54 • 5 THE EARLY ARAB CONQUESTSneeded some sort of leader, comparable to a tribal shaykh, who could direct
its affairs until the hour of doom.
Indeed, a leader was needed at once. Before Muhammad's body was cold,
the ansar were choosing their own commander. Given the smoldering ri¬
valry between their tribes, they probably could not have agreed on anyone
from Medina. And how could a Medinan rule the nomadic tribes only
lately converted to Islam? Some of them might have put forth their own
shaykhs. The best hope would be to elect a leader from the prestigious
Quraysh tribe—not one of the ex-pagans who had harassed the Prophet
but one of the early converts who had moved with him to Medina. Umar,
the most decisive of Muhammad's companions, carried the day by naming
Abu-Bakr, who belonged (as did Umar) to a clan of the Quraysh that was
neither Umayyad nor Hashimite. Abu-Bakr was a modest man, but he
knew the Arab tribes and their relationships thoroughly. He had been
Muhammad's closest friend, the first person the Prophet had converted
outside his own family, the father of his beloved wife Aisha, and the desig¬
nated leader of worship during his final illness.
Later, some Muslims would claim that a member of Muhammad's fam¬
ily should have been chosen. As Muhammad had no surviving sons, they
argued that his successor should have been his cousin and son-in-law, Ali,
the son of Abu-Talib. But in 632 his name did not come up. If Muhammad
had favored Ali, it surely would have. Later, you will learn about some
Muslims, called Shi'is, who argue that Muhammad had indeed named Ali
to be his successor and that his associates concealed this designation.
Abu-Bakr (r. 632-634) called himself khalifat rasul Allah (successor of
the messenger of God), soon shortened to khalifa, or caliph in English. In
common usage, the caliph was called amir al-muminin (commander of the
believers). Abu-Bakr surely earned the title. As soon as the Arab tribes
heard of Muhammad's death, most of them broke with the umtna. Later
Muslims would call this event ridda (apostasy), seeing the break as a renun¬
ciation of Islam. To the tribes, however, the leader's death had ended all
treaties that would have required them to pay zakat—which they viewed as
a form of tribute—to Medina. Abu-Bakr realized that if they could evade
paying the required tithe, the unity of the Arabs would be sundered and the
umma would lose revenue. Islam might vanish entirely. To avert these dan¬
gers, he sent his best generals, Khalid ibn al-Walid and Amr ibn al-As, to
force the tribes to rejoin the umma. Although the ridda wars were costly,
the tribes capitulated, one by one, and were eventually forgiven. But what,
beyond a superficial adherence to Islam or a fear of the caliph's army, could
hold the Arab tribes together?