8 Abu Bakr, Caliph
In 1122 Abélard’s abbot permitted him to establish a
primitive hermitage on land between Provins and Troyes
southeast of Paris. There he built a school and a church,
which he dedicated to the Paraclete, or Holy Spirit. This
period of quiet teaching away from the centers of civiliza-
tion was interrupted in 1125 when an important expo-
nent of a new type of piety, the Cistercian BERNARDof
Clairvaux, attacked Abélard. Seeking the safety of his
homeland, Abélard returned to Brittany to accept the
abbacy of the unruly monastery of Saint Gildas, on the
coast near Vannes. Risking his life for a decade, Abélard
struggled to introduce order to the monastery. He was
able to help Héloïse and her fellow nuns who were
expelled from Argenteuil by the abbot of Saint Denis, giv-
ing them the hermitage of the Paraclete.
In 1136 Abélard returned to Paris to teach. For the
next four years he attracted numerous students as well as
strong opposition from Bernard and others. During this
period Abélard wrote a work on ethics that stressed the
importance of intention in evaluating the moral or
immoral character of an action.
The opposition of Bernard provoked a second trial of
Abélard’s orthodoxy. A council convened at Sens in 1140
resulted in a second condemnation. Abélard decided to
take his case before the pope and began a journey to Italy,
but illness forced him to terminate his journey in Bur-
gundy near Chalon-sur-Saône. Under the protection of
his former pupil PETER the Venerable, the abbot of
CLUNY, he died on April 21, 1142.
Despite writing before most of the works of ARISTOTLE
had been recovered, Abélard made an important contribu-
tion to philosophy and logic with his solution to the prob-
lem of UNIVERSALS. His theological writings also had great
influence, especially his work on Christian ethics and
intention, and his development of the SCHOLASTIC METHOD
was a significant contribution to the history of logic.
See alsoNOMINALISM.
Further reading:Betty Radice, trans. The Letters of
Abelard and Heloise(New York: Penguin Books, 1974);
Christopher N. L. Brooke, “The Correspondence of
Heloise and Abelard” and “The Marriage of Heloise and
Abelard,” in The Medieval Idea of Marriage (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1989) 103–118; Michael T.
Clanchy, Abelard: A Medieval Life(Oxford: Blackwell,
1997); D. E. Luscombe, The School of Peter Abelard: The
Influence of Abelard’s Thought in the Early Scholastic Period
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1969).
Abu Bakr, Caliph(Abd Allah, al-Siddi [the Veracious,
Faithful], Father of the Maiden)(ca. 570–634)father-
in-law and close companion and adviser to Muhammad, first
of the “rightly guided” caliphs
As the son of Abu Uthman ibn Amir of the clan of Taym
of the tribe of the Kuraysh, Abu Allah (his first name)
was born about 570. He has probably been named the
first male convert outside Muhammad’s family to Islam in
error; however, he was clearly an important companion
of MUHAMMAD, as demonstrated by the Prophet’s mar-
riage to his daughter, Aishah (614–678), after the death
of his first wife, Khadija, in about 618. Muhammad also
chose Abu Bakr as his only companion in his 622 flight
to Medina, where he stayed until 632. Abu Bakr was an
important negotiator and adviser to the Prophet because
of his knowledge of the tribal groups and customs in
western Arabia. He participated in several of the early
battles, even carrying battle standards and leading
attacks. Asked by Muhammad himself, he led the public
prayers during Muhammad’s last illness. On Muhammad’s
death on June 8, 632, the Muslims of Medina, not clear
about what to do, accepted Abu Bakr as the first “deputy
or successor of the Prophet of God,” or caliph. Not every-
one immediately accepted this choice, especially ALI IBN
ABUTALIB.CALIPHATE
In his short but crucial rule as caliph between 632 and
634, he suppressed the tribally based uprisings known
as the riddahor “apostasy” and secured central Arabia
for Muslim control, even suppressing other prophetic
figures aspiring to succeed Muhammad as the head
of Islam. Those who would not cooperate were called
apostates and were put to death. He also claimed that
Muhammad was the last prophet, discrediting any new
claimants, and demanded that Muslims pay their taxes.
These policies became staple practices in Islam. Trying
to divert energies from the center of Islam, he pointed
Arabs outward into attacks and eventual conquests in
the north against the Byzantine and Persian Empires. He
had four wives and at least five children. Known for his
simplicity, disdain for wealth, and lack of pretension,
Abu Bakr died on August 23, 634, after designating
UMARI IBN AL-KHATTABas his successor as caliph. He
was buried beside Muhammad.
Further reading:Wilferd Madelung, “Abu ̄ Bakr: The
Successor of the Messenger of God and the Caliphate of
Quraysh” in The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the
Early Caliphate(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1997), 1–27; W. Montgomery Watt, “Abu Bakr,” Encyclo-
pedia of Islam,1.109–111.Abu Hanifah(Abu Hanifah al-Numan ibn Thabit
ibn Zuta)(ca. 699–767)leading jurist, Sunni theologian,
founder of the Hanafa school of law
Abu Hanifah, born in al-Kufa in Iraq, was a non-Arab
Muslim, a Persian. Following in his father’s footsteps
Abu Hanifah became a traveling silk merchant, a profes-
sion that allowed him to see much of the central Islamic
world. Disenchanted, he turned to the nascent study
of Islamic law and for about 18 years worked with
an important legal scholar, Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman