روى البزار في مسنده أن عليًّا قال: «أخبروني: من أشجع الناس؟» قالوا: «أنت». قال: «أما أنا فما لقيت أحدًا إلا انتصفت منه، ولكن أخبروني: من أشجع الناس؟» قالوا: «لا نعلم، فمن هو؟» قال: «أبو بكر. لقد جعلنا يوم بدر لرسول الله ﷺ عريشًا، فقلنا: من يكون مع رسول الله ﷺ لئلا يهوي إليه أحد من المشركين؟ فواللهِ ما دنا منا أحد إلا أبو بكر، شاهرًا السيف على رأس رسول الله ﷺ، لا يهوي إليه أحد إلا هوى إليه، فهو أشجع الناس». وقال علي رضي الله عنه: رأيت رسول الله ﷺ وقد أخذته قريش، فهذا يجأه، وهذا يتلتله، وهم يقولون: أأنت جعلت الآلهة إلهًا واحدًا؟ فواللهِ ما دنا منا أحد إلا أبو بكر، يضرب هذا، ويجأ هذا، ويتلتل هذا، وهو يقول: ويلكم! أتقتلون رجلًا أن يقول: ربي الله؟ ثم رفع علي برده الذي كان عليه فبكى حتى بلّت لحيته، ثم قال: أنشدكم بالله، أمؤمن آل فرعون خير أم أبو بكر؟ فسكت الناس، فقال: ألا تجيبون؟ فواللهِ لساعة من أبي بكر خير من ألف ساعة من مثل مؤمن آل فرعون.

Al-Bazzar narrated in his Musnad that °Ali said, ‘Tell me who is the bravest of men?’ They said, ‘You.’ He said, ‘As for me, I never encountered anyone but that I took my due from him, but tell me who is the bravest of men?’ They said, ‘We don’t know. Who Is it?’ He said, ‘Abu Bakr. On the Day of Badr we made a shelter from the sun for the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him unci grant him peace, and then we said, “Who will be with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, so that none of the idolaters may fall upon him?” By Allah, none of us drew near except for Abu Bakr who brandished a sword over the head of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. No-one fell upon him but that he in turn fell upon him. So he is the bravest of men.’ cAli, may Allah be pleased with him, said: I saw the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him a nd grant him peace, and Quraysh grabbed him. One held him and another threw him down and they were saying, ‘Are you the one who has made the gods into one god?’ By Allah, none of us npproached except Abu Bakr, striking this one, and restraining that one, and throwing down another, saying, ‘Woe to you! Will you kill a man because he says, “My Lord is Allah?”’ Then cAli raised a cloak which he was wearing and wept until his beard was wet and said, ‘I adjure you by Allah! Is the believer of the people ofFircawn better or Abu Bakr?’ People were silent. He said, ‘Will you not answer? By Allah, an hour of Abu Bakr is better than a thousand hours of the like of the believer of the people of Fircawn.

كان رجلاً يكتم إيمانه، وهذا رجل كان يُظهر إيمانه! روى البخاري أن عروة بن الزبير قال: سألتُ عبد الله بن عمرو بن العاص عن أشد ما صنعه المشركون برسول الله ﷺ. فقال: رأيتُ عقبة بن أبي معيط جاء إلى النبي ﷺ وهو يصلي، فوضع رداءه في عنقه فخنقه خنقاً شديداً. فجاء أبو بكر فدفعه عنه وقال: "أتقتلون رجلاً أن يقول ربي الله، وقد جاءكم بالبينات من ربكم؟". وروى الهيثم بن كليب في مسنده أن أبا بكر قال: "يوم أحد فرّ الناس كلهم عن رسول الله ﷺ، وكنتُ أول من رجع!". وبقية الحديث في المسند الذي رواه الهيثم بن كليب.

He was a man who concealed his iman, and this was a man who was open about his iman! Al-Bukhari narrated that cUrwah ibn az-Zubayr said: I asked ‘Abdullah ibn cAmr ibn al-cAs about the worst thing that the idolaters did to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He said, ‘I saw TJqbah ibn Abi Mucayt who came to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, while he was praying, and he placed his cloak about his neck and seriously tried to throttle him. Then Abu Bakr came and defended him and said, “Would you kill a man because he says, ‘My Lord is Allah,’ and he has come to you with clear signs from your Lord?”’ Al-Haytham ibn Kulayb narrated in his Musnad that Abu Bakr said, ‘On the Day of Uhud everyone fled from the Messenger of Allah, and I was the first to return!’ The rest of the hadith is in the Musnad which al-Haytham ibn Kulayb narrated.

روى ابن عساكر عن عائشة رضي الله عنها قالت: لما اجتمع أصحاب النبي ﷺ وكانوا ثمانية وثلاثين رجلاً، ألحّ أبو بكر على رسول الله ﷺ أن يُظهر دعوته ويعلنها، فقال: «يا أبا بكر، إنا قليل». فلم يزل أبو بكر يحث رسول الله ﷺ حتى أعلن رسول الله ﷺ دعوته. فتفرّق المسلمون في نواحي المسجد (الحرام)، كلُّ رجل في عشيرته، وقام أبو بكر في الناس خطيباً يدعوهم، فكان أول خطيب دعا الناس إلى الله ورسوله. فوثب المشركون على أبي بكر والمسلمين، فضربوهم في نواحي المسجد ضرباً شديداً.

Ibn cAsakir narrated that cA’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said: When the companions of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, gathered, and they were thirty-eight men, Abu Bakr pressed upon the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to be open and public. He said, ‘Abu Bakr, we are few.’ Abu Bakr wouldn’t stop urging the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, until the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, made things public. The Muslims went into every corner of the Mosque (of Makkah), every man among his own kinsfolk, and Abu Bakr stood up among the people addressing them, so that he was the first public speaker to invite people to Allah and His Messenger. The idolaters leapt upon Abu Bakr and the Muslims, and they beat them, in every corner of the Mosque, very severely.

سيأتي بيان ختام هذا الحديث في سيرة عمر، رضي الله عنه.

The conclusion of this hadith will come in the biography ofTJmar, may Allah be pleased with him.

روى ابنُ عساكر عن عليٍّ رضي الله عنه قال: لمّا أسلم أبو بكرٍ أظهر إسلامه ودعا الناسَ إلى اللهِ وإلى رسولِه ﷺ.

Ibn cAsakir narrated that cAli, may Allah be pleased with him, said: When Abu Bakr accepted Islam, he was open about his Islam and he invited people to Allah and to His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.