Hadrat Abubakar, may Allah be pleased with him: The first Khalifa of Islam (I)
Hadrat Abubakar became the first successor (khalifa) to the Holy Prophet Muhammad, on whom both be peace, when the latter died in 662 AD. His greatest contribution in Islam was the firm establishment and consolidation of the institution of Khalifat in Arabia.
Abubakar is described as white in colour, slim and slender, thin faced, stood and walked with a stoop, eyes sunken in his head, a prominent and jutting forehead, had little flesh on his hands, had grey hair on his head and beard which he used to dye. Abubakar and Muhammad were close friends before the latter’s claim to Prophethood. When Muhammad claimed to be a Prophet of God, it was unique of Abubakar that he never asked for proofs and signs, but accepted it instantly. Among his distinctions also was that he was with the Prophet of Islam in the cave when the Maccans chased them there at that precarious moment as mentioned in Quran 9:40.
The Khilafat was prophesized thirteen years in advance before its establishment and that was at the beginning of the Madinan period when the Muslims, under severe persecutions from the Maccans, migrated to Madina. At Macca they received no divine order to defend themselves.
It was at Madina where they received that order to arm themselves in self-defense. They would go to bed in arms and wake up in the morning in fears and insecurities of being attacked. So one day, Companion asked the Holy Prophet as to whether they would remain in that state of insecurity forever. The Holy Prophet answered him: “You will only have to be patient for a short while, till a man from you (Muslims) will sit down with the great people wearing clothes in which there will be no arms.” Then was revealed the verse on Khilafat (Quran 24:56). According to Hadrat Bara Bin Aazib:”The verse was revealed at a time when we lived in a state of great insecurity and fear “(IbnKathir, Imam Suyuti, Asbaabul Nuzul).
The full text of the verse is as follows:” Allah has promised to those among you who believe and do good works that He will surely, make them Successors in the earth (Khalifas) as He made Successors from among those who were before them, and that He will surely establish for them their religion which He has chosen for them, and that He will surely, give them in exchange security and peace after their fear. They will worship Me. Then whoso disbelievers after that they will be the rebellious”(Quran 24:56).Thus making belief and good works contingent to the establishment of Khilafat. Once the Khilafat was established Islam would be firmly established. In addition God would, through the institution, remove fear and insecurity and in their place usher in an era of perfect peace enabling the Muslims to worship Allah without any fear. Lastly but not the least, those who continue to disbelieve after that turbulent period would be the real rebellious people.
The above prophecy was marvelously and accurately fulfilled when, following the demise of the Holy Prophet, the Arabs of the peninsula spontaneously rebelled against Islam, raising all kinds of objections.
Principal amongst them was that now that Muhammad had passed away they were under no obligation to pay the Zakat. Giving a graphic description of the rebellion, insecurity and great fear Hadrat Ahmad, the Polar Star (Qutb Zaman) and Imam of the age, writes in classical, sweet fragrant and eloquent Arabic which we have translated into English as follows:’’ God has promised the Muslims in these verses that He would appoint some of the believers, as a favour and mercy from Him, to the high office of Khilafat through which He would give them security after their fear. We find it’s ultimate fulfillment in the Khilafat of Abubakar Al-Siddique, since his Khilafat witnessed the greatest amount of fear and misfortunes which are not hidden from truth seekers. This was because the moment the Prophet, on whom be peace, died calamities and misfortunes began to descend on Islam and the Muslims. A great number of the hypocrites turned renegades, while the tongues of the renegades began to wag. Imposters began to claim Prophet-hood till Musailma, the great imposter (Al-Kazzab), gathered under his banner a hundred thousand Arabs from the desert who were mostly ignorant and a sinful people. Trials and afflictions multipled while, great misfortunes, far and near, surrounded all the believers. The believers were violently shaken such that no single soul was left out. The five senses witnessed fearsome and perplexing situations. The believers became hard-pressed as if a live coal was burning in their hearts or as if they were being slaughtered with a knife.
Thus besides weeping for the loss of the Prophet they were also compelled to weep for the trials that, suddenly and unexpectedly, had erupted like a great burning holocaust. Worst of all there was no sign of security and relief in sight. The hearts of the believers were filled with fear, awe and grief. It was at that moment when Abubakar, may Allah be pleased with him, was made the Judge of the times and the Khalifa of the Seal of Prophets. He was also completely overcome by anxiety, grief and sorrows over the divisions which he was witnessing and the actions and deeds that were emanating from the hypocrites, the disbelievers and the renegades. He was weeping profusely like a spring of water gushing up from a fountain, in addition to his tears flowing out copiously like a spring. He continued to supplicate intensely and fervently to Allah for the good and safety of Islam and the Muslims (Hadrat Ahmad, Sirrul Khilafat, pp 23-24).
The above graphic, gruesome and self-explanatory description by the Promised Messiah and the Mahdi needs no further comments.
From the above Hadrat Ahmad has ruled that the above verse was revealed in connection with the Khilafat of Abubakar, may Allah be pleased with him, since the conditions stipulated in the prophecy were best and ultimately fulfilled during his Khilafat. But from the above eloquent commentary of the Quranic verse, it is crystal clear that he had done so using history, namely history of the rebellion after the demise of the Prophet, onwhom be peace.
Hadrat Ayesha, may Allah be pleased with her, in the same book by Ahmad had earlier expressed the same ruling that the Quranic verse (Quran 24:56) was revealed in connection with Abubakar’s Khilafat. We shall defer that to the second installment of the above captioned article in which Abubakar, decisively and firmly, dealt with the rebellion, established and consolidated the Khilafat institution.
Conclusion:
It was Abubakar who established and consolidated the Khilafat in Arabia and in Islam.
BY KHALID KOFI AHMAD
