The Chaliphate - Muir - The Search For Mecca

'
A.D. 63-j] HIS CHARACTER 8i
the moment be at hand. In the choice of agents for hiLjh A.H. 13.
office or command, he was altogether free from partialit)-,
wise and discerning in his estimate of character.
But he had not 'Omar's strength and decision; nor was Not so
his sense of justice so keen and stern. This is ilhistrated in
the matter of the two Khah'ds. Upon the one, though
warned by 'Omar and 'Ah, he was prevailed upon, according
to Seif, to confer a command
;
the disaster in Syria was the
consequence. Again, b\' refusing to condemn the other
Khalid for injustice, cruelty, and the scandal of marrj-ing
Ibn Nuweira's widow, he became responsible for his evil
deeds. Yet to this unscrupulous agent—well named The
Sword of God—was due, more than to an}- other, the survival
and the triumph of Islfim. But Abu Bekr was not wanting
in firmness when stern occasion called ;
for example, the
despatch of Usama's army when Medina lay defenceless and
all around was dark, showed a boldness and steadfastness of
purpose that, more than anything else, helped to roll back
^n^"^^^
the tide of rebellion and apostasy.
Abu Bekr had no thought of personal aggrandisement. F;.ith in
Endowed with sovereign and irresponsible power, he used ^lohamrnnd,
•=> r I '
secret of his
it simply for the interests of Islam and the people's good, strength.
But the grand secret of his strength was faith in Mohammad.
" Call me not the Caliph of the Lord" he would say, " I am
but ///