Abu Bakr al-Siddiq
Close companion of the Prophet and the first caliph (r. 632–634 CE); his succession is understood differently in Sunni and Shia tradition. Usd al-Ghaba's entry on him (no. 3067) describes him as one of Quraysh's leaders in the Jahiliyya who held their bloodwits, companion of the Prophet in the cave and the Hijra, and caliph after him. Abu Nu'aym's Ma'rifat entry on his lineage, birth and death has al-Zuhri give his name as Abd Allah ibn Uthman ibn Amir ibn Amr ibn Ka'b, and Aisha report that Abu Quhafa had three sons of whom one he named Atiq, Mu'tiq and Mu'taq.
Reign · Rashidun Caliphate · no. 1 in the chain · 0632–0634 CE
Ruled the caliphate
Events of the reign
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Abu Bakr leads the prayers during the final illness
When the illness grew too heavy for the Prophet to come out, he sent word that Abu Bakr should lead the people; Abu Bakr led seventeen prayers, the Prophet once joined him sitting at his left, and Sunni tradition reads the appointment as a sign of Abu Bakr's standing.
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Abu Ubayd's Dispatch to Iraq
In al-Baladhuri: when Umar succeeded he sent Abu Ubayd ibn Mas'ud ibn Amr ibn Umayr ibn Awf ibn Uqda ibn Ghiyara ibn Awf ibn Thaqif — being Abu al-Mukhtar ibn Abi Ubayd — to Iraq in a thousand, writing al-Muthanna to receive, hear and obey him, and sent with him Salit ibn Qays ibn Amr al-Ansari, telling him 'but for the haste in you I'd have appointed you — war is cunning, only the patient man suits it.' Abu Ubayd came on urging every Arab tribe to jihad and booty till a host joined him; at al-Mudhayyib he heard Jaban the Persian was at Tustar in a great host — met him, routed his host and took captives; then to Durna whose Persian host he routed to Kaskar; then to the Jalinus at Barusma where Ibn al-Andarzghar made peace at four dirhams a head on withdrawing; he sent al-Muthanna to Zandaward — found repudiated, fought, prevailed and captured — and Urwa ibn Zayd al-Khayl al-Ta'i to al-Zawabi whose dihqan he pacified on Barusma's terms.
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The March of al-Falalij and the Pursuit of Jaban at Tustar
In al-Baladhuri: Khalid came to al-Falalij on his return from Baniqya — a Persian host there dispersed and he met no harm — then returned to al-Hira; hearing Jaban was at Tustar in a great host he sent against him al-Muthanna ibn Haritha al-Shaybani and Hanzala ibn al-Rabi' ibn Rabah al-Asadi of Banu Tamim — called Hanzala the Scribe — and when they reached him he fled.
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al-Nusayr and Hudhayfa's Raid toward Tikrit
In al-Baladhuri: al-Tusayr ibn Daysam ibn Thawr was sent from Ayn al-Tamr against a water of Banu Taghlib — he surprised them by night, killed and captured; a captive freed for guiding him to a Rabi'a clan led him to night-strike them for booty and captives, then he went to Tikrit's landward side and the Muslims took booty. Via Abu Mas'ud al-Kufi: he came to Ukbara' — its people safe-conducted, bringing food and fodder for his men — then passed al-Baradan whose people ran before the Muslims; he told them 'no harm' and that was their safe-conduct; then to al-Mukharrim — not yet called Mukharrim, only named after some descendant of Mukarram ibn Hazn ibn Ziyad ibn Anas al-Dayyan al-Harithi settled it, per al-Kalbi — then they crossed a bridge bound at Qasr Sabur, known today as Qasr Isa ibn Ali; Khurzad ibn Mahibandadh its garrisoned warden fought them and was routed, and they withdrew to Ayn al-Tamr. Al-Waqidi said: al-Muthanna ibn Haritha sent al-Nusayr and Hudhayfa ibn Mihsan after the Day of the Bridge and his withdrawal with the Muslims to Khaffan, in Umar's caliphate, with horse — they fell on some of Banu Taghlib, crossed to Tikrit and took cattle and sheep. Attab ibn Ibrahim via Abu Mas'ud: al-Tusayr and Hudhayfa safe-conducted Tikrit's people and wrote them a document which Utba ibn Farqad al-Sulami enforced for them when opening al-Tirhan and Mosul; it is also said al-Nusayr was sent by Khalid ibn al-Walid raiding villages at Maskin and Qatarrabul for a fine booty.
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Ali's counsel in Umar's judgments
During Umar's caliphate Ali repeatedly corrected or advised the judgments: he stopped the stoning of a woman with a mental affliction, asked Umar what authority he had over the unborn child of a confessing pregnant woman, showed by a test that a woman's claim of assault was false, and said that the innovated marriage should be returned to the Sunna. Umar is reported to have said that he sought refuge from a problem Abu al-Hasan could not solve.
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Ali's pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr
Sallabi holds that Ali and al-Zubayr pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr early, on the day of the Prophet's death, citing an authentic report of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri; he treats the reports of a long delay as unsound, and records a renewal of the pledge after Fatima's death in Ibn Kathir's view.
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Amr ibn Ma'dikarib's apostasy after the Prophet's death
Amr ibn Ma'dikarib stayed among Banu Zubayd under Farwa ibn Musayk; when the Prophet died he apostatised and said two verses disparaging Farwa's rule, calling him Abu Umayr. He was later captured in the ridda and returned to Islam, as Ibn Hajar reports from Sayf.
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The Peace of Baniqya and the Taylasan
In al-Baladhuri: Khalid ibn al-Walid sent Bashir ibn Sa'd al-Ansari to Baniqya; Persian cavalry under Farrukhbandadh met him, shot his men, he charged, routed them and killed Farrukhbandadh, returning wounded — the wound relapsed at Ayn al-Tamr and he died of it, though it is said Khalid himself met Farrukhbandadh with Bashir beside him. Then Khalid sent Jarir ibn Abdallah al-Bajali to Baniqya's people; Busbuhra ibn Saluba came out, excused himself from fighting and offered peace — Jarir made peace on a thousand dirhams and a taylasan, though it is said Ibn Saluba came to Khalid himself for this peace. When Mihran was killed and the day of al-Tukhayla passed, Jarir called them to account and collected their and al-Hira's peace-money, writing them a receipt — though some deny Jarir came to Iraq before Umar's caliphate, Abu Mikhnaf and al-Waqidi holding he came twice. Khalid wrote Busbuhra a document and sent the taylasan with Hira's money and the thousand dirhams to Abu Bakr — who gifted the taylasan to al-Husayn ibn Ali. And via Abu Nasr al-Tammar via Sharik al-Nakha'i via al-Hajjaj ibn Arta' via al-Hakam via Abdallah ibn Mughaffal al-Muzani: 'the Sawad's people have no covenant save al-Hira, Ulays and Baniqya.'
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Battle of Abraq
Draft card for the Battle of Abraq in 632, Ikrima's pursuit of Musaylima's men after Aqraba; its sources are not yet checked on the page.
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The Battle of Ajnadayn
In al-Baladhuri: then came the battle of Ajnadayn — also Ajtadayn — attended by near a hundred thousand Romans, Heraclius chaining most of them and their bravest gathering from the districts, Heraclius then residing at Hims; the Muslims fought them fiercely, Khalid ibn al-Walid showing fine valour that day, then God defeated His enemies and scattered them utterly, killing many; martyred that day were Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr ibn Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim, Amr ibn Sa'id ibn al-As ibn Umayya and his brother Aban (some say Aban died in year 29), Tulayb ibn Umayr ibn Wahb ibn Qusayy — a Byzantine champion challenged him and severed his right hand so his sword fell with his palm, then covered and killed him, his mother Arwa bint al-Muttalib the Prophet's aunt, his kunya Abu Adi — Salama ibn Hisham ibn al-Mughira (some say he fell at Marj al-Suffar), Ikrama ibn Abi Jahl ibn Hisham al-Makhzumi (some say at Mu'ta), Nu'aym ibn Abdullah al-Nahham al-Adawi (some say at the Yarmuk), Hisham ibn al-As ibn Wa'il al-Sahmi (some say at the Yarmuk), Amr ibn al-Tuqayl ibn Amr al-Dawsi (some say at the Yarmuk), Jundub ibn Amr al-Dawsi, and Sa'id, al-Harith and al-Hajjaj sons of al-Harith ibn Qays ibn Adi al-Sahmi — Hisham ibn Muhammad al-Kalbi placing al-Na'am at Mu'ta, Sa'id at the Yarmuk, Tamim at Ajnadayn and his brother Ubaydullah ibn Abd al-Asad at the Yarmuk — and al-Harith ibn Hisham ibn al-Mughira fell at Ajnadayn; when the report reached Heraclius his heart sank, his hand failed and he was filled with terror, fleeing from Hims to Antioch — some say his flight came at the Muslims' very arrival in Syria; the battle fell on Monday twelve nights remaining of Jumada I year 13 — some say two nights into Jumada II, some say two remaining of it; the Romans then massed at al-Yaqusa — a valley whose mouth is al-Fawwara — where the Muslims met, exposed and routed them killing many, their remnant reaching Syria's towns; Abu Bakr died in Jumada II year 13, his obituary reaching the Muslims at al-Yaqusa.
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The Battle of al-Araba
In al-Baladhuri: Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan, pursuing the patrician of Gaza, learned of a Roman gathering at al-Araba in the land of Filastin and sent against them Abu Umama al-Sudayy ibn Ajlan al-Bahili, who fell upon them, killed their chief and withdrew; Abu Mikhnaf reports of the day of al-Araba that six Roman commanders descended on al-Araba with three thousand, whereupon Abu Umama marched on them with a band of Muslims, defeated them and killed one of the commanders, then pursued them to al-Dabiyya and defeated them there, the Muslims taking good spoil; the elders of Syria hold the day of al-Araba was the Muslims' first engagement.
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Battle of al-Firad (12 AH)
Al-Firad, at the meeting-point of Syria, Iraq and the Jazira: Khalid broke his Ramadan fast there for unbroken campaigning, faced a coalition of Byzantines, Persian border-troops and the Arab tribes Taghlib, Iyad and al-Namir, let them cross below his position — 'cross over', he told them — then annihilated them, a hundred thousand said to be killed in the fight and pursuit, and held the field ten days. From al-Firad he slipped away in secret on Hajj, letting his rear-guard commander impersonate him; Abu Bakr learned of it only on his return and reproached him. The 'Iraqis of 'Ali's day would say 'we are the men of Dhat al-Salasil' and name everything between it and al-Firad, contemptuous of whatever came after.
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The Battle of Buzakha
In al-Baladhuri: Abu Bakr, while at al-Qassa, gave the command of the army to Khalid ibn al-Walid and of the Ansar to Thabit ibn Qays, ordering Khalid to confront Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid al-Asadi — who had claimed prophecy and was then at Buzakha and Buzaha, the watering-place of Banu Asad ibn Khuzayma; Khalid marched on him sending ahead Ukasha ibn Mihsan al-Asadi, ally of Banu Abd Shams, and Thabit ibn Aqram al-Balawi, ally of the Ansar, whom Hibal ibn Khuwaylid met and killed — and Tulayha and his brother Salama then went out, met Ukasha and Thabit and killed them, Tulayha reciting his verse on it; the Muslims and their enemy then met in hard fighting, Uyayna ibn Hisn al-Fazari being with Tulayha in seven hundred of Banu Fazara, and when he saw the Muslims' swords had prevailed over the polytheists he asked Tulayha 'has Gabriel brought you anything?' — 'yes, he came and said you shall have a millstone like his and a day you will not forget' — whereupon Uyayna cried 'by God I see you shall have a day you will not forget! Banu Fazara — this man is a liar', wheeled his men away, the people routed and the Muslims prevailed; Uyayna was captured, brought to Medina, and Abu Bakr spared his blood and released him, while Tulayha fled, washed, entered ihram for an umra and then came to Medina.
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The Battle of Dathin
In al-Baladhuri: the first engagement between the Muslims and their enemy at a village of Gaza's district called Dathin, against the patrician of Gaza; they fought hard, then God gave victory to His friends, defeated His enemies and scattered their gathering — this before Khalid ibn al-Walid's arrival in Syria; Abu Hafs al-Shami reports from the elders of Syria that the Muslims' first engagement was rather that of al-Araba, they having fought nothing since leaving the Hijaz and subdued every land between the Hijaz and its site without battle.
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Battle of Dawmat al-Jandal
Draft card for the Battle of Dawmat al-Jandal in 633, Khalid ibn al-Walid's seizure of the oasis on his Iraq campaign; its sources are not yet checked on the page.
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Battle of Dhu Qissa
Draft card for the Battle of Dhu Qissa in 632, the Ridda-war clash against apostate tribes on Dhu Qissa hill; its sources are not yet checked on the page.
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Battle of Ghamra
Draft card for the Battle of Ghamra in 633, Khalid ibn al-Walid's engagement on the Iraq campaign after al-Anbar; its sources are not yet checked on the page.
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Battle of al-Musayyakh (12 AH)
The night assault at al-Musayyakh: Khalid timed al-Qa'qa', Abu Layla and 'A'bad to converge on Hudhayl ibn 'Imran's camp in one hour and attacked the sleeping army from three sides. Among the dead were 'Abd al-'Uzza ibn Abi Ruhm and Labid ibn Jarir — two men who had already accepted Islam and carried Abu Bakr's letter confirming it; the caliph paid their blood-money and commended their children, and 'Umar counted their death against Khalid. Hurqus ibn al-Nu'man, who had warned the camp in vain, sat drinking a farewell cup until his head fell into the bowl.
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Battle of al-Namarq (13 AH)
At al-Namarq near Kufa, Abu 'Ubayd ibn Mas'ud — reinforced by the pardoned ridda converts of al-Muthanna — met Jaban's Persians and routed them. Jaban was taken by Matar ibn Fidda, then talked him into safe-conduct and was released; when the captors brought him before Abu 'Ubayd demanding execution he answered: 'I fear God — a Muslim gave him protection, and the Muslims are one body: what binds one of them binds them all.' Jaban went free; Mardanshah, seized by Aktal ibn Shammakh, was not so fortunate.
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Battle of Naqra
Draft card for the Battle of Naqra in 633, Khalid's victory over Tulayha in the Ridda wars; its sources are not yet checked on the page.
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Battle of al-Saqatiyya at Kaskar (13 AH)
At al-Saqatiyya below Kaskar, Abu 'Ubayd smashed Narsi — the shah's cousin — and his joined levies. In the captured camp was the narsiyyan, a date the Kaisars reserved for the royal table alone and none else might plant; the Muslims fed it to the farmers, sent its fifth to 'Umar with the letter: 'God fed us food the Kaisars hoarded — we wished you to see it, to thank God's grace.' Behind the battle stood Buran, crowned after Rustam put out Azarmidukht's eyes, on a ten-year pact to restore the House of Kisra.
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Battle of the River
Draft card for the Battle of the River in 633, Khalid ibn al-Walid's victory over the Sasanians at the start of Iraq's conquest; its sources are not yet checked on the page.
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The Fight at Ubulla
In al-Baladhuri: Khalid ibn al-Walid came to Basra where Suwayd ibn Qutba al-Dhuhli — per other-than-Abu Mikhnaf, Qutba ibn Qatada al-Dhuhli — of Bakr ibn Wa'il had a band of his people, meaning to do to Basra what al-Muthanna did to Kufa — Kufa not yet existing, only al-Hira. Suwayd told Khalid: Ubulla's people have gathered against me and only desist for your presence. Khalid said: my judgment is I leave Basra by day then return by night into your camp with my men — if they attack at dawn we fight them. He did so, marching toward al-Hira, and when night fell wheeled back into Suwayd's camp; the Ubullans — told of Khalid's departure — approached Suwayd, saw the camp's numbers, and broke. Khalid said 'charge them — I see a people into whose hearts God has cast terror'; they charged, routed them, killed many, and drowned a party in Basra's Tigris.
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Battle of Ullays (12 AH)
The battle of Ullays on the Euphrates: Christian tribesmen of Bakr ibn Wa'il, avenging Walaja, joined Jaban's Persian army; when they spread their meal to show contempt Khalid fell upon them before they could eat, killed Malik ibn Qays in a duel, then vowed to make their blood flow — a day and a night of executions until al-Qa'qa' told him to release the river's water over the field to fulfill the oath, and it was named the River of Blood. The dead were reckoned at seventy thousand; at Amghishiya next he took more plunder than anywhere before, and Abu Bakr said: 'Women are powerless to bear the like of Khalid'.
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The Battle of Yamama
In al-Baladhuri — who reports it in the first part of his book — Abu Bakr sent Khalid ibn al-Walid to al-Yamama ordering him to fight Musaylima the Liar; the first to meet the Muslims, al-Rajjal ibn Unfuwa, was killed, the foremost Muslims and the Quran-reciters fell as martyrs, then the Muslims returned and stood firm and God sent down His aid; Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr shot Muhakkim ibn al-Tufayl — called 'the arbiter of al-Yamama' — with an arrow and killed him, and the unbelievers were driven into the Garden, that day named the Garden of Death, formerly called Ubad; Musaylima was killed in the Garden and they disputed his slayer: Banu Amir ibn Lu'ayy say Khidash ibn Bashir, some Ansar Abdullah ibn Zayd ibn Tha'laba who was shown the adhan, some Abu Dujana Simak ibn Kharasha who then fell, some Abdullah ibn Zayd ibn Asim brother of Habib ibn Zayd whose hands and feet Musaylima had cut off, Wahshi ibn Harb — Hamza's slayer — used to claim it saying 'I killed the best of men and the worst', some held they all shared in it, and Mu'awiya and the Umayyads claimed it for him until Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan told a Hanafi who described the killer 'by God I have judged it for Mu'awiya'; the Muslims' cry was 'O companions of Sura al-Baqara'; some Ansar reproached Khalid's lone resolve to butt Musaylima then followed him; al-Sa'ib ibn al-Awwam stood the men at their baggage: 'no man may flee beyond his saddle'; when the war wore the Muslims down Mujja'a ibn Murara told Khalid most of Yamama's people had not come out to fight and offered peace for half the captives and half the gold, silver, armour and mounts, then armed the old men, boys and women on the fortresses, returned claiming they refused, and beat the terms down to a quarter of the captives and half the wealth — settled thus, until Khalid entered, saw who remained and said 'you deceived me, Mujja'a'; the people of al-Yamama embraced Islam and the alms were taken from them, Abu Bakr's letter reached Khalid ordering him to aid al-Ala ibn al-Hadrami so he marched to Bahrain leaving Samura ibn Amr al-Anbari over al-Yamama; its conquest was in year 12; they disputed the martyrs' count — least said seven hundred, most seventeen hundred, some twelve hundred — among them Zayd ibn al-Khattab, Umar's brother (killed by Abu Maryam al-Hanafi or per Ibn al-Kalbi Labid ibn Burghuth), Thabit ibn Qays the Prophet's orator commanding the Ansar that day, Abu Hudhayfa ibn Utba and his mawla Salim, Abu Dujana, Abbad ibn Bishr and Salim; and Nusayba bint Ka'b — mother of Habib and Abdullah the sons of Zayd ibn Asim — fought that day and came away wounded, Musaylima having cut off her son Habib's hands and feet when the Prophet sent him with Abdullah ibn Wahb al-Aslami, whom he left unharmed. The battle of al-Yamama was a battle of the Ridda wars in which Khalid ibn al-Walid led the army Abu Bakr sent against Musaylima, leader of the Banu Hanifa. According to the Encyclopaedia of Islam it was fought at al-Akraba' around a walled garden called the garden of death, and the Muslims won but lost many Qur'an reciters. In the classical account Musaylima renounced Islam and claimed prophethood, while the encyclopaedia's academic reading sees a bid for a principality with a genuine religious basis after the death of Hawdha ibn Ali; the year is 12 AH in al-Baladhuri and 11 AH in the article on al-Yamama.
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Battle of Zafar
Draft card for the Battle of Zafar in 632, Khalid ibn al-Walid's defeat of Iyad ibn Ghanm's rebels in the Ridda wars; its sources are not yet checked on the page.
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The burial of the Prophet
The Prophet was buried in the room of Aisha, beside the mosque in Medina; the place later became part of the Prophet's Mosque.
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The complaint of Ali's troops after Yemen and the Prophet's words: do not complain of Ali
When Ali came up from Yemen to meet the Prophet at Mecca for the Farewell Pilgrimage he hurried ahead, leaving a companion over his troops who clothed every man in a robe from the Yemeni cloth Ali carried; when Ali met the army and saw the robes he ordered them stripped before reaching the Prophet, and the troops voiced their grievance. The Prophet stood and said: people, do not complain of Ali, for by God he is too rough in God's cause to be complained of. Ibn Ishaq gives two reports, from Yazid ibn Talha ibn Rukana and from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri.
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The Conquest of al-Anbar and the Raid on Baghdad's Market
In al-Baladhuri: Khalid marched to al-Anbar whose people fortified; a guide told him of Baghdad's market — the old market at Qarn al-Sarat — so he sent al-Muthanna ibn Haritha raiding on it and the Muslims filled their hands with gold, silver and light goods, then overnighted at al-Saylahin and came to al-Anbar where Khalid was; they besieged its people and burned through its outskirts — al-Anbar being named for the Persians' granaries there, from which al-Nu'man's retainers and clients drew their rations — so when they saw what befell them they made peace with Khalid on terms he accepted from them. It is also said Khalid sent al-Muthanna ahead to Baghdad then marched after and himself led the raid — not established. Via al-Sha'bi: Anbar's people have a covenant and contract. Shaykhs of Anbar told al-Baladhuri they were pacified in Umar's caliphate on their canals: four hundred thousand dirhams and a thousand Qatawani cloaks yearly, Jarir ibn Abdallah al-Bajali conducting the peace — or, it is said, on eighty thousand; God knows best.
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The Conquest of Busra
In al-Baladhuri: when Khalid ibn al-Walid reached the Muslims at Busra — the city of Hawran — they joined upon it and commissioned Khalid for its war, then pressed against it and fought its patrician until they forced it (some say Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan was the one undertaking the war, its governorship being his as it belonged to Dimashq); its people then made terms to be secured for their lives, wealth and children upon paying the jizya — some transmitters say they compounded for a dinar and a jarib of wheat per adult; the Muslims conquered all the land of the Hawran district and mastered it; Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah then went with a dense company of the commanders' men joined to him and came to Ma'ab in the land of al-Balqa' holding a gathering of the enemy, and conquered it by treaty on the like of Busra's terms — some say Ma'ab's conquest preceded Busra's, others that Abu Ubayda took it as commander of all Syria in Umar's days.
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Conquest of Damascus
Draft card for the siege and conquest of Damascus in 13/634–635, the city's surrender to the armies of Khalid ibn al-Walid and Abu Ubayda; its sources are not yet checked on the page.
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The Conquest of Syria
In al-Baladhuri: when Abu Bakr finished with the apostates he dispatched the armies to Syria, binding three banners — for Khalid ibn Sa'id (whom he deposed), Shurahbil ibn Hasana and Amr ibn al-As — directing them and Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan by the Ayla and Tabuk roads until their number completed at twenty-four thousand; their first fighting came at Dathin and al-Araba, and al-Waqidi's account assigns Amr Filastin, Shurahbil al-Urdunn and Yazid Dimashq; Khalid ibn al-Walid then marched from Iraq reaching them in Rabi' al-Akhir year 13, and they made him commander in every battle; the great battle of Ajnadayn fell on Monday twelve nights remaining of Jumada I year 13, Busra fell by treaty, Shurahbil conquered al-Urdunn by force save Tabariyya, the battle of Fihl came five months into Umar's caliphate with Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah commanding by Umar's investiture, the day of Marj al-Suffar at the new moon of al-Muharram year 14, and then the conquest of Damascus and Bayt al-Maqdis.
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Muslim conquest of the Levant
Draft card for the Muslim conquest of the Levant, the Rashidun campaigns of Khalid ibn al-Walid, Abu Ubayda and Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan from Ajnadayn to Yarmouk and the surrender of Jerusalem, 634–638; its sources are not yet checked on the page.
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The death and burial of Fatima bint Muhammad
Fatima died in Medina six months after the Prophet, on the night of Tuesday, 3 Ramadan 11 AH, in a narration Sallabi cites through Malik and Ali ibn al-Husayn. Abu Bakr and Umar came to condole with Ali; in one report Abu Bakr led the funeral prayer, while Muslim's report, which the book prefers, says Ali led it.
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Death of Ibrahim
Ibrahim, the Prophet's son by Maria the Copt, died an infant in Medina on 28 or 29 Shawwal 10 AH (January 632 CE); the Prophet wept and said: the eye weeps and the heart grieves, and we say only what pleases our Lord.
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The death of the Prophet
The Prophet Muhammad died in Medina after a short illness, and was buried in the house of Aisha. وفي الصحيح: أنه قال في مرضه «مروا أبا بكر يصلي بالناس» فلما استمهلته عائشة وحفصة أبى وقال «إنكن لأنتن صواحب يوسف» ، وأنه كان يسأل «أين أنا غدا؟» حرصاً على بيت عائشة فمات عندها بين سحرها ونحرها بعدما استاك بسواك عبد الرحمن بن أبي بكر ، وكان آخر كلامه «في الرفيق الأعلى» ، وقال عائشة إنه قال «ما أزال أجد ألم الطعام الذي أكلت بخيبر، فهذا أوان وجدت انقطاع أبهري».
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The expedition of Usama ibn Zayd
In Safar 11 AH the Prophet equipped a great army under the young Usama ibn Zayd to strike the Byzantine marches of al-Balqa' and al-Darum in Palestine — answering the empire's killing of Muslim converts; the troops camped at al-Jurf until the Prophet's illness delayed them, and the campaign was carried out under Abu Bakr.
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The Farewell Pilgrimage
The only pilgrimage the Prophet led, during which he gave the sermon known as the Farewell Sermon. The Encyclopaedia of Islam places it in the tenth year of the Hijra and names among its arrangements the abolition of intercalation and the purely lunar year; it also reports academic readings of his saying on the standing places at Arafat, Muzdalifa and Mina, set apart from the Muslim reports.
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The Farewell Sermon at Arafat
On the Day of Arafa, 9 Dhu al-Hijja 10 AH, the Prophet stood at the foot of the valley before more than a hundred thousand pilgrims and delivered the comprehensive sermon: sanctity of blood and property, abolition of pagan blood-feuds and usury beginning with his own house, counsel on women, the pledge of the Book of God, and the testimony 'have I conveyed?' ومنها عند البخاري قوله «إن الزمان قد استدار كهيئته يوم خلق الله السماوات والأرض، السنة اثنا عشر شهراً منها أربعة حرم: ثلاث متواليات ذو القعدة وذو الحجة والمحرم، ورجب مضر الذي بين جمادى وشعبان».
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The farewell prayer over the martyrs of Uhud
In early Safar 11 AH the Prophet went out to Uhud and prayed over the martyrs 'as one bidding farewell to the living and the dead', then said from the minbar that he was their forerunner, that he could see his Basin, and that he feared not polytheism for them but rivalry over the world.
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Fatima's claim to the Prophet's inheritance and Fadak
After the Prophet's death Fatima and al-Abbas asked Abu Bakr for their share of the Prophet's estate, the land of Fadak and his share of Khaybar. Abu Bakr answered with the report that prophets leave no inheritance, and said he would keep the Prophet's practice. Sallabi records the Sunni reply to the Imami claims and reports that Fatima was pleased with Abu Bakr before her death.
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Ghadir Khumm
A halt at the pool of Khumm on the return from the Farewell Pilgrimage, at which the Prophet spoke about Ali.
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Khalid Kills Ukaydir and Takes Dumat al-Jandal
In al-Baladhuri: when the Prophet died Ukaydir withheld the sadaqa, broke the covenant and left Dumat al-Jandal for al-Hira, where he built a residence he called Dawma after Dumat al-Jandal, while his brother Hurayth ibn Abd al-Malik remained Muslim over what was in his hands; Abu Bakr then sent Khalid ibn al-Walid — who was at Mayn al-Tamr — ordering him to march on Ukaydir, so he went, killed him and conquered Dawma before proceeding to Syria; in al-Waqidi's report Khalid passed Dumat al-Jandal on his way from Iraq to Syria, took it and captured prisoners, among them Layla bint al-Judi al-Ghassani whom Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr later married.
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Khalid ibn al-Walid's March to Syria
In al-Baladhuri: when Abu Bakr's letter reached him at al-Hira he left al-Muthanna ibn Haritha al-Shaybani over the Kufa side and marched in Rabi' al-Akhir of year 13 with eight hundred — some say five hundred — taking Ayn al-Tamr by force (others say the letter reached him there after its conquest), then Sandawda', held by Kinda, Iyad and Persians, whose people fought and were overcome — he left Sa'd ibn Amr ibn Haram al-Ansari over it, whose descendants dwell there today; hearing of an apostate gathering of Banu Taghlib at al-Mudayyih and al-Musayyid under Rabi'a ibn Bujayr he defeated them, took captives and spoil and sent them to Abu Bakr — among them Umm Habib al-Sahba' bint Habib ibn Bujayr, mother of Umar ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib; he raided Qaraqir, a Kalbi watering-place, then traversed the desert to Suwa, likewise Kalbi, where Bahra' were with them, killing Hurqus ibn al-Nu'man al-Bahrani of Quda'a and sweeping up their wealth; entering the waterless stretch he watered the camels, slit their lips and made them drool so they would not ruminate and thirst, carrying abundant water which ran out on the way — so he slaughtered the camels one by one, drinking with his men the water of their bellies, his guide Rafi' ibn Umayra al-Ta'i earning the poet's verse 'God bless Rafi' — how he guided, traversing from Qaraqir to Suwa'; from Suwa to al-Kawa'il, then Qarqisiya whose lord abandoned it for Byzantine lands, then Arak whose people he besieged until it fell by treaty for a payment to the Muslims, then Dumat al-Jandal which he took, then Qusam whose Banu Mashja'a ibn al-Taym of Quda'a made peace for a written aman, then Tadmur whose people resisted and fortified themselves then asked safety — granted on being dhimma, quartering the Muslims and submitting to them — then al-Qaryatayn whose people fought and were overcome with spoil, then Hawwarin of Sanir whose people fought with reinforcements from Ba'labakk and Busra and were overcome with captives and killing, then Marj Rahit where he raided the Ghassan on their Easter taking captives and killing; he sent Busr ibn Abi Artat al-Amiri of Quraysh and Habib ibn Maslama al-Fihri to the Ghouta of Damascus to raid its villages, stood at the pass known as Thaniyyat al-Uqab by Damascus unfurling his banner — a black banner that had been the Prophet's — whence its name that day, camped at the eastern gate of Damascus — some say Bab al-Jabiya — whose bishop brought him hospitality and service receiving a promise to keep the covenant, then marched to join the Muslims at the canal of Busra.
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The Killing of al-Aswad al-Ansi
In al-Baladhuri: al-Aswad ibn Ka'b ibn Awf al-Ansi soothsaid and claimed prophecy, Ans and others followed him, and he styled himself Rahman of Yemen as Musaylima styled himself Rahman of al-Yamama; he had a trained donkey which would kneel and prostrate at his command whence he was called Dhu al-Mar — others say Dhu al-Khimar for being ever veiled and turbaned, and some Yemenis told al-Baladhuri his face was black, hence al-Aswad, his name being Ayhala; the Prophet sent Jarir ibn Abdullah al-Bajali to him in the year of his death calling him to Islam — some transmitters deny the mission — and he came to San'a, took it and expelled the Prophet's agent Khalid ibn Sa'id ibn al-As (al-Nu'man ibn Yazid of the Abna' says Aban ibn Sa'id), who withdrew toward Ziyad ibn Labid; he humiliated the Abna' — the sons of the Persians whom Kisra had sent to Yemen with Ibn Dhi Yazan under Wahriz — used them as labour and wronged them, and married the Marzbana, Badham their king's widow; the Prophet sent Qays ibn Hubayra al-Makshuh al-Muradi — so called for a cautery on his waist from an ailment — ordering him to win over the Abna', and sent with him Farwa ibn Musayk al-Muradi; reaching Yemen as the Prophet's death was reported, Qays feigned accord with al-Aswad until he entered San'a with a company of Madhhij, Hamdan and others, then won over Fayruz ibn al-Daylami of the Abna', who had embraced Islam, and the two came to Badham, chief of the Abna' — some say Badham was already dead and a successor named Dadhawayh converted and met Qays and won him over, spreading his missionaries among the Abna' until they converted; so they all agreed to kill and assassinate al-Aswad, and secretly informed his wife the Marzbana who, hating him, showed them a water-channel into his house — some say they pierced a hole in the wall of his chamber of vinegar — and entered on him at dawn while he lay drunk asleep, and Qays slaughtered him, his bellowing like a bull's startling the guards who asked 'what ails the Rahman of Yemen?' — his wife answered 'revelation descends on him' and they calmed; Qays cut off his head, stood on the city wall at dawn, magnified God and testified that al-Aswad was a liar and God's enemy, and when his followers gathered he cast the head to them and they scattered save a few, the sword falling on the remnant until none escaped but those who embraced Islam; some transmitters say Fayruz ibn al-Daylami killed him with Qays only striking off the head, and when Qays and Fayruz both claimed the killing in Medina Umar said 'this lion killed him' meaning Fayruz; some scholars date the killing five days before the Prophet's death — the Prophet saying in his illness 'God has killed al-Aswad al-Ansi; the righteous man Fayruz ibn al-Daylami killed him' — with the report reaching Abu Bakr ten nights into his caliphate; Qays was then accused of killing Dadhawayh and it reached Abu Bakr that he meant to expel the Abna' from San'a, which angered him, so he wrote to al-Muhajir his agent there to bring him, made him swear fifty oaths at the Prophet's minbar that he had not killed Dadhawayh, then released him and sent him to Syria.
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The Killing of Malik ibn Nuwayra
In al-Baladhuri: after Buzakha Khalid ibn al-Walid marched on those of Banu Tamim at al-Butah and al-Ba'udha, fought them, scattered their gathering and killed Malik ibn Nuwayra, Mutammim ibn Nuwayra's brother — Malik having been the Prophet's agent over the alms of Banu Hanzala, who on the Prophet's death released what dues were in his hands saying 'see to your own wealth, Banu Hanzala'; some report Khalid met no one at al-Butah and al-Ba'udha but sent squadrons among Banu Tamim, one under Dirar ibn al-Azwar al-Asadi, who fought and captured Malik with a group, brought them to Khalid, who ordered their necks struck, Dirar himself taking Malik's; Malik is said to have told Khalid 'by God I did not apostatize', and Abu Qatada al-Ansari testified Banu Hanzala had laid down their arms and called the adhan — whereupon Umar told Abu Bakr 'you sent a man who kills Muslims and tortures with fire'; Mutammim ibn Nuwayra is reported coming to Umar, who asked of his grief for his brother — 'I wept for him a year until my failing eye aided my sound one, and I saw no fire but I nearly perished with sorrow for him, for he used to keep his fire lit till morning lest a guest come and not know its place' — then described him riding the strong horse leading the thirsty camel between two brimming water-skins on the cold night, a cloak on him, bearing a pliant spear, his face a moon's cleft; he recited his elegy beginning 'we were like Jadhima's two drinking-companions for an age until it was said they would never be split', and Umar said 'had I been good at verse I would have elegized my brother Zayd', to which Mutammim answered 'not equal, commander of the faithful — had my brother fallen where yours fell I would not have wept him', and Umar said 'no one has consoled me better than you consoled me'.
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The last sermon from the minbar
Five days before his death the Prophet, head bandaged, sat on the minbar and warned against taking graves as places of worship, offered himself to retaliation for any wrong, counselled generosity toward the Ansar 'accept from their well-doer and overlook their wrongdoer', spoke of a servant who chose what is with God, and ordered every door into the mosque shut except Abu Bakr's.
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The dosing of the Prophet during his illness
During the Prophet's illness, a group of his wives and some Muslim women, among them Asma' bint Umays, gathered with al-Abbas present and agreed to dose him; al-Abbas said 'I will dose him'; they did; when he came round he asked who had done it, was told it was his uncle, and said this was a medicine brought by women from the direction of Abyssinia; his uncle said they feared pleurisy; he said that was a disease God would not bring on him, and that everyone in the house should be dosed except his uncle, so Maymuna, who was fasting, was dosed as a punishment for what they had done.
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The sending of Amr ibn Hazm to Banu al-Harith ibn Ka'b and the Prophet's written charge to him
After the Banu al-Harith delegation left, the Prophet sent Amr ibn Hazm to teach them religion, the sunna and the landmarks of Islam and to collect their sadaqa, writing him a charge: fear of God, taking what is right, teaching the Qur'an which none may touch but the pure, gentleness in right and severity against wrong, the rites of hajj, the prayer and its times, ablution and Friday, the ban on tribal rallying-cries, the fifth of booty and the sadaqa rates, and the rule for People of the Book who convert and for those who keep their faith and pay the jizya.
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Khalid ibn al-Walid's mission to Banu al-Harith ibn Ka'b, their conversion and their delegation
In Rabi' al-Akhir or Jumada al-Ula 10 AH the Prophet sent Khalid ibn al-Walid to Banu al-Harith ibn Ka'b at Najran with orders to invite them to Islam for three days before fighting; they converted without fighting, Khalid stayed to teach them and wrote to the Prophet, who told him to come with their delegation. He brought six of their chiefs; the Prophet asked who these men were who looked like men of India, asked four times whether they were the ones who advance when rebuked until Yazid ibn Abd al-Madan answered, told them that but for Khalid's letter he would have thrown their heads beneath their feet, and appointed Qays ibn al-Husayn over them. They returned at the end of Shawwal or the start of Dhu al-Qa'da, four months before the Prophet's death.
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The Dispatch of the Armies to Syria
In al-Baladhuri: when Abu Bakr had finished with the apostates he resolved to direct the armies to Syria, writing to the people of Mecca, al-Ta'if, Yemen and all the Arabs of Najd and the Hijaz summoning them to jihad and stirring their desire for Byzantine spoil, and they hastened from every quarter; he bound three banners for three men — Khalid ibn Sa'id ibn al-As, Shurahbil ibn Hasana (per al-Waqidi son of Abdullah ibn al-Mutta' al-Kindi with Hasana his mother, per al-Kalbi son of Rabi'a ibn al-Mutta' of the children of Sufa) and Amr ibn al-As al-Sahmi — the binding being on Thursday at the opening of Safar year 13, after the armies had camped at al-Jurf the whole of al-Muharram, with Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah leading their prayers; Abu Bakr had wanted to bind a banner for Abu Ubayda who begged off — some report he did bind it, which is not established — and Abu Yakhnaf records Abu Bakr telling the commanders 'if you join in battle your commander is Abu Ubayda, otherwise Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan', while Amr is said to have been only a reinforcement and commander over those joined to him; when he bound Khalid ibn Sa'id's banner Umar disliked it and spoke to Abu Bakr of deposing him — 'he is a proud man who carries his charge with contentiousness and partisanship' — so he deposed him and sent Abu Adwa' al-Dawsi to take his banner, who met him at Dhu al-Marwa and took it, and it was given to Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan, who marched with his brother Mu'awiya bearing it before him — others say it was handed to him at Dhu al-Marwa and he took over Khalid's army, Khalid ibn Sa'id marching on as a volunteer in Shurahbil's army; he ordered Amr to take the Ayla road toward Filastin, Yazid the Tabuk road and Shurahbil likewise; each commander set out with three thousand men, then he kept sending reinforcements until each had seven thousand five hundred, and their total completed at twenty-four thousand; al-Waqidi reports Abu Bakr gave Amr Filastin, Shurahbil al-Urdunn and Yazid Dimashq — 'if you have fighting, your commander is the one in whose charge you stand' — and that he ordered Amr verbally to lead the people in prayer.
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Musaylima's letter to the Prophet and the reply
At the end of 10 AH Musaylima ibn Habib wrote to the Prophet: from Musaylima the messenger of God to Muhammad the messenger of God; I have been made a partner with you in the matter, half the earth is ours and half Quraysh's, but Quraysh are a people who transgress. Two envoys brought it. The Prophet asked what they themselves said; they said, as he says; he said that were envoys not immune from death he would have struck off their heads, then wrote: from Muhammad the messenger of God to Musaylima the liar, peace on whoever follows guidance; the earth is God's, He gives it to whom He wills of His servants, and the outcome is for the God-fearing.
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Abu Bakr's Commission to al-Muthanna ibn Haritha
In al-Baladhuri: al-Muthanna ibn Haritha ibn Salama ibn Damdam al-Shaybani raided the Sawad with men of his people; news reached Abu Bakr who asked about him, and Qays ibn Asim ibn Sinan al-Minqari said 'a man neither of hidden fame nor unknown lineage nor weak support — this is al-Muthanna ibn Haritha al-Shaybani.' Then al-Muthanna came to Abu Bakr saying 'O caliph of God's messenger, employ me over those of my people who have Islamized to fight these Persians'; Abu Bakr wrote him a patent for it, and he went to Khaffan, called his people to Islam and they Islamized. Then Abu Bakr wrote Khalid ibn al-Walid al-Makhzumi ordering him to march to Iraq — it is said he dispatched him from Medina — and wrote al-Muthanna ordering his hearing, obeying and supporting him.
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The night supplication at al-Baqi'
One night in the last days the Prophet went out at midnight to al-Baqi' cemetery, greeted its people, prayed forgiveness for them, foretold coming trials 'like the segments of dark night', and promised them 'we are following you'.
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The pen-and-paper incident
On the Thursday four days before his death the Prophet said 'bring me [something] to write for you a document after which you will never go astray'; Umar said pain had overcome him and the Qur'an sufficed, the people of the house disputed, and the Prophet sent them away — an episode the traditions read differently.
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Liberation and Persian Rule of Yemen
In 575 the Yemenis under Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan, aided by Persia, expelled the Abyssinians and won independence; but Sayf’s assassination by his own Abyssinian guard ended the royal house, and Khosrow made Yemen a Persian province whose governors ruled until the last, Badhan, embraced Islam in 638.
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The Prophet's request for a writing in his last illness
In his last illness the Prophet asked for a writing that would keep the community from error; those present disagreed, one said the book of God was enough, and the writing was not made. Sallabi reads the episode within the Sunni frame as a matter of ijtihad that no one was blamed for; Imami readings that take it as a designation of Ali he treats as false.
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The Ridda Wars
In al-Baladhuri: when Abu Bakr succeeded, groups of the Arabs apostatized and withheld the alms, some saying 'we keep the prayer but will not pay the zakat', whereupon Abu Bakr said 'if they withheld from me a hobbling-cord — some say a she-goat kid — I would fight them', the 'iqal being a year's alms; Abdullah ibn Masud said the Muslims had stood after the Prophet at a station where they nearly perished had God not graced them with Abu Bakr: they had all agreed not to fight over a young she-camel or a weaned camel 'and to eat the Arab villages' yield and worship God until certainty came to us', but God resolved him to fight, and he accepted from them only the humiliating condition or the annihilating war — the first that they confess their slain are in the Fire and return what they took of Muslim property, the second that they leave their homes; in Tariq ibn Shihab's report he offered the Buzakha delegation the choice of the annihilating war or the humiliating peace: surrender of armour and mounts, return of what was taken, blood-money for the slain Muslims, their own slain in the Fire; Aisha said 'when the Prophet died there befell my father what would have crushed the firm mountains — hypocrisy reared its head in Medina and the Arabs apostatized'; Abu Bakr went out to al-Qassa directing the columns against the apostates, was attacked by Kharija ibn Hisn and Manzur ibn Zabban the Fazaris who were routed with Talha ibn Ubaydillah pursuing them to lower Thaniyyat Awsaja, then appointed Khalid ibn al-Walid over the army and Thabit ibn Qays over the Ansar, beginning with Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid at Buzakha, followed by the affairs of Yamama, Bahrain, Oman, Yemen, Hadramawt, Mecca, Tihama and Iraq. Al-Sallabi relates that the slaughter of many Qur'an memorizers at Yamama moved Umar ibn al-Khattab to press Abu Bakr to compile the Qur'an, fearing much of it would perish with the slain in every battlefield; Zayd ibn Thabit was charged with gathering it from leather, bones, palm fronds and men's breasts, until the closing passage of Surat al-Tawba was found only with Abu Khuzayma al-Ansari. In the Encyclopaedia of Islam article: The Ridda Wars were a series of battles against nomadic and settled tribes that began shortly before the Prophet's death and ran through Abu Bakr's caliphate. The early Sunni sources report that groups of Arabs withheld the alms, and that Abu Bakr resolved to fight them and sent out armies under Khalid ibn al-Walid. The Encyclopaedia of Islam article judges the name inexact in many cases, notes tribes led by claimants to prophethood such as Musaylima, Tulayha, Sajah, al-Aswad al-Ansi and Dhu al-Taj Lakit, and sees the wars as a prelude to the conquests that changed the centre's relation to the tribes.
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The meeting at Saqifa
After the Prophet's death, leaders of the Ansar and Muhajirun met in the hall of the Banu Sa'ida and chose Abu Bakr as leader of the community. ونص الاجتماع كاملاً عند البخاري من رواية عمر: اجتماع الأنصار في السقيفة، ومشي أبي بكر وعمر وأبي عبيدة إليهم، والخطابان، ويدا عمر وبشير بن سعد، فالبيعة.
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The sermon of the Day of Sacrifice at Mina
On 10 Dhu al-Hijja the Prophet preached at Mina mounted on a grey mule while Ali relayed his words: time has come full circle as on the day of creation; the sacred months are four; blood, property and honour are inviolable; and let the witness inform the absent.
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The Siege of al-Nujayr
In al-Baladhuri: the apostasy of Banu Wali'a and al-Ash'ath ibn Qays al-Kindi — Ziyad ibn Labid al-Bayadi, the Prophet's agent over Hadramawt with Kinda joined to him, took a young she-camel from some Kindis for the alms and branded it with the alms-brand, and when they asked him to take another he refused, saying 'I will not return what the brand has fallen on', whereupon all Kinda rose against him save al-Sukun who stood firm with him; Banu Amr ibn Mu'awiya massed against him and he struck them by night, killing men including Mikhwas, Mishrah, Jamid and Abda'a sons of Ma'di Karib — called the four kings, who had come in delegation to the Prophet then apostatized — their sister al-Marada being killed by one who took her for a man; as Ziyad brought back the captives and goods al-Ash'ath's pride burned and he attacked with a company of his people, and Ziyad routed them, whereupon the chiefs of Kinda joined al-Ash'ath; seeing this Ziyad wrote to Abu Bakr for reinforcement and Abu Bakr ordered al-Muhajir ibn Abi Umayya to aid him, and they scattered his gathering and wrought a great slaughter, the remnant taking refuge in al-Nujayr, their fortress, which the Muslims besieged until they were exhausted; al-Ash'ath asked safety for a number of them, leaving himself out of the count — al-Khifshish al-Kindi, Ma'dan ibn al-Aswad, having held him to his claim saying 'include me in the count' — and came down to Ziyad and al-Muhajir, who sent him to Abu Bakr, who spared him and married him to his sister Umm Farwa bint Abi Quhafa (some say his sister Qurayba), who bore him Muhammad, Ishaq, Qurayba, Hubaba and Ja'da; the caliph asked the Muslims to let him share in al-Nujayr's booty and they did, and ordered the hands and feet cut of women of al-Nujayr who had gloated at the Prophet's death, among them al-Thabja' al-Hadramiyya and Hind bint Yamin the Jewess; al-Nujayr's captives were ransomed back at four hundred dirhams a head, al-Ash'ath borrowing from Medina's merchants to redeem them and then repaying it; Abu Bakr had reinforced them with Ikrama ibn Abi Jahl after his return from Oman, who arrived to find al-Nujayr already taken; among Abu Bakr's three regrets: 'I wish that the day al-Ash'ath ibn Qays was brought to me I had struck off his head, for it came to me that he sees no evil but he hastens to it and aids it'; Khawlan had also apostatized, and Abu Bakr sent Ya'la ibn Munya who fought them until they yielded and affirmed the alms — some say he met no fighting and they returned to Islam — leaving Yemen between three: al-Muhajir (San'a and its districts), Ziyad (what was in his hands) and Ya'la.
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The Siege of Ayn al-Tamr and Its Church Captives
In al-Baladhuri: Khalid ibn al-Walid came to Ayn al-Tamr, pressed against its fortress holding a great Persian garrison; its people fought then shut themselves in; Khalid besieged them till they asked safety — he refused to grant it, opened the fortress by force, killed and took captive, finding in a church there a band he took captive. Among that captivity: Humran ibn Aban ibn Khalid al-Tamri, Uthman's mawla; Sirin, father of Muhammad ibn Sirin, and his brothers Yahya, Anas and Ma'bad — the eldest — mawali of Anas ibn Malik; Abu Amra, grandfather of the poet Abdallah ibn Abd al-A'la; Yasar, grandfather of Muhammad ibn Ishaq author of the sira, mawla of Qays ibn Makhrama ibn al-Muttalib; Murra abu Ubayd, grandfather of Muhammad ibn Zayd ibn Ubayd ibn Murra and Nafis ibn Muhammad ibn Zayd, lords of the palace by al-Harra; and Nusayr, father of Musa ibn Nusayr the Maghreb's conqueror, mawla of the Umayyads. Al-Kalbi said Abu Farwa Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Aswad and Nusayr were two Arab men of Arasha of Bali captured in Abu Bakr's days from Syria's Jabal al-Jalil; Nusayr's name was Nasr, diminutivized — an Umayyad freed him, he returned to Syria and Musa was born to him at Kafr Mari village; he was lame. It was also said they were brothers of Ayn al-Tamr's captives whose wala' lay with Banu Dubba; al-Mada'ini: Na'im al-Asadi bought Abu Farwa, then Uthman bought him for grave-digging; when the people rose on Uthman he was with them against him, Uthman saying 'repel the wrongs' — he answered 'you are first among them: I bought you from alms-money to dig graves and you abandoned it'; Abu Farwa was named for the fur garment on him when captured. It was also said Khalid made peace with Ayn al-Tamr's fortress people and these captives were found in a church in some canal-district, and that Sirin was of Jarjaraya's people visiting kin when taken. Via al-Sha'bi: Khalid made peace with Hira's and Ayn al-Tamr's people and wrote Abu Bakr who approved — something on them, nothing on their lands. Hilal ibn Uqqa ibn Qays ibn al-Bushr al-Namiri was over al-Namar ibn Saqit at Ayn al-Tamr; he gathered for Khalid and fought him, was overcome, killed and crucified — al-Kalbi: it was Uqqa ibn Qays himself. Bashir ibn Sa'd al-Ansari's wound relapsed and he died, buried at Ayn al-Tamr, and beside him was buried Umayr ibn Ri'ab ibn Muhashshim ibn Sa'id ibn Sahm ibn Amr, martyred by an arrow there.
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Suhayl ibn Amr's speech in Mecca at the Prophet's death
When the Prophet died most people of Mecca meant to renounce Islam; Attab ibn Usayd, its governor, hid; then Suhayl ibn Amr stood, praised God, named the Prophet's death and said it had only increased Islam in strength, and whoever doubted them they would strike his neck; the people drew back and Attab reappeared.
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Umar adopts the Hijra as the starting point of the calendar
Umar gathered the Companions to fix a settled date for administering the young state. Ali said the calendar should begin from the year the Prophet emigrated and left the land of polytheism, and Umar adopted it.
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Umar's denial of the Prophet's death and Abu Bakr's reply
When the Prophet died, Umar stood up and said that some hypocrites claimed he had died, that he had not died but had gone to his Lord as Moses did, and would return to cut off the hands and feet of men who said he was dead. Abu Bakr came, uncovered the Prophet's face and kissed him, then went out and said: whoever worshipped Muhammad, Muhammad has died; whoever worshipped God, God lives and does not die; and recited the verse about the messengers. Umar said that when he heard Abu Bakr recite it he collapsed, knowing the Prophet was dead.
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Umar dismisses al-Nu'man ibn Adi from Maysan
Ibn Ishaq relates that Umar ibn al-Khattab appointed al-Nu'man ibn Adi over Maysan in the Basra region, then dismissed him when verses attributed to him reached Umar. Al-Nu'man excused himself that he was a poet saying what poets say, and Umar answered that he would never employ him again as long as he lived.
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Umar sets the penalty for wine at eighty on Ali's counsel
When wine-drinking spread in the newly conquered lands, Umar took Ali's counsel to flog the drinker eighty lashes, the lightest of the fixed penalties, arguing that a drunk man raves and one who raves slanders, and the slanderer gets eighty. Jurists differ on whether the fixed penalty is forty or eighty; Sallabi sets out the schools.
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Umar judges the dispute of al-Abbas and Ali over the Prophet's property
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Umar's marriage to Umm Kulthum bint Ali
Umar asked Ali for his daughter Umm Kulthum, the child of Ali and Fatima. Ali agreed, and Umar went to the Muhajirun saying 'congratulate me', and gave as his reason words he heard from the Prophet about kinship. Sallabi notes the high regard Umar had for the household of the Prophet.
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Umar's Friday sermon on the stoning verse and on Abu Bakr's pledge
On the first Friday after the death Umar recalled a verse of stoning, which he said had been in God's book and had been recited, memorised and applied, and feared that someone might say there is no stoning in God's book; he then called the pledge to Abu Bakr a sudden act that God had averted the harm of, and said whoever pledges to a man without consultation has no pledge, nor has the one he pledged to.
The positions on his accession
What is each tradition's position on the caliphate of Abu Bakr?
- sunni — Sunni tradition regards Abu Bakr as the rightly chosen first of the four Rashidun caliphs, selected by the community's leaders at Saqifa.
- academic — Historians treat the succession as a political process at Saqifa shaped by tribal alliances in Medina, drawing on later and partisan reports.
- shia-twelver — Twelver Shia tradition holds that the Prophet had designated Ali ibn Abi Talib as successor, so regards Abu Bakr's accession as a departure from that designation.