al-Inshirah wa-Raf' al-Diq fi Sirat Abi Bakr al-Siddiq

Al-Inshirah wa-Raf' al-Diq fi Sirat Abi Bakr al-Siddiq: Shakhsiyyatuhu wa-'Asruhu is a study by Dr Ali Muhammad Muhammad al-Sallabi of the life of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, the first volume of his series History of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, followed by the volumes on Umar, Uthman and Ali. ¹ It was published by Dar al-Tawzi' wa-l-Nashr al-Islamiyya in Cairo, in a publisher's first printing in 1423/2002 and a second in 1424/2003. ²

The author holds that some modern historians and writers distorted the image of the Companions by presenting them as greedy for the world and for power, without understanding the generation formed in the Prophet's school, and that this produced a generation that knows nothing of its history but wars. ³ He therefore calls for rewriting Islamic history on the method of Ahl al-Sunna wa-l-Jama'a, relying on the sound reports preserved by the imams of law and hadith, which refute what fabricators invented. ³ He says he traced Abu Bakr's reports through the sources, arranged, documented and analysed them, so that preachers, scholars, politicians, army commanders and students could use them. ⁴

The author divides the book into an introduction, four chapters and a summary. ⁵

• Chapter 1: Abu Bakr in Mecca, in five sections: his name, lineage, family and life before Islam; his Islam, preaching, trials and first emigration; his emigration with the Prophet to Medina; al-Siddiq on the battlefields; al-Siddiq in Medinan society, his qualities and merits. ⁵ The chapter begins on page 21 of the copy. ⁶
• Chapter 2: The Prophet's death and the Saqifa of Banu Sa'ida, in two sections: the death and the Saqifa, then the general oath of allegiance and the running of the state. ^{5 7}
• Chapter 3: Usama's army and al-Siddiq's war on the apostates, in five sections: Usama's army, the campaign against the Ridda, the general offensive against the apostates, Musaylima and Banu Hanifa, and the main lessons of the Ridda wars. ^{8 9}
• Chapter 4: Al-Siddiq's conquests, his nomination of Umar and his death, in four sections: the conquest of Iraq, the conquests in Syria, the lessons, and the nomination of Umar and Abu Bakr's death. ^{8 10}

In his introduction the author says he dwelt on the dispatch of Usama's army and its lessons in consultation, resolve and following the Prophet, and on the Ridda, its causes and kinds, and Abu Bakr's plan and methods for ending it. ¹¹ He follows the Iraqi campaigns of Khalid ibn al-Walid, al-Muthanna ibn Haritha and al-Qa'qa' ibn Amr, then Abu Bakr's plan for Syria, his instructions to the commanders, his transfer of Khalid to Syria, and Ajnadayn and the Yarmuk. ^{11 12} From this he draws what he calls the features of al-Siddiq's military planning, such as setting the aim of the war, organising supply and protecting the lines of communication with the commanders. ¹² He ends with Abu Bakr's nomination of Umar and his last days. ¹²

The author finished the book on Friday after the night prayer, 5 Muharram 1422, corresponding to 30 March 2001. ⁸ The copy used here is the Dar al-Tawzi' wa-l-Nashr al-Islamiyya edition, legal deposit no. 2002/8486. ²