The death of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him)

The successor of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, died in Madinah after a caliphate of two years and three months by which Allah preserved Islam: he fought the apostates, gathered the Qur'an, sent armies to conquer Iraq and Syria, and entrusted the affair to ʿUmar.

Abu Bakr was the first man to believe, the Prophet's ﷺ companion in the cave and the Hijra, and the anchor of the Ummah on the day of his death. When he assumed the caliphate he faced the apostasy of the Arabs with a resolve like mountains, saying: "By Allah, if they withheld from me a hobbling-cord they used to give to the Messenger of Allah, I would fight them for it."

In his short caliphate the Qur'an was gathered into a single volume on ʿUmar's counsel after the reciters were killed at Yamama, and the armies of conquest set out for Iraq and Syria — while he lived the life of the poorest of the Emigrants.

He fell ill for fifteen days, consulted the senior Companions, and entrusted the caliphate to ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab to close the door on division. He died on the night of Tuesday, with eight nights remaining of Jumada al-Akhira 13 AH, at sixty-three years, and was buried beside his companion ﷺ in ʿAʾisha's chamber.