The Succession to the Prophet: The Electionof Abu Bakr

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The Succession to the Prophet: The Election of Abu Bakr

The death of the prophet seemed like a catastrophe to all Muslims at the time, after all who would be able to lead such a big empire with the same values, respect and power after the prophet. It would have been easier if the prophet had just asked someone to lead the way after his death. This paper will discuss the events that lead to the election of Abu Bakr as the first successor of the prophet and one of the four rightly guided caliphs.
The four rightly guided caliphs were those who lived and learned from the prophet during his lifetime. The first of them was Abu Bakr, second came Umar b. al-Khattab, third was Uthman b. Affan and finally there was Ali b. abi-Talib. They are called “rightly guided” because they were in a sense righteous due to the shared beliefs and affiliation they had with the prophet. They tried as much as they can to lead the people in the way the prophet taught and gave people rights to live, worship and pray freely even of they were not Muslims. The main problem that was occurring after the prophets death was that each group wanted the caliphate and Abu Bakr who was a very humble and respected man did not want to lead and preferred if the people chose Umar b. Khattab or Abu Ubaida.
Abu Bakr was one of the first people to embrace Islam and in the article “Leadership succession in early Islam” the writer states that “Abu Bakr was among the first people to become a Muslim, and according to Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad is said to have commented that Abu Bakr was the only one to his knowledge who had accepted Islam without reluctance, suspicion, or hesitation” (Campbell, 2008). Abu Bakr was also the father-in-law of the prophet, a well-respected man in the tr...

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...1 Mar 1993. Web. 7 Apr 2014. http://historyofislam.com/contents/the-age-of-faith/the-death-of-prophet-muhammed-pbuh/
Campbell, R. A. (2008). The leadership quarterly. (2nd ed., Vol. 19, p. 426–438). Elsevier. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1048984308000696
Hasan, M. (1982). Hadrat abu bakr, umar, usman, ali (ra). (1st ed., Vol. 4). Lahore, Pakistan: Islamic Publications. Retrieved from http://www.alim.org/library/biography/khalifa/content/KUM/14/7

Nahim , H. (2012). The division after prophet muhammad. (p. 198). Xlibris Corporation. Retrieved from http://books.google.ae/books?id=EKVmBTcd4c8C&pg=PA197&dq=what did the s after the death of the prophet&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Av9CU4LIMM364QSo64HICg&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA
The caliphate of abu bak –I, (2006, August 21). Retrieved from http://consult.islamweb.net/eramadan/index.php?page=articles&id=135193

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