The Greatest Person After all the Ambiyaa (‘alaihimus salaam) – Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddeeq (radhiyallahu ‘anhu)

It is the belief of all the Muslims that the greatest person in the world, after the Ambiyaa of Allah Ta‘ala, is Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddeeq (radhiyallahu ‘anhu). In one Hadith, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) said that from all the people on earth, it is Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) who is the best person. Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) also said that from all the people of our ummah, the first person to enter Jannah will be Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu).

In another Hadith, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) explained that Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) has the greatest imaan from all the people after the Ambiyaa (‘alaihimus salaam). In fact, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) said that the imaan of Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) is so great that if his imaan is placed in one pan of the scale, and the imaan of all the other people of this ummah is placed together in the other scale, then the imaan of Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) will be heavier and greater!

The reason for Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) being the greatest person of the ummah is that he was the most obedient to Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam). He always listened to Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), believed what he said and obeyed his commands.

At the time when Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) became the Nabi of Allah Ta‘ala, then most of the people in Makkah Mukarramah were worshipping idols, and they had grown up watching their fathers and grandfathers worshiping idols. That is why when Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) invited them to Islam, and told them to stop worshiping idols and only worship Allah Ta‘ala, then most of the people were in doubt. Islam was something new to them, and they were not sure whether they should accept Islam or not.

However, Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) did not hesitate and immediately accepted Islam. He knew that Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) was the most truthful person and never spoke a lie. So, if Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) was inviting him to the deen of Islam, then the deen of Islam must definitely be the true deen.

After Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) accepted Islam, he spent all his money for the sake of deen. There were many slaves who had become Muslims, and because of their Islam, the disbelievers would punish them and hurt them. Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) used his own money to buy these slaves and set them free so that  nobody would hurt them and punish them. One of these slaves who Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) had bought and set free was the famous Sahaabi who was the first mu’azzin in Islam – Hazrat Bilaal (radhiyallahu ‘anhu).

From all the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum), and from the entire ummah, it was also Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) who had the most love for Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam). He loved Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) so much that he was even prepared to give his own life to protect Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam).

When Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) was performing hijrah and was traveling from Makkah Mukarramah to Madinah Munawwarah, then the non-Muslims of Makkah were searching for him and wanted to kill him. Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) was worried about the safety of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), so while traveling, he sometimes walked in front of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), and sometimes he walked behind him.

When Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) saw this, he asked Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu), “O Abu Bakr! What is the matter? Why are you sometimes walking in front of me, and sometimes behind me?” Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) replied, “O Nabi of Allah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam)! When I think of the people coming from behind us looking for you, then I go behind you to protect you. When I think of the people who might be waiting in front to harm you, then I go in front of you.” Hearing this, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) asked him, “O Abu Bakr! If there is any danger, then would you prefer that you get hurt rather than me?” Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) said, “Definitely! I prefer that I get hurt and l lose my life, rather than anything happening to you and you becoming hurt!”

At the end of the life of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), when he became very sick and was close to passing away, then because he was so weak and sick, he could not perform some of the salaah in the musjid. At that time, because Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) was the greatest from all the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum), Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) told Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) that he must be the imaam and lead the people in salaah. In the same way, after Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) passed away, all the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) chose Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) to be their leader.

From this, we learn that Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddeeq (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) was the best man in this ummah, after Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam). That is why we must always love him and respect him.

May Allah Ta‘ala let us be with Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), Hazrat Abu Siddeeq (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) and all the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) in the Aakhirah, after we pass away, aameen.