Translated
Abu Sinan
Checked & Revised
Abu Khuzaimah Ansaari
Taken from ‘Fadail As-Sahabah Sahih Riwayat Ki Roshni Mein’ (p.36-39)
Tahqiq and Takhrij by Shaykh Zubair ‘Aliza’i
Sayyiduna ‘Amr bin Al-‘As (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that, “I asked the Prophet ﷺ, ‘Who is the most beloved person to you?’ He ﷺ replied, ‘A’isha.’ So I said, ‘And from the men?’ He ﷺ replied, ‘Her father (Abu Bakr).’ So I said, ‘And then?’ And he ﷺ replied, ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab.'” (Sahih Al-Bukhari #3662, Sahih Muslim #2384)
Muhammad bin ‘Ali bin Abi Talib, famously known as Muhammad bin Al-Hanafiyyah (may Allah have mercy upon him), narrated that, “I asked my father (Ali bin Abi Talib), ‘Which of the people, after the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, are the best?’ He replied, ‘Abu Bakr.’ So I said, ‘Then who?’ He replied, ‘Umar.'”¹ (Sahih Al-Bukhari #3671)
Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) has been mentioned in the Glorious Qur’an, Allah (Exalted is He) says,
إِلَّا تَنْصُرُوهُ فَقَدْ نَصَرَهُ اللَّهُ إِذْ أَخْرَجَهُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا ثَانِيَ اثْنَيْنِ إِذْ هُمَا فِي الْغَارِ إِذْ يَقُولُ لِصَاحِبِهِ لَا تَحْزَنْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَنَا ۖ
“And if you do not help him (the Prophet ﷺ) , then surely Allah has helped him when those that disbelieved drove him out, as the second of the two; when they were in the cave, he (the Prophet ﷺ) said to his companion (Abu Bakr): Do not grieve, verily Allah is with us.” (Surah At-Tawbah, Ayah #60)
Sayyiduna Abu Sa’id Al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said, “The person that has favoured me the most with his companionship and his wealth is Abu Bakr, and if I were to take anyone other than my Rabb as a Khalil, then I would have taken Abu Bakr as my Khalil – but the Islamic Brotherhood is superior. Close all the small doors to the Masjid [An-Nabawi] except the door of Abu Bakr.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari #3654, Sahih Muslim #2382)
Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that, “The Prophet ﷺ asked the Companions: ‘Is anyone amongst you fasting today?’ Abu Bakr replied, ‘I am.’ He ﷺ said, ‘Has anyone amongst you followed a funeral precession today?’ Abu Bakr replied, ‘I have.’ He ﷺ said, ‘Has anyone amongst you fed the poor today?’ Abu Bakr replied, ‘I have.’ He ﷺ said, ‘Has anyone amongst you visited the ill today?’ Abu Bakr replied, ‘I have.’ The Prophet ﷺ then said, ‘[These deeds] are not combined in a man except that he will enter Paradise.'” (Sahih Muslim #1028, #2387)
Sayyiduna Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “I was with the Prophet ﷺ in a garden from the gardens of Madinah – a man came and asked for permission to enter, so the Prophet ﷺ said, ‘Open [the gate] for him, and give him glad tidings of Paradise.’ So I opened the gate, and it was Abu Bakr.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari #3693, Sahih Muslim #2403)
And it has reached us in one famous Hadith that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Abu Bakr is in Paradise.” (Sunan At-Tirmidhi #3747 and its chain is Sahih, and Ibn Hibban authenticated it in Al-Ihsan #6963)
It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that, “On one occasion, the Prophet ﷺ, Abu Bakr, ‘Umar and ‘Uthman ascended Mount Uhud, and it shook due to their presence, so the Prophet ﷺ struck it with his foot, and said: ‘Be firm O Uhud! Verily there is noone upon you except a Prophet, a Siddiq (truthful one) and Two Martyrs!'” (Sahih Al-Bukhari #3686)
Umar bin Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “Were the Iman (faith) of Abu Bakr to be weighed against the Iman of the People of the Earth, his would have outweighed theirs.” (Kitab Al-Sunnah of ‘Abdullah bin Ahmad #821 and its chain is Hasan, Shu’ab Al-Iman of Al-Bayhaqi #36, Aqidatus Salaf wa Ashabul Hadith of Al-Sabuni #110, and Fadhail Abi Bakr of Khaythama Al-Atrabulsi #133)
The virtues of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr As-Siddiq are so numerous that a summarised article will not be able to contain all of their details – the Imam of Ahlus Sunnah, Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal (may Allah have mercy upon him) was asked about a person that curses Abu Bakr and ‘Umar and ‘A’isha, so he said, ” “I do not see him to be upon Islam.”² (As-Sunnah of Al-Khallal #779 and its chain is Sahih)
Imam Abdullah bin Ahmad bin Hanbal said, “I asked my father (Imam Ahmad) about a man that reviles a man from the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ, so he said, ‘I do not see him to be upon Islam.'” (As-Sunnah of Al-Khallal #782 and its chain is Sahih)
The Faqih (Jurist), Abid (Worshipper), Tabi’i, Imam Masruq bin Al-Ajda’ (may Allah have mercy upon him) said, “Love for Abu Bakr and ‘Umar and knowledge of their virtues is from the Sunnah.” (Kitab Al-‘Ilal wa Ma’rifatul Rijal #945 and its chain is Hasan, Sharh Usul Al-I’tiqad Ahlus Sunnah wal-Jama’at of Al-Lalaka’i #2322)
Imam Abu Ja’far Muhammad bin ‘Ali bin Al-Husayn Al-Baqir (may Allah have mercy upon him) said, “Whoever is ignorant of the virtues of Abu Bakr and ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, then he is surely ignorant of the Sunnah.” (Kitab Ash-Shari’ah of Al-Ajurri #1803 and its chain is Hasan)
Imam Ja’far bin Muhammad As-Sadiq³ (may Allah have mercy upon him) said, “Allah is free from those that disassociated from Abu Bakr and ‘Umar.”⁴ (Fadhail Al-Sahaba of Imam Ahmad #143 and its chain is Sahih)
Imam Abu Ja’far Muhammad bin ‘Ali Al-Baqir⁵ (may Allah have mercy upon him) once said while ill, “Oh Allah! Verily I take Abu Bakr and ‘Umar as allies and I love them both, and if there is anything other than this within myself then do not grant me the intercession of Muhammad ﷺ on the Day of Resurrection!” (Tarikh Dimashq of Ibn Asakir 57/223 and its chain is Hasan)
Imam Abu Ishaq As-Sabi’i (may Allah have mercy upon him) said, “Hatred of Abu Bakr and ‘Umar is from the Kaba’ir (Major Sins).” (Fadhail Al-Sahaba of Abdullah bin Ahmad #385 and its chain is Hasan)
Oh Allah! Fill our hearts with love for Abu Bakr and all of the Noble Sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them), and increase us in this love – Amin!
¹ [TN:] This statement of Sayyiduna ‘Ali is mutawatir (mass-transmitted) from him – Shaykh Al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah said, “And it has been mass-transmitted from him (ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib) that he used to say on the pulpit of Kūfa: ‘The best of this Ummah after its Prophet is Abū Bakr and ʿUmar.’ This was narrated from him from more than 80 ways (chains of narration).” (Minhaj Al-Sunnah An-Nabawiyyah 1/308)
² [TN:] The Righteous Salaf were severe on this matter – A man asked Al-Faryābī about someone that curses Abu Bakr, he said, “Kāfir.” He then asked, “So do we pray over him (the Janāzah)?” He said, “No.” The man asked, “How do we do such a thing while he says, ‘La ilaaha illAllah’?” He replied, “Do not touch him with your hands, push him with a piece of wood until he’s buried in his pit.” (Al-Ibanah As-Sughra of Ibn Battah #196)
³ [TN:] He is Abu ‘Abdillah Ja’far As-Sadiq bin Muhammad Al-Baqir bin ‘Ali bin Al-Husayn bin ‘Abi bin Abi Talib, his mother was Umm Farwah bint Al-Qasim bin Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, and her mother was Asma’ bint ‘Abdur Rahman bin Abi Bakr, so he was a descendant of Abu Bakr, and due to this he would say, “Abu Bakr gave birth to me twice.” (Siyar A’lam An-Nubala 6/255) He was an Imam of the Salaf, and the Rafidha took him as the Sixth Imam, and attributed thousands of lies to him.
⁴ [TN:] Tabarri (or Bara’a) is a core doctrine of the Shi’a, which entails disavowal and disassociation from the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ. Muhammad Baqir Al-Majlisi summarised these beliefs as follows: “Our belief is that absolution is necessary from four idols: Yaghut, Yauq, Nasr and Hubal [Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Mu’awiyah], and the four female idols: Laat, Uzza, Manat and Shira [‘A’isha, Hafsa, Hind and Umm Hakam], […] Verily these are the worst of Allah’s creatures.” (Haqqul Yaqeeen, Published by Jafari Propagation Centre 2012), and we seek refuge in Allah from such vile beliefs.
⁵ [TN:] He is the Sayyid, Al-Imam, Abu Ja’far Muhammad bin ‘Ali bin Al-Husayn bin ‘Ali, Al-‘Alawi Al-Fatimi Al-Madini, son of Zayn Al-‘Abidin, and was known by Al-Baqir – the one that split knowledge (Siyar A’lam An-Nubala 4/402). He was an Imam, and a Mujtahid, but the Rafidha took him as the Fifth Imam, and lied upon him greatly.