What would Caliph Abu Bakr feel if he saw what his children went through?

Caliph Abu Bakr, one of the closest figures to the Prophet, was also close to him in age. There are different accounts regarding his name; in the pre-Islamic period, his name was Abdulka’be, and in the post-Islamic period, he changed his name to Abdullah upon the Prophet's suggestion. However, we have always known him as Abu Bakr, which is actually his kunya (patronymic). Let us continue knowing him as such. 

As I have stated, he was very close to the Prophet; he was his friend, his companion, and in later periods, he also became his father-in-law. He married his daughter Aisha to the Prophet Muhammad. They became even closer relatives. Hz. Abu Bakr was a middle-class merchant who stood by the Prophet from the very beginning. According to one account, the Prophet said to him, "You are the one whom Allah has freed from Hell" (Tirmidhi, “Manāqib”, 16). On the other hand, he also had a very good relationship with Umar b. Khattab and Uthman b. Affan. During the caliphate elections, Umar b. Khattab clearly chose Abu Bakr, and Abu Bakr, in turn, pointed to Umar as the caliph after him. It is painful that this situation corresponds to one of the breaking points in Islamic history. It is the first place where the button was misaligned; caliphates based on one-man rule were preferred rather than participatory administrations. On the other hand, we know that he had a good relationship with Uthman, who would later become caliph. In fact, we can say that Caliph Abu Bakr was influential in Uthman's conversion to Islam. Speaking of Uthman, he was one of the names chosen by Umar among the caliphate candidates. Looking at it from this perspective, we can say that there was a different bond that continued between Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman. Of course, that is not our subject. In this article, I want to focus on what his children experienced after Abu Bakr. What did the children experience in an ummah (community) to which the Caliph dedicated his life, where peace was pointed to, and where religion was brought to the fore as brotherhood? Did the claims come true?

Let us start with Aisha, if you wish. As I stated above, Aisha, one of the Prophet's wives, never married after the Prophet died, just like his other wives. However, Aisha's name is almost never absent from social life as a political actor; in this respect, she is different from the Prophet's other wives. So much so that in her early forties, she sets out as an army commander, travels hundreds of kilometers, and reaches the battlefield. With her are two figures much older than her: Talha b. Ubaydullah and Zubayr b. Awwam. The person this trio of forces fought against was the caliph of the time, Hz. Ali. It is highly probable that they sat at the same table many times and were parties to the same conversations; Aisha was already in the position of Ali's aunt, they were that close. However, Aisha chose to fight against Ali in a way that should never have happened, and she led the way for this. We do not know what her father would have said to this situation if he were alive, but I think he would have been saddened to hear that thousands of Muslims were killing each other in Basra. While blood was being shed in Basra, Aisha was on the battlefield on the back of a camel. For this reason, this battle is not called the Battle of Basra, but the Battle of the Camel (Jamal). It is difficult to even comprehend; it is said that nearly ten thousand people lost their lives in this battle. However, Aisha continues to live; she still has more than twenty years left before she departs from life. We will not say the same for Talha and Zubayr, who are said to have been promised Paradise; both of these figures lose their lives in this battle. The last thing they saw with their own eyes were the swords they turned against Muslims and which the Muslims returned in kind; it is a cautionary tale, naturally.

Let us continue with Muhammad, one of Abu Bakr's children. Since his mother Asma passed away at an early period, Muhammad becomes an orphan at a young age. The last marriage his mother Asma made was with Hz. Ali. In this respect, we can say that he is Ali's stepson; he already grows up by his side from the age of three.

His name is always associated with hot politics. Perhaps it would be appropriate to write a book about him. Because before he reached thirty, he was brutally murdered by Muslims, but let us say a few more words before getting to that. Muhammad, who was born and lived in days when peace among Muslims remained only a name, finds himself besieging the house of Caliph Uthman in his mid-twenties. He is also among the rebels who rose up against Caliph Uthman. I think the first shock for his father, Abu Bakr, would have been experienced here. One of the names standing at the door of Uthman, whom he was friends with and even instrumental in his conversion to Islam, is his own son. He is rebelling, but the process leading to the rebellion is a subject for an article in itself. For Abu Bakr, both this process and its results are shocking. Because Uthman is beaten to death inside his own house.

In the following years, Muhammad always takes his place by the side of Caliph Ali. So much so that he even takes up the sword against his sister Aisha; in the Battle of the Camel, Aisha is on one side and Muhammad is on the other. Another brother who takes part alongside Aisha is Abdurrahman. Two brothers on one side, one brother on the other, they fight against each other. As a result, all three brothers do not die in this battle, but the tragic end awaiting Muhammad is very close.

During his governorship of Egypt, Muhammad is brutally murdered by Muawiyah's forces. Moreover, one of Muawiyah's commanders, Muawiyah b. Hudayj, has his murdered body burned. Think of the scene; it is Muhammad, the son of Abu Bakr and the brother of Aisha, who is burned in the fires. Let alone peace, for some, the ummah had become a source of death, pain, blood, and tears. We are not talking about a small number, but thousands of people.

Let us continue with the last name, Abdurrahman, if you wish. Abdurrahman's story is also striking. However, this striking situation begins even before he became a Muslim. Namely, even though his father Abu Bakr became a Muslim and took his place closest to the Prophet, Abdurrahman fights against his father, and therefore against the Muslims, in the battles of Badr and Uhud. In one battle, father and son almost come face to face and swing swords at each other, but the Prophet does not allow this. As a result, Abdurrahman becomes a Muslim at a very late period, just before the conquest of Mecca.

As I stated a moment ago, he is also in the ranks of those who took up the sword against Ali in the Battle of the Camel. We do not know how he felt about his brother Muhammad being burned to death. Because the accounts are different. According to the Islamic Encyclopedia published by the Diyanet Foundation, he did not intervene in this situation. If true, it is also a thought-provoking situation. The situation is even more tragic for their father, of course; while one of his sons is murdered in flames, the other does not intervene. Is this what was to remain of the Muslim community and Muslims!

Ultimately, Abdurrahman loses his life some time before Yazid ascends to the throne. According to accounts, he objects to Yazid's ascension to the throne. He even rejects the 100 thousand dirhams that were said to have been sent to him by Muawiyah in this direction. I leave the interpretation of these 100 thousand dirhams sent to you. If true, whose money is this, and to whom and in whose name is it being sent? I say money because we know there are similar accounts regarding Muawiyah himself.

These are what remained to us from those days. How could the children whose fathers were said to be promised Paradise experience these things, why did they take part in such events, why did the spiritual-religious climate of those days not surround these children and the society in general; it is necessary to question and think. We need this not only to understand those days but also to see today and draw appropriate conclusions. Because if Caliph Abu Bakr's children experienced these things, I think there is no reason for the ummah not to experience these and more. History and truth tell us this as well.