ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Bakr al-Taymī (; ) was a son of the first
caliph
A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...
Abu Bakr
Abd Allah ibn Abi Quhafa (23 August 634), better known by his ''Kunya (Arabic), kunya'' Abu Bakr, was a senior Sahaba, companion, the closest friend, and father-in-law of Muhammad. He served as the first caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, ruli ...
() and a
Companion of the
Islamic prophet
Prophets in Islam () are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God's message on Earth and serve as models of ideal human behaviour. Some prophets are categorized as messengers (; sing. , ), those who transmit divine revelation, mos ...
Muhammad
Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
.
Early life
Abd Allah was born in
Mecca
Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
around . His father
Abu Bakr
Abd Allah ibn Abi Quhafa (23 August 634), better known by his ''Kunya (Arabic), kunya'' Abu Bakr, was a senior Sahaba, companion, the closest friend, and father-in-law of Muhammad. He served as the first caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, ruli ...
hailed from the
Banu Taym
Banū Taym (; alternatively transliterated as ''Banu Taim'') was a clan of the Quraysh tribe of Mecca. The first caliph, Abu Bakr, hailed from the Banu Taym, as did another prominent companion of Muhammad, Talha ibn Ubaydallah.
Ancestry
The tr ...
of the
Quraysh
The Quraysh () are an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe who controlled Mecca before the rise of Islam. Their members were divided into ten main clans, most notably including the Banu Hashim, into which Islam's founding prophet Muhammad was born. By ...
tribe. His mother was
Qutaylah bint Abd al-Uzza, from the
Banu Amir ibn Luayy clan.
[Muhammad ibn Saad. ''Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir'' vol. 3. Translated by Bewley, A. (2013). ''The Companions of Badr''. London: Ta-Ha Publishers.][Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari. ''Tarikh al-Rusul wa'l-Muluk''. Translated by Blankinship, K. Y. (1993). ''Volume 11: The Challenge to the Empires''. Albany: State University of New York Press.][Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari. ''Tarikh al-Rusul wa'l-Muluk''. Translated by Landau-Tasseron, E. (1998). ''Volume 39: The Biographies of the Prophet's Companions and Their Successors''. Albany: State University of New York Press.] His parents were divorced soon before or after his birth.
[Muhammad ibn Saad. ''Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir'' vol. 8. Translated by Bewley, A. (1995). ''The Women of Madina''. London: Ta-Ha Publishers.]
When Muhammad and Abu Bakr migrated from Mecca in September 622, Abu Bakr instructed young Abdullah to listen to people's conversations and report the day's news to them at the cave on
Mount Thawr each night. Abdullah duly reported that the Quraysh had offered a hundred camels to anyone who captured Muhammad. Each morning, when he left the cave, the family
servant
A domestic worker is a person who works within a residence and performs a variety of household services for an individual, from providing cleaning and household maintenance, or cooking, laundry and ironing, or care for children and elderly ...
would lead a flock of sheep over the same route to cover his tracks.
[Muhammad ibn Ishaq. ''Sirat Rasul Allah''. Translated by Guillaume, A. (1955). ''The Life of Muhammad''. Oxford: Oxford University Press.]
Emigration to Medina
A few months later, Abdullah emigrated to
Medina
Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...
in the company of his stepmother
Umm Ruman
Zaynab bint ʿĀmir ibn ʿUwaymir ibn ʿAbd Shams ibn ʿAttāb al-Farāsīyya al-Kinānīyya, known by her '' kunya'' "Umm Rūmān" () was among the followers or companions of Muhammad. She was a wife of Abu Bakr and the mother of Aisha, which m ...
and two sisters
Asma and
Aisha
Aisha bint Abi Bakr () was a seventh century Arab commander, politician, Muhaddith, muhadditha and the third and youngest wife of the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Aisha had an important role in early Islamic h ...
.
[Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari. ''Tarikh al-Rusul wa'l-Muluk''. Translated by McDonald, M. V. (1987). ''Volume 7: The Foundation of the Community''. Albany: State University of New York Press.]
In 630 Abdullah fought at the
Siege of Ta'if
The siege of Ta'if took place in 630, as the Muslims under the leadership of Muhammad besieged the city of Ta'if after their victory in the battles of Hunayn and Autas. One of the chieftains of Ta'if, Urwah ibn Mas'ud, was absent in Yemen ...
, where the Thaqafite poet,
Abū Miḥjan al-Thaḳafī, shot him with an arrow. This wound ultimately caused his death, although he survived for nearly three years afterwards.
[Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari. ''Tarikh al-Rusul wa'l-Muluk''. Translated by Donner, F. M. (1993). ''Volume 10: The Conquest of Arabia'', p. 39. Albany: State University of New York Press.]
Marriage
He married
Atiqa bint Zayd
Atika bint Zayd al-Adawiyya () was a woman in 7th century Arabia who was an Islamic scholar and poet. She was a disciple ( Sahaba) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. She was one of the wives of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Caliph. She was a p ...
, a poetess from the
Banu Adi
Banu Adi () was a clan of the Quraysh tribe descended from Adi ibn Ka'b. The Banu Adi were with the Meccans as part of the escort that preceded the Battle of Badr; they did not join Quraysh further.
Notable members
Clan members include:
* Umar ...
clan of the Quraysh. This marriage was childless.
It was said that Abdullah deferred to Atika's judgment and that he spent so much time with her that he neglected his duties to the Islamic state. Abu Bakr punished his son by ordering him to divorce her. Abdullah did as he was told but was grief-stricken. He wrote poetry for Atika:
''I have never known a man like me divorce a woman like her,''
''nor any woman like her divorced for no fault of her own.''[Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani. ''Al-Isaba fi tamyiz al-Sahaba'' vol. 8 #11448.]
In the end, Abdullah was allowed to take Atika back before her
waiting period
A waiting period is the period of time between when an action is requested or mandated and when it occurs.
In the United States, the term is commonly used in reference to gun control, abortion and marriage licences, as some U.S. states require ...
was completed.
[Abbott, N. (1942). ''Aishah - the Beloved of Mohammed''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.]
Death
Abdullah died in January 633, when his old wound from Ta'if flared up.
[Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti. ''History of the Caliphs''. Translated by Jarrett, H. S. (1881). Calcutta: The Asiatic Society.][Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari. ''Tarikh al-Rusul wa'l-Muluk''. Translated by Smith, G. R. (1994). ''Volume 14: The Conquest of Iran''. Albany: State University of New York Press.] His wife composed an elegy for him.
''I vow that my soul will remain in sorrow over thee''
''and my skin will remain dusty''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdullah Ibn Abi Bakr
Companions of the Prophet
Family of Abu Bakr
610 births
Place of birth unknown
633 deaths
Place of death unknown
Children of Rashidun caliphs
Sons of caliphs