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Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr (631-658) was the son of Islam's first caliph, Abu Bakr, and Asma bint Umais. When Abu Bakr died, Ibn Abi Bakr's mother re-married, to Ali ibn Abu Talib, the prophet Muhammad's cousin. The boy was only three years old at the time; he became Ali's adopted son and one of his supporters.

Uthman

During the caliphate of Uthman ibn Affan, the third caliph, the adult ibn Abi Bakr was stationed in the newly conquered province of Egypt, where he incited the soldiers against the rule of Uthman. Uthman was widely perceived to be ruling as a king, and favoring his kin, rather than following the traditional Arabian pattern in which the leader was merely "the first among equals". Uthman was accused of seizing lands that should have been shared, and of misusing donations to the zakat, or charity tax. Ibn Abi Bakr was not alone in his resentment of Uthman; he was one of many early Muslims who felt that the Islamic community, the ummah, was headed in the wrong direction. Ibn Abi Bakr's half-sister Aisha was among the protesters.

In 651 CE, some of the Egyptian soldiers sent a deputation to Uthman, According to the account given by Wilferd Madelung, ibn Abi Bakr did not accompany this delegation, but preceded them to Medina.

The events that followed are still a matter of much dispute. Wilferd Madelung recounts the story much as follows.

Once in Medina, the soldiers encamped around Uthman's palace and demanded reforms. Their bearing was insolent and threatening and Uthman indeed felt under siege. He temporized, offered an apology, and the soldiers, apparently satisfied, left briefly. However, Uthman is said to have reneged on his promises. Medina residents stoned him when he attempted to give a Friday sermon, and the contingent from Egypt returned and laid siege in earnest to Uthman's palace. Uthman seems to have had no troops at his command; they were all on the frontiers of his expanding empire. Some of Uthman's kin and supporters mounted a feeble resistance, throwing stones at the besiegers. However, Uthman's true protection was the edict of Muhammad, that Muslims should not shed each other's blood. The soldiers hoped to gain their ends by threats, without having to resort to actual violence; Uthman refused to take up arms. Eventually the soldiers stormed the palace and murdered Uthman as he sat reading the Quran.

Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr was apparently deeply involved with the mutineers, even though he was not one of their formal leaders. According to several accounts, he was one of the small party that entered Uthman's palace by the roof and killed Uthman. He is said to have seized Uthman by his beard, berated him, and slashed him on his forehead. Kanana ibn Bishr is said to have given the killing blow (Madelung, 1997, pp. 138-39).

The assassination took place in Medina, then the capital of the burgeoning Islamic empire. There was great confusion afterwards, and some (either the mutineers, or concerned citizens, or both) are said to have approached Ali, begging him to become caliph and put an end to the chaos. Ali accepted, despite his disapproval of the murder of Uthman. However, he did not punish the rioters and mutinous soldiers -- possibly because his own position was insecure and he did not have the power to do so, possibly because (some say) the mutineers were his strongest supporters.

Ali's brief tenure as caliph (656-661) was spent fighting against Muawiya, Aisha (Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr's half-sister and one of the prophet Muhammad's widows), and the rebellious Kharijites.

Ali appointed Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr governor of Egypt, then a newly conquered province of the Islamic empire. In 658 CE (38 A.H.), Muawiya sent his general Amr ibn al-As and six thousand soldiers against Muhammad. Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr asked Ali for help. Ali is said to have instructed his foster son to hand the governorship over to his best general, Malik ibn Ashtar, whom he judged better capable of resisting Amr bin Aas. However, Malik died on his way to Egypt. Madelung and Shi'a sources accept that Malik was poisoned by Muawiya.

Muhammad was easily defeated by Amr. Amr's soldiers were ordered to capture him and bring him, alive, to Muawiya. However, a solder named Muawiya ibn Hudayj (a different Muawiya) is said to have quarrelled with the prisoner and killed him out of hand. Ibn Hudayj was so incensed at ibn Abi Bakr that he put his body into that of a dead donkey and burned both corpses together, so that nothing should survive of his enemy (Madelung 1997 p. 268). However, some Shi'a accounts say that the Muawiya who later became caliph was the actual killer of ibn Abu Bakr.

Shi'a view of ibn Abi Bakr

The Shi'a praise this young man for his devotion to Ali and his resistance to a caliph the Shi'a believe to be a tyrant. Though his father Abu Bakr and his sister Aisha were fierce enemies of Ali, ibn Abi Bakr was faithful to his stepfather.

See also

• Family tree of Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr
• Sahaba

References

• Wilferd Madelung -- The Succession to Muhammad, Cambridge University Press, 1997.

External links

• http://www.islamic-paths.org/Home/English/Muhammad/Book/Millennium_Biography/Chapter_132.htm

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