‘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 and 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.’
‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said: I saw the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and 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 approached 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 ‘Ali 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 of Fir’awn 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 Fir’awn. He was a man who concealed his iman, and this was a man who was open about his iman.’
‘Urwah ibn az-Zubayr said: I asked ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘As 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 ‘Uqbah ibn Abi Mu’ayt 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?”‘
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.
‘A’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 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.
‘Ali, 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.
- Transcribed from: Tarikh al-Khulafa‘ (The History of the Khulafa) | Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti
Tawheed First 
SubhanAllah, amazing story. May Allah give the Muslims of today such strength and bravery to live Islaam as it should be lived.
Many of us are afraid of being Muslims in our workplaces and amongst the common people. Do we not have the perfect religion while every other religion is imperfect?
Are we not the only ones who worship Allah alone and disassociate ourselves from all the other deities that are worshipped besides Him? Are we not the only ones who follow one man, Muhammad sallalahu ‘alayhe wasallam without any hesitation or doubt in our hearts?
Then we should be the most complete of men and women. Our creed should be the most complete and correct, our manners and likewise our worship. Since we take all that from our complete religion and not from our countries and from our heritage.
Reading the stories of the Sahaabah is really amazing. JazakAllah khair for sharing sister.
Wa iyaak.
BarakAllaahu feek for the added benefit.
The problem is many a time we try to please the creation over pleasing Allaah ‘azza wa jall.
Upon the methodology of his book, ‘The Prophet’s Prayer Described’, the Shaykh Al Albaanee rahimuhullaah writes:
When I adopted these principles for myself, ie. to adhere to the authentic Sunnah, and to implement them into this book and others, I knew for sure that this would not satisfy every group of people or sect; in fact, it would result in some, if not most of them, insulting or criticizing me. This does not matter to me, for I also know that to please everyone is an unattainable notion, and that “He who pleases the people by angering Allaah, Allaah will entrust him to the people,” as the Messenger of Allaah [sallallahu alayhi wasallam] said.
Tribute to Abu Bakr asSiddeeq (RA)….
Omar(ra) was once heard a people discussing who was better, he or Abu Bakr (ra). He was not happy with the comparison……
Dont speak of me in the same breath as he.
He, Who sat still in the cave, When bitten by a snake, So as not to disturb the sleep of his nabee.
Dont speak of me in the same breath as he.
…He, Who stood tall, when I lost my head . That day when my nabee lay dead.
Dont speak of me in the same breath as he.
He, When the Murtadeen were abound, Madinah they plan to surround, On that day my judgement was not sound But, he stood his ground.
Dont speak of me in the same breath as he.
Ali the lion, was second to He, Abdul Rahman the wealthy, a beggar next to He. Uthman the pious, but higher was He. He, who lies next to my nabee Oh siddique, rest in peace.