The first person our Master wanted to disclose his risalah to was his best friend Abu Bakr. However, at that point Abu Bakr had gone to Yemen with a caravan for a business trip. While he was away our Master had received his duty of risalah and had slowly started spreading the news and fulfilling its requisites…

When Abu Bakr returned to Mecca his friends and neighbors paid him a welcome home visit. Abu Bakr asked, “What’s the news? Has anything important transpired in Mecca while I was away?”

They answered, “O Abu Bakr, something very serious did happen but you would never guess what…” 

Abu Bakr was curious, “What can it be? Judging from your faces it must be something important?”

“After you left, Abu Talib’s orphan nephew, Muhammad the Trustworthy announced that he is the Rasul of Allah…”

“Really?” Abu Bakr asked, “Are you being truthful?”

“Of course, we are being truthful! If he wasn’t your close friend surely, we would have done whatever necessary to deter him from this nonsense but for your sake we waited for you to return and warn him yourself…”

After the visitors left, Abu Bakr started thinking… When the first revelation had come, he had accompanied Muhammad to Waraqa bin Nawfal so he was already aware of the situation, but at that time the duty of risalah had not yet been bestowed upon Muhammad…

Abu Bakr thought all night and at the break of dawn he got up and left his house… He was walking towards our Master’s house. At the same time our Master too had left his house and he was walking towards Abu Bakr’s house… 

They saw each other from afar, smiled and started walking faster… When they met, they gave each other a big hug…

If we have to show an example of the closest friends in the history of mankind, it would easily be the friendship between Abu Bakr and our Master… 

“Hello Abu Bakr! Welcome home!”

“Hello Muhammad! I was just coming to you…”

“Let’s go then… How was your trip to Yemen?”

“Not bad, in fact I can say it went well… But that is not important. They told me you announced your risalah, Is this true?”

“It is true Abu Bakr! While you were away, I was given a revelation and told I am the Rasul of Allah and that I must invite the people to Allah… So now I’m inviting you, will you accept this invitation?”

“Of course, I will accept! I have absolutely no doubt that you speak only the truth…”

“Will you then confirm that you believe in the Oneness of Allah and that I am his Rasul?”

“I accept and witness that there is no god, only Allah, and I accept and witness that Muhammad is the servant and Rasul of Allah…”

And thus Abu Bakr (ra) joined the religion of Islam…

Years later when our Master reminisced the early days of his risalah he would say, “When I invited the people to join the religion of Truth every single one of them hesitated at first and caused difficulty, everyone except Abu Bakr! When I invited him to Islam, he accepted immediately with absolutely no hesitation!”

Besides this hadith there is also a verse in the Quran where Allah praises Abu Bakr:

“As for he who has brought the Truth and confirmed it (Hadhrat Abu Bakr) they are the protected ones!”[1]

Abu Bakr kept his acceptance of Islam confidential for some time… However, he would often share the beauties of Islam with those he trusted and felt close to. When Abu Bakr became a Muslim, nobody in Mecca had yet accepted the religion of Islam. Despite this, one day he decided to disclose his Muslim identity. He went to the Kaaba and openly performed salat, then performed salat in front of his house and started reciting the Quran…

This made the Meccans mad…

When Abu Bakr performed salat in his front yard and recited the Quran the Meccan women and children would gather to watch and listen to him. The effectiveness of his deep and touching tone and style of recitation only increased the agitation of the Meccans and worked them up even more…

Finally, the Meccans came together and decided to send a messenger to Abu Bakr asking him to perform his salat and recite his Quran inside his house. For some time after this, Abu Bakr performed his worship inside to not arouse the Meccans any further…

However, one day Abu Bakr could not hold himself back from talking about the nobility of Islam to the unbelievers in the Haram al-Sharif… Upon this the unbelievers attacked Abu Bakr and beat him up severely… They continued kicking him with fervor even after he fell to the ground unconscious… Finally, when one of the clans from his family heard and came running to the scene his life was saved… They wrapped him up in sheets and took him home. He was bedridden in an unconscious state for some time… When he gained consciousness and awoke the first thing he asked was, “How is the Rasul of Allah? Is he well?”

His mother, sitting beside him, had no knowledge of anything… So, he asked for Ummu Jamil, the sister of Omar ibn Khattab… His mother, Ummulkhayr Salma, went to Ummu Jamil but because she had not yet become a Muslim Ummu Jamil did not disclose any information to her, she accompanied Abu Bakr’s mother back to their house. When she saw Abu Bakr, she was deeply saddened:

“How could they have done this to you, o Abu Bakr?”

But the only thing Abu Bakr was worried about was the Rasul of Allah… “How is the Rasul of Allah, O Ummu Jamil, please give me news of the Rasul!” Ummu Jamil hesitated and looked at his mother. 

“Don’t worry about her she can’t hear well…” he reassured her.

“He’s well!” 

“Where is he now?”

“At Arkam’s house, at Safa!”

“Then take me to him now…”

“O Abu Bakr, how can we take you to him at this time? Everybody is out and about; won’t we be putting the Rasul in danger?” Abu Bakr agreed to wait until nighttime… Omar’s sister Ummu Jamil had become a Muslim but Omar did not yet know this…

Finally, when the dark set in, Hadhrat Abu Bakr with the help of Ummu Jamil and his mother Ummulkhayr Salma went to the hill of Safa where Arkam resided… 

The Rasul of Allah was sitting with a few of his friends… When he saw Abu Bakr in that state, he jumped out of his seat to help him inside and they hugged each other with tears in their eyes… What Abu Bakr been through made all of them extremely sad. Despite the torture he was put through Abu Bakr wished no harm on anyone his only wish was:

“O Rasul of Allah… This old woman who held my hand and helped me walk all this way is my mother. Please pray to Allah that she may be of those who will be freed from hell…”

Would our Master ever turn away the wish of Abu Bakr, his best FRIEND, could he ever be oblivious to Abu Bakr’s wish? Abu Bakr was his greatest support and strength, a true friend indeed!

Our Master prayed, Ummulkhayr Salma joined the religion of Islam… Abu Bakr recovered, he worked even harder and stronger for the cause of Islam… 

Then Hadhrat Uthman (ra) joined the religion of Islam… Hadhrat Zubair bin Awwam (ra) joined the religion of Islam… Hadhrat Abdurrahman ibn Awf (ra) joined the religion of Islam…Hadhrat Sad ibn Waqqas (ra) joined the religion of Islam… And, Hadhrat Talha ibn Ubaydullah joined the religion of Islam…