Depth
At a glance
- Roles
- Companion · Caliph
- Tradition
- Sunni · Shia (Twelver)
- Era
- The Prophetic Era
- Region
- Arabia
- Identifiers
- Wikidata
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
In time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
Place in the story
- Companion · c. 610 CETradition
- RulertowardRashidun Caliphate · 632 CE · 11 AH† – 634 CE · 13 AH†Historical
Roles are dated and sourced; the museum describes the act and attributes the judgement.
The long-form text for this entry has not been written yet. The facts and connections below come from the museum's data.
Opinions on the question
The question: What is each tradition's position on the caliphate of Abu Bakr?
First opinion · Sunni tradition (the museum's frame)Main reference
Sunni tradition regards Abu Bakr as the rightly chosen first of the four Rashidun caliphs, selected by the community's leaders at Saqifa.
More opinions (2)
Academic viewSecondary opinion
Historians treat the succession as a political process at Saqifa shaped by tribal alliances in Medina, drawing on later and partisan reports.
Shia (Twelver) viewOther opinion
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.
Connections
- Parent of
- Abdullah ibn Abi BakrAisha bint Abi BakrAsma bint Abi Bakr
- Born in
- Mecca
- Died in
- Medina
- Child of
- Abu Quhafa Uthman ibn Amir
- Participated in
- The HijraAbu Bakr leads the prayers during the final illnessThe conversion of Abu QuhafaAbu Sufyan's mission to MedinaThe three years of the secret callThe Badr war councilThe affair of the Badr prisonersThe Battle of BadrThe burial of Dhu al-Bijadayn at TabukThe burial of the ProphetThe death of the ProphetThe Expedition of Dhat al-SalasilThe expedition to TabukThe Farewell PilgrimageThe first Friday prayerThe three nights in the cave of ThawrThe pilgrimage led by Abu BakrThe Incident of the Slander (Hadith al-Ifk)The Isra and Mi'rajThe last sermon from the minbarThe persecution of the vulnerable MuslimsThe proclamation of Bara'a at MinaThe sojourn at QubaThe meeting at SaqifaThe siege of Ta'ifThe Hijra route
- Received the conversion of
- Abu Ubayda ibn al-JarrahSa'd ibn Abi WaqqasUthman ibn Affan
- Predecessor of
- Umar ibn al-Khattab
- Spouse of
- Umm Ruman
People and things also explored
MuhammadMedinaThe HijraThe Prophetic EraMeccaAli ibn Abi TalibUmar ibn al-KhattabThe early Muslim community
Sources
- Ibn Ishaq / Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad (1955)
- Watt, Muhammad at Medina (1956)
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Abu Bakr al-Siddiq”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/abu-bakr/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-12.