Abu Bakr as-Siddiqأبو بكر

Come with me. Today, we're going on a journey... far, far away... and long, long ago.

Picture a cave. A small one, high up on a rocky mountain, in the dark.

Two men are hiding inside it. They have been running all night. And now they are pressed against the cold stone at the back, holding their breath.

Because outside, right outside, there are footsteps.

Men are searching. Angry men, who have come a long way looking for them, and who are now standing so close to the mouth of the cave that the two men inside can hear them talking.

One of the two men in the cave is so frightened that he whispers: *if any of them just looks down at his feet... he will see us.*

And his friend, calm, in the darkness, right beside him, whispers back six words that people have been repeating ever since.

"Do not be sad. Allah is with us."

The frightened man was called Abu Bakr, radiyallahu anhu. And this is his story.

Long, long ago, in the city of Makkah, there lived a merchant named Abu Bakr, radiyallahu anhu.

He was not a king. He was not a warrior. He was a cloth merchant, a businessman, who bought and sold in the market, and who was very good at it.

And everybody in Makkah liked him.

He was gentle. He was soft-hearted, he cried easily, and he was not ashamed of it. He was so honest that if he told you something, you simply believed it, because Abu Bakr did not lie.

He knew everybody's family. He remembered people's names. And when somebody was in trouble, he was usually the first one there.

He also had a very close friend, a man from his own city, a few years older than him, known throughout Makkah as *al-Amīn*, the trustworthy one.

That friend was Muhammad ﷺ.

Then one day, Allah chose Muhammad ﷺ to be His final messenger.

And he began to tell people the truth: that there is only One God. That the statues they had been bowing to could not hear them or help them. That we should worship Allah alone.

Most of Makkah laughed. Then they got angry. Then they got cruel.

But Abu Bakr, radiyallahu anhu, heard it... and believed. Straight away. He was one of the very first grown men in all the world to become a Muslim.

And later, something happened that showed everyone exactly what kind of man he was.

The Prophet ﷺ told the people that in a single night, Allah had taken him on an amazing journey, all the way to Jerusalem, and then up through the heavens, and back again. In one night.

And the people of Makkah thought that was the funniest thing they had ever heard. They ran to Abu Bakr, delighted, certain that *this* would be the thing that finally broke his belief.

"Your friend says he went to Jerusalem and back in one night! What do you say about *that*?"

And Abu Bakr did not even pause.

He said: "If he said it... then it is true."

That was it. No arguing. No hesitating. *If he said it, then it is true.*

And from that day, he was given a name that stayed with him forever: **as-Siddiq**, the one who always tells the truth, and always believes the truth when he hears it.

Now, in Makkah in those days, there were people who were kept as slaves. And when some of them became Muslim, their masters treated them terribly.

There was a man called Bilal, a tall man with a beautiful, deep voice. And his master used to take him out into the desert in the burning middle of the day, and lay him down on the scorching sand, and put a heavy stone on his chest, and tell him: *say the names of our idols, and I will stop.*

And Bilal, with that great stone crushing down on him, would say only one word.

*Ahad.* One. Allah is One.

Abu Bakr, radiyallahu anhu, found out.

And Abu Bakr, the cloth merchant with the soft heart, did not make a speech about it. He went to Bilal's master and he *bought* Bilal. Paid his own money. And then set him free.

And he did not do it just once. He did it again, and again, and again, spending his own wealth to buy people out of slavery and let them go, until his money had gone down and down and down.

His own father, who was not a Muslim yet, said to him: "Son, if you must free people, at least free the strong ones who can protect you!"

And Abu Bakr said, and this is the whole of him, in one sentence,

"I only want what is with Allah."

The years went on, and Makkah became too dangerous.

So Allah gave His Messenger ﷺ permission to leave, to travel to a city far to the north, called Madinah. And of everyone in the world, the Prophet ﷺ chose one person to travel with him.

He chose Abu Bakr, radiyallahu anhu.

They slipped out of Makkah in the dark. And instead of going north, which is where anybody chasing them would look, they went *south*, up into the mountains, to a cave called Thawr.

And there they hid. Two men, in the dark, in the quiet.

But they had to eat. And somebody had to bring them food.

So every evening, when it got dark, a girl climbed that mountain.

Her name was Asma. She was Abu Bakr's daughter.

She would wait until nightfall, when nobody could see her, and then she would carry food and water all the way up the rocky path to the cave, and hand it in, and climb all the way back down again before morning, as though nothing at all had happened.

And on the very first night, something went wrong.

She had wrapped up the food, and she had nothing to tie the bundle with. Nothing at all. She looked around for a strap, for a cord, for a strip of cloth... and there was none.

So Asma took the belt she was wearing... and she tore it in half.

She used one half to tie up the food. And she kept the other half around her waist.

And when the Prophet ﷺ heard what she had done, he gave her a name for it, a title she carried for the rest of her life.

*Dhat an-Nitaqayn.* The one with the two belts.

So while you are picturing those two men hiding in the dark... remember there was a young girl walking up a mountain in the night to keep them alive. Bravery does not always look like a sword. Sometimes it looks like a torn belt and a long climb in the dark.

And then the searchers came.

Right up the mountain. Right to the mouth of the cave. Close enough to hear their voices.

And Abu Bakr, radiyallahu anhu, his heart nearly stopped. Not for himself. Never for himself. He was frightened *for the Prophet ﷺ*. He whispered: if one of them just looks down, he will see us.

And the Prophet ﷺ said to him:

"What do you think of two, when Allah is the third of them?"

"Do not be sad. Allah is with us."

And the men outside... turned around... and walked away.

They never looked down.

Allah put those very words into the Qur'an, so that they would never be forgotten. And when Allah tells the story of that night, He calls Abu Bakr *the second of the two*, the one who was in the cave, and He says: *do not grieve, indeed Allah is with us.*

Out of every human being who has ever lived, Abu Bakr, radiyallahu anhu, is the one Allah mentions in the cave.

Years later, in Madinah, there came a day when the Muslims badly needed help, and the Prophet ﷺ asked everyone to give whatever they could.

People gave generously. One companion brought half of everything he owned, half!, and everyone was amazed.

Then Abu Bakr, radiyallahu anhu, came.

And he brought... everything.

All of it. Every coin in his house.

And the Prophet ﷺ looked at him and asked, gently: "What did you leave for your family, Abu Bakr?"

And Abu Bakr said:

"I left them Allah and His Messenger."

That is the story of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, radiyallahu anhu.

Not a prophet, he never was, and he would have been the first to tell you so. Just a cloth merchant from Makkah with a soft heart and an honest tongue, who believed his friend when the whole city laughed... who spent his money buying other people their freedom... who sat in a dark cave while danger walked past outside... and who gave away everything he owned and called it a good trade.

And now... slowly... we leave the mountain and the little cave behind... the cool dark, the quiet, the two friends waiting for morning... and we travel back home. To right here. Right now.

But carry Abu Bakr, radiyallahu anhu, with you, wherever you go. Because his whole life was really about one thing.

Being a good friend. The truest kind. The kind who believes you, and stands beside you, and does not run away when things get frightening.

Be that friend. And when you are the one who is scared, in the dark, or in a new place, or on a night when everything feels too big, remember what was whispered in that cave.

It means... do not be sad. Indeed, Allah is with us. Say it with me... slowly... the way it was said in the dark...

*Lā taḥzan... inna-llāha maʿanā.*

Come with me. Today, we're going on a journey... far, far away... and long, long ago.

We're going to the city of Makkah... in the middle of a busy morning... when the market is full and loud.

And here we are. Listen to it. People shouting prices. Somebody's camel complaining. Sandals on stone. Somebody laughing much too loudly.

Smell the dust, and the leather, and the spices piled up in little cones.

Over there is a cloth merchant's stall, bolts of linen and deep blue fabric stacked up neat. That stall belongs to a man everybody in this city knows.

His name is Abu Bakr, radiyallahu anhu.

He is not a king. He is not a warrior. He is a businessman, a good one, and a kind man. He is soft-hearted; he cries easily and he is not ashamed of it. He remembers everybody's name. And he is so honest that if Abu Bakr tells you something, you simply believe it, because Abu Bakr does not lie.

Now, something has happened this morning. The whole market is buzzing with it.

Abu Bakr's closest friend is the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. And the Prophet ﷺ has just told the people of Makkah something astonishing.

He has told them that in a single night, Allah took him on an amazing journey, all the way to Jerusalem, far to the north, and then up through the heavens, and back again.

All in one night.

And Makkah thinks this is the funniest thing it has ever heard.

Because a journey like that took a very long time in those days. Weeks. Months. On a camel, across the desert, with all the sleeping and the eating and the stopping.

So now watch this crowd. See them hurrying across the market? They are coming to the cloth stall. And they are delighted. Absolutely delighted.

Because they think they have finally found the thing that will break Abu Bakr.

He has believed his friend through everything so far. Through the laughing. Through the anger. Through the cruelty. But surely, *surely*, not this.

They reach the stall, out of breath, grinning.

"Your friend says he went to Jerusalem and back in one night! What do you say about *that*?"

And Abu Bakr, radiyallahu anhu, looks up from his cloth.

And he does not pause. Not even for a heartbeat.

He says:

"If he said it... then it is true."

That is all. That is the entire answer.

No arguing. No asking for proof. No *well, let me think about that one*.

*If he said it, then it is true.*

And from that day on, Abu Bakr had a new name. A name that stayed with him for the rest of his life, and for all the centuries since.

**As-Siddiq.** The truthful one. The one who tells the truth, and who believes the truth the moment he hears it.

Here is what this moment whispers to us. Trust is built long before it is tested.

Abu Bakr did not answer that quickly because he was reckless. He answered that quickly because he had known his friend for *years*, and in all that time his friend had never once told him anything but the truth.

So when the hard moment came, he did not need to think about it. He already knew.

I wonder what people would say about *you*, if somebody asked them: is that person honest?

And now... softly... we step back out of the loud bright market... past the stacked blue cloth... and home. To right here. Right now.

And we can carry a dua for a truthful heart with us. It means... my Lord, grant me a truthful tongue. Say it slowly...

*Rabbi-jʿal lī lisāna ṣidq.*

Come with me. Today, we're going on a journey... far, far away... and long, long ago.

We're going out past the edge of Makkah... into the open desert... in the burning middle of the day.

And here we are. Careful. Feel that heat coming up off the sand? This is the hottest part of the hottest hour. Everybody sensible is indoors right now.

But there is somebody out here.

There is a man lying on the scorching sand, and he is being treated terribly.

His name is Bilal. He has a beautiful, deep voice, and he has just become a Muslim, and the man who owns him is furious about it.

So he has brought Bilal out here, into the worst of the heat, and put a heavy stone on his chest, and told him: *say the names of our idols, and I will stop.*

And Bilal, with that great weight pressing down on him, says only one word.

*Ahad.*

One. Allah is One.

Again and again. That one word. That is all he will say.

Now, back in the city, somebody has found out what is happening out here.

His name is Abu Bakr, radiyallahu anhu. He is a cloth merchant. He is comfortable, and well-liked, and he has a soft heart.

And when Abu Bakr, radiyallahu anhu, hears about Bilal... he does not make a speech.

He does not gather a crowd, or write a poem about how terrible it is, or tell everybody how upset he is feeling.

He goes and gets his money.

He walks straight to the man who owns Bilal. And he *buys* him. Pays for him, with his own coins, out of his own business.

And then, the moment Bilal is his,

He sets him free.

Just like that. Free. Belonging to nobody. A free man.

And here is the part that shows you who Abu Bakr, radiyallahu anhu, really was.

He did not do it once.

He did it again. And again. And again. Person after person after person, buying people out of slavery with his own wealth and then letting them walk away free, until his money had gone down and down and down.

His father, who was not a Muslim yet, could not understand it at all. He said: "Son! If you must free people, at least free the *strong* ones. The ones who could protect you and fight for you!"

In other words: at least get something back.

And Abu Bakr said, and this one sentence is the whole of him,

"I only want what is with Allah."

He was not doing it to build himself an army. He was not doing it so people would owe him. He was not even doing it so people would say what a wonderful man he was.

He was doing it because Allah could see it. And that was enough.

Here is what this moment whispers to us. When you find out something is wrong, the question is not *how do I feel about this*.

The question is *what can I actually do*.

Abu Bakr had money. So he used the money. Whatever you have, a kind word, a place at your table, your turn given away, standing next to somebody who is on their own, use *that*.

Feeling sorry costs nothing. Abu Bakr paid.

I wonder who you know who could use somebody standing beside them this week.

And now... softly... we step back out of that terrible heat... away from the sand and the stone... and into the cool... and home. To right here. Right now.

And we can carry Abu Bakr's own sentence with us. It means... I only want what is with Allah. Say it slowly...

*Innamā urīdu mā ʿinda-llāh.*

Come with me. Today, we're going on a journey... far, far away... and long, long ago.

We're going up a rocky mountain path outside Makkah... at night... with no moon.

And here we are. Careful where you put your feet. Feel how the stones shift and roll? Feel how the air has gone cold, now that the sun has been down a while?

Look up. That black gap in the rock, high above us, that is a cave. It is called Thawr.

And inside it, right now, two men are hiding.

One of them is the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. The other is his closest friend, Abu Bakr, radiyallahu anhu.

Makkah had become too dangerous, so Allah gave His Messenger ﷺ permission to leave, to travel far north to a city called Madinah. And of everybody in the whole world, the Prophet ﷺ chose Abu Bakr, radiyallahu anhu, to go with him.

They slipped out in the dark. And instead of heading north, which is where anybody chasing them would look, they came *south*, up here, into the mountains.

Now, here is a question hardly anybody thinks to ask.

They are going to be up there for three days.

What are they going to *eat*?

Somebody has to bring them food. Somebody has to climb this mountain, in the dark, without being seen by anyone, because half of Makkah is out searching, and anyone spotted heading up here would give the whole thing away.

So listen.

Can you hear that? Small stones, moving on the path below us.

Somebody is coming up.

And it is a girl.

Her name is Asma. She is Abu Bakr's daughter.

Every single evening, once it is properly dark, she carries food and water all the way up this path, and hands it in at the cave, and then climbs all the way back down again before morning, and then walks about the city the next day as though absolutely nothing is happening.

Now let me tell you about the very first night.

She had packed the food up. And she went to tie the bundle... and she had nothing to tie it with.

Nothing. She looked for a strap. A cord. A strip of cloth. Anything.

There was nothing at all.

So Asma took the belt she was wearing... and she tore it in half.

One half went around the food.

The other half stayed around her waist.

And then she picked the bundle up and started climbing.

When the Prophet ﷺ heard what she had done, he gave her a name for it. A title she carried for the rest of her life, and that people still say today, more than a thousand years later:

*Dhat an-Nitaqayn.* **The one with the two belts.**

Here is what this moment whispers to us. Bravery does not always look like a sword.

Sometimes it looks like a girl walking up a dark mountain because somebody has to.

And cleverness does not mean having the right tools. It means using what you actually have. Asma had one belt and a problem, so she made the belt into two things, and got on with it.

Nobody was watching. Nobody clapped. She just did it, every night, and told nobody.

I wonder what quiet, unnoticed thing you could do this week... that nobody would ever clap for.

And now... softly... we come back down that dark rocky path... carefully, one step at a time... away from the cave and the girl and the stars... and home. To right here. Right now.

And we can carry a dua for courage with us. It means... my Lord, expand my chest for me, and make my task easy for me. Say it slowly...

*Rabbi-shraḥ lī ṣadrī... wa yassir lī amrī.*

Come with me. Today, we're going on a journey... far, far away... and long, long ago.

We're going inside a small cave, high on a mountain outside Makkah... in the deep middle of the night.

And here we are. Careful, it is dark in here. Put your hand out. Feel the wall? Cold. Rough. Close.

Now be very, very quiet. Because we are not alone.

There are two men pressed against the back of this cave. They have been running all night. And right now, neither of them is moving at all.

One of them is the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. The other is his closest friend, Abu Bakr, radiyallahu anhu.

And outside, right outside, there are footsteps.

Listen.

Voices. Men talking. Boots on loose stone. The searchers from Makkah have come all the way up the mountain, and they are standing at the mouth of this cave.

Close enough to hear what they are saying to each other.

Now, think about how that feels. Nowhere to run. Nowhere further back to hide. Just cold stone behind you, and voices in front of you, and the whole thing about to be over.

And Abu Bakr, radiyallahu anhu, his heart is pounding.

But listen carefully to *why*.

Not for himself. Never for himself.

He is frightened for his friend. He is frightened for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

And he whispers, as quietly as anybody has ever whispered anything,

*If one of them just looks down at his feet... he will see us.*

And in the dark beside him, completely calm, the Prophet ﷺ whispers back.

And what he says is not a plan.

He does not say *let's move to the back*. He does not say *hold your breath*. He does not say *when I count to three, run*.

He says:

"What do you think of two... when Allah is the third of them?"

And then:

"Do not be sad. Allah is with us."

*Lā taḥzan... inna-llāha maʿanā.*

And outside... the footsteps stop.

And then they move away.

And then they are gone.

They never looked down.

Now, here is the most amazing part of all.

Allah put those words into the Qur'an. Forever. That exact whisper, from that exact night, in that exact cave.

And when Allah tells the story, He calls Abu Bakr, radiyallahu anhu, *the second of the two, the one who was in the cave*.

Out of every single human being who has ever lived... Abu Bakr is the one Allah mentions in the cave.

Here is what this moment whispers to us. There are two ways to feel safe.

One is when nothing scary is happening. That kind is easy, and it does not last, because scary things happen to everybody sometimes.

The other kind is what Abu Bakr learned in that cave. The danger was still there. The footsteps were still right outside. Nothing about the situation had changed at all.

What changed was that he *remembered who was with him*.

And Allah is with you exactly like that. In the dark. In a new place. On the night when everything feels too big.

You are never the only one in the room.

I wonder what makes you nervous... and how it would feel to say these words the next time it happens.

And now... softly... we creep back out of the cave... down the dark mountain... under all those stars... and home. To right here. Right now.

And we can carry the words that were whispered in the dark. They mean... do not be sad; indeed, Allah is with us. Say them slowly... the way they were said...

*Lā taḥzan... inna-llāha maʿanā.*