Introduction

Hazrat Abu Bakr’s (ra) name was Abdullah and his father’s name was Uthman bin Amir. His appellation was Abu Bakr, and Atiq and Siddiq were his titles. It is said that he was born in 573 CE, two and a half years after Aam-ul-Fil [Year of the Elephant]. As I have mentioned, Hazrat Abu Bakr’s (ra) name was Abdullah. He was from the Quraish and belonged to the tribe of Banu Taym bin Murrah. In the period of jahiliyyah [era of ignorance prior to the advent of Islam], his name was Abdul Ka‘bah, which the Holy Prophet (sa) changed to Abdullah. His father’s name was Uthman bin Amir and his appellation was Abu Quhafah. His mother’s name was Salma bint Sakhar bin Amir and her title was Umm-ul-Khair. According to one tradition, the name of his mother was Laila bint Sakhar.

(Ibn Abd al-Barr, Al-Isti‘ab fi Ma‘rifat al-Ashab, Vol. 3, Abdullah bin Abi Quhafah [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, 2002], pp. 91-92) (Ibn Saad, Al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, Vol. 3, Wa min Bani Taym bin Murrah bin Kaab [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar Ihya al-Turath al-Arabi, 1996], p. 90) (Ali Ibn al-Athir, Usd al-Ghabah fi Ma‘rifat al-Sahabah, Vol. 3, Abdullah bin Uthman [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Fikr, 2003], p. 204) (Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Al-Isabah fi Tamyiz al-Sahabah, Vol. 4 [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, 2005], p. 145)