40 DESTINY DISRUPTED
Arabia. At home, however, in his dealings with the Muslim community, he
exhibited nothing but the modesty, affection, and benevolence people
knew and loved him for. A stoop-shouldered man with deep-set eyes, Abu
Bakr dressed simply, lived plainly, and accumulated no wealth. His one af-
fectation was to dye his hair and beard red with henna. When disputes
arose, he dispensed justice with an even hand, involving a council of elders
in all his decisions, ruling as first among equals, and asserting no claim to
religious elevation. His word had no greater weight than any other Mus-
lim's, and his authority came only from his wisdom and his devotion to the
revelation. No one was obliged to follow his rulings except when he was
right, the caveat being, he was pretty much always right.
Back in Mecca, before the Hijra, Abu Bakr had been a prosperous mer-
chant. By the time Muslims emigrated to Medina, however, he had spent
much of his fortune on charitable causes, especially buying freedom for
slaves who converted to Islam, and he forfeited the rest of his wealth in the
course of the move. As khalifa, he took only a small salary for guiding the
Umma and continued to ply his old trade to make a living, getting by as
best he could on the fruits of his shrunken business. Sometimes, he even
milked his neighbor's cow for extra cash.^1 As portrayed in the religious sto-
ries of Islamic tradition, children would run up to him shouting, "Papa!
Papa!" when he walked through the streets of Medina, and he would pat
their heads and give them candy-he was that kind of guy.
THE SECOND KHALIFA (13-24 AH)
One August day, two years into his khalifate, Abu Bakr stepped out of a
hot bath into a blast of chill wind, and by nightfall he was running a high
fever. Realizing that death was near, he called in a few of the community's
top notables and told them he wanted to nominate Omar as his successor
so there wouldn't be any arguments about it later.
The notables balked, because Omar could not have been more differ-
ent from the gentle, understated Abu Bakr. He was a giant of a man, loom-
ing half a head above anybody else-in a crowd he was said to stand out
like a man on horseback. His head was completely bald, his face ruddy, his
whiskers huge. He was ambidextrous and strong as a bull, and he had an
epic temper.^2