used to
utter when being tortured , Nothing would
dissuade him from his will , He became a
Moslem , no one could know the merits of Islam
as a slave like  Bilal did  , To him life could be
sacrificed for the sake of Islam . Body can be
tortured , blood can be shed and even life can
be lost , why not after finding his lost entity , as
did  many of the other slaves , the story of his
life would have  gone  without being mourned ,
only Islam that gave the last chapter of his life a
meaning . One day Abu Bakr happened to pass
by him when he was thrown on the sand
partially naked . He was greatly moved by the
sight of Bilal being thrown on the hot sand of
the desert and handcuffed with heavy chains ,
yet his soul was free , no matter the lashes that

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were slicing his flesh , what a litany he used to

say! - conscious or unconscious he used to say
it . The future has treasured a great reward for
this slave , one might ask himself what gains
looming in the horizons for those slaves , they
knew that nothing was awaiting but torture and
perhaps death. Being touched by the sight ,
Abu-Baker said   "Why are you so cruel to this
helpless man?" "If you feel for him, why don't
you buy him?" Answered Omayya. So Abu Bakr
at once bought Bilal at a heavy price and set
him free. The cruel man said " If you pay less
than what you paid , I would give him to you "
Such a derogatory  sentence was backfired as
Abu-Baker  answered saying " And if you asked
more than I gave to you , I wouldn't hesitate to
pay ."Bilal afterwards became the well-known
"Mu'azzin" [ one who gives the call for prayer ]
at the Prophet's Mosque.

Abu-Baker gave much to Islam , prophet

Mohummed said " None of you but was
rewarded for the help he rendered for the call

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save Abu-Baker , none of you availed the call as

did Abu- Baker by his money , Only God could
reward him . '

Another situation that reflects many meanings

is that which Omer Ibn-ALkhatab recalls . He
said " once the prophet asked us to give alms . I
harboured in myself that I should excel
Abu-Baker this time (as none could excel him in
goodness ) . I went back home and brought half
of my money and put it before the prophet . He
asked  how much did you leave for your family
? " The half " I answered , then came Abu-Baker
putting all he has before the prophet , the
prophet asked him " what did you leave for your
family "Nothing save Allah and his messenger –
Allah and his prophet suffice ." He answered .
Omer then said " Never will I excel you !!"
Words are helpless to reflect how much this
man was pious .

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Another story like this is that which Abo-Hurrira

related , he said " the prophet asked us " who is
fasting today ?" None but Abu-baker answered
saying "I am " . The prophet asked " who among
you shared in a funeral process today ?"
Abu-baker answered saying "I did " . The
prophet asked " who among you fed a penniless
today ? Abu-baker answered saying "I did " .
The prophet asked "who among you visited a
patient (to condole him) today ? Abu-baker
answered saying "I did " ; then the prophet
commented saying " such characteristics ,when
joined together in someone , will lead him to the
paradise."

One of the companion commented on

Abu-Baker saying " Never did Abu-Baker excel
the other companions by the number of the
additional voluntary prayers ; never did he excel
the others bythe number of fasts he do – He
excelled them because of something he
enshrined in his heart . Itwas the love that he
directed to what Allah loves and the love of

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forwarding the advice to the others.

The Holy Prophet recalling the conversion of

Abu-Bakr said, "Whenever I offered Islam to any
one, he always showed some reluctance and
hesitation and tried to enter into an argument.
Abu-Bakr was the only person who accepted
Islam without any reluctance or hesitation, and
without any argument."

In the emigration , a great event in the history of

Islam ,Abu-Baker's love towards Islam
represented in the prophet Mohummed peaked .
The idolaters have planned on the life of the
prophet and in a visitation made by Gabriel ,
prophet Mohummed received the divine order to
emigrate to establish the new Islamic state in
Madina.Prophet Mohummed and Abu-Baker
decided to emigrate together . On their way to
Madina Abu-Baker used to walk little before and
a little behind the prophet just , as he said , to

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protect the prophet from any unexpected danger

. When they were about to enter a cave ,
Abu-Baker insisted on getting in first lest there
should be unexpected danger that would attack
the prophet , he was ready to sacrifice his life
and a thorn wouldn't cause a harm to the
prophet . Inside the cave , he found three holes ,
he blocked one of them by a piece of his own
garment and blocked the other two by his own
two , while the prophet was a sleep , a hot drop
of tear from Abu-Baker fell on the face of the
prophet as he was bitten. The prophet , knowing
that a harmful scorpion had bitten him ,spat on
the wound . It was a miracle that the wound was
cured .

( To be continued )

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