Biography

ʿAbdullah ibn ʿUthman, known as Abu Bakr, was the closest friend of the Prophet ﷺ before and after prophethood. He believed without hesitation and was called al-Siddiq for affirming the Prophet ﷺ, including the night journey. He spent his wealth freeing persecuted Muslims such as Bilal and brought several of the Ten to Islam.

He accompanied the Prophet ﷺ on the Hijrah and hid with him in the Cave of Thawr. In Madinah he was always beside him, and in the final illness the Prophet ﷺ asked him to lead the prayer.

After the Prophet’s ﷺ passing he steadied the believers, saying that whoever worshipped Muhammad, Muhammad has died, and whoever worships Allah, Allah is Ever-Living (recalling 3:144). As Caliph for about two years he held the Muslims together and ordered the first collection of the Quran into one compilation.

Virtues

• The Quran refers to him as “the second of the two” in the cave, to whom the Prophet ﷺ said “Do not grieve, Allah is with us” (9:40).

  Quran 9:40

• “If I were to take a khalil (intimate friend), I would have taken Abu Bakr, but he is my brother and companion.”

  Sahih al-Bukhari 3656

• Named by the Prophet ﷺ among the ten promised Paradise.

  Jamiʿ at-Tirmidhi 3747