Abu Bakra Nufay' ibn al-Harith
أبو بكرة نفيع بن الحارث الثقفي
A slave of Thaqif who descended from the besieged fortress of Ta'if on a pulley (bakra) in response to the Prophet's proclamation of freedom; the Prophet manumitted him as a 'freeman of God', and he became a prominent Companion and hadith transmitter in Basra.
At a glance
- Roles
- Companion · Scholar
- Counted among
- Sunni
- Era
- The Prophetic Era · The Rashidun Caliphate
- Region
- Arabia · Levant & Iraq
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
Slavery and freedomConverts and those who leave
Place in the story
- Convert to IslamTradition
Sunni (transmitted)
Roles are dated and sourced; the museum describes the act and attributes the judgement.
Summary
A notable Companion, jurist and hadith scholar; he had been a slave of Thaqif in al-Ta'if's fortress, and when the Prophet proclaimed safety and freedom to whoever came down from the fortress, he lowered himself on a pulley-wheel — by which he became known — and the Prophet freed him, naming him among "God's freed" 1.
Coming down from the fortress
During the siege of al-Ta'if, Abu Bakra answered the Prophet's call and came down from atop the fortress wall using a rope's pulley; the Prophet nicknamed him "Abu Bakra" (father of the pulley) and freed him, refusing to return him to Thaqif after their Islam 1. He afterwards became one of the great hadith transmitters and settled in Basra 1.
For young visitors
He was a man held in slavery inside al-Ta'if's fortress; he lowered himself by rope and pulley to win his freedom with the Prophet, who freed him — and he became a learned Companion and transmitter of the noble hadith.
Connections
- Member of
- Thaqif
- Participated in
- The siege of Ta'if
People and things also explored
The delegation of ThaqifThe Battle of HunaynThaqifTa'ifThe siege of Ta'ifEmancipation of enemy slaves upon fleeing to Muslim linesThe early Muslim communityHawazin
Sources
- al-Sira al-Nabawiyya — Ibn Hisham, al-Saqqa edition (1355/1936), 4/128
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Abu Bakra Nufay' ibn al-Harith”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/abu-bakra-al-thaqafi/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-12.