6 of 7 · 11–12 AH · 632–633 CE · Madinah, al-Yamamah and across Arabia
Abu Bakr al-Siddiq رضي الله عنه
Between Prayer and Zakah
After the Prophet's ﷺ death, Arabia convulsed. Some tribes followed men who claimed prophethood — Musaylimah in al-Yamamah, Tulayhah al-Asadi, and Sajah — while others said they would keep praying but would no longer hand their zakah to Madinah.
Abu Bakr resolved to fight those who refused. 'Umar objected: how could he fight people who said "There is no god but Allah", when the Prophet ﷺ had said that whoever said it had protected his life and property, except by its right? Abu Bakr replied: "By Allah, I will fight whoever separates prayer from zakah, for zakah is the right due on wealth. By Allah, if they withheld from me even a young goat they used to give to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, I would fight them over it." 'Umar later said that he soon saw Allah had opened Abu Bakr's heart to this, and knew it was the truth (Sahih al-Bukhari 1399–1400).
Brigades went out across the peninsula. Khalid ibn al-Walid defeated Tulayhah, who later returned to Islam, and then, at al-Yamamah, Musaylimah's army in one of the hardest battles the Muslims had known; Musaylimah was killed, struck by Wahshi's spear (Sahih al-Bukhari 4072). Many who had turned away came back, and some became heroes of the conquests that followed. Within about a year, Arabia was united again.
Abu Bakr refused to let Islam be cut into pieces to be kept or dropped at will; its pillars stand together.
Are there parts of your faith you hold on to and parts you have quietly let go — and what would it take to keep them together?
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1399 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1400 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 4072 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-MulukHistorical report
- Ibn Kathir, al-Bidayah wa al-NihayahHistorical report
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
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