Abu Bakr left trade when he became Caliph

13-12-2016 | IslamWeb

Question:

Is it true that Abu Bakr, may Allaah be pleased with him, closed his clothes shop when he became the Caliph?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The story that Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, closed down his trade when he was assigned as Caliph to devote himself to the work of the Caliphate, and that the Companions assigned a salary for him, was reported by several historians, and scholars related it. We have not come across a statement of any scholar who rejected it or who said that it was not authentic.

Among those who reported it was Ibn Sa'd in At-Tabaqaat Al-Kubra, Ibn ‘Asaakir in Taareekh Dimashq, and Ibn Al-Jawzi in Al-Muntathim fi Taareekh Al-Umam wal Mulook.

Ibn Hajar mentioned in Al-Fath that it was narrated by Ibn Sa'd with a Mursal chain of narrators (i.e. narrated by a Tabi'i [successor of the Prophet's Companions]) whose men are trustworthy. Many narrations support this story, which was narrated by Ibn Sa'd and At-Tabaraani, and this was mentioned by As-Suyooti in Taareekh Al-Khulafaa’.

Finally, we draw your attention to the fact that our Salaf (righteous predecessors) did not focus on investigating the biographies and history if such matters were not related to the ‘Aqeedah (creed), what is lawful and what is forbidden, and when it did not contradict the general principles of Islam.

Allah knows best.