Editing Abu Bakr (section)

=== Ridda wars ===
{{Main|Ridda Wars}}
[[File:Caliph Abu Bakr's empire at its peak 634-mohammad adil rais.PNG|thumb|upright=1.2|Abu Bakr's caliphate at its territorial peak in August 634]]

Troubles emerged soon after Abu Bakr's succession, with several Arab tribes launching revolts, threatening the unity and stability of the new community and state. These insurgencies and the caliphate's responses to them are collectively referred to as the Ridda wars ("Wars of Apostasy").<ref name=DonnerP85>{{cite book |last=Donner |first=Fred M. |author-link=Fred Donner |title=The Early Islamic Conquests |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |date=1981 |page=85 |isbn=9781400847877 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l5__AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA85}}</ref>

The opposition movements came in two forms. One type challenged the political power of the nascent caliphate as well as the religious authority of Islam with the acclamation of rival ideologies, headed by political leaders who claimed the mantle of prophethood in the manner that Muhammad had done. These rebellions include:<ref name=DonnerP85/>
* that of the [[Banu Asad]] headed by [[Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid]];
* that of the [[Banu Hanifa]] headed by [[Musaylima]];
* those from among the [[Taghlib]] and the [[Banu Tamim]] headed by [[Sajah]];
* that of the [[Al-Ansi]] headed by [[Al-Aswad al-Ansi]].

These leaders are all denounced in Islamic histories as "false prophets".<ref name=DonnerP85/>

The second form of opposition movement was more strictly political in character. Some of the revolts of this type took the form of tax rebellions in [[Najd]] among tribes such as the [[Banu Fazara]] and Banu Tamim. Other dissenters, while initially allied to the Muslims, used Muhammad's death as an opportunity to attempt to restrict the growth of the new Islamic state. They include some of the [[Rabi'a ibn Nizar]] in [[Eastern Arabia]], the [[Azd]] in [[Oman proper|Oman]], as well as among the [[Kinda (tribe)|Kinda]] and [[Khawlan]] in [[Greater Yemen|Yemen]].<ref name=DonnerP85/>

Abu Bakr, likely understanding that maintaining firm control over the disparate tribes of Arabia was crucial to ensuring the survival of the state, suppressed the insurrections with military force. He dispatched [[Khalid ibn Walid]] and a body of troops to subdue the uprisings in Najd as well as that of Musaylimah, who posed the most serious threat. Concurrent to this, [[Shurahbil ibn Hasana]] and [[Al-Ala'a Al-Hadrami]] were sent to Bahrayn, while [[Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl|Ikrima ibn Abi Jahl]], [[Hudhayfah al-Bariqi]] and [[Arfaja al-Bariqi]] were instructed to conquer Oman. Finally, [[Al-Muhajir ibn Abi Umayya]] and Khalid ibn Asid were sent to Yemen to aid the local governor in re-establishing control. Abu Bakr also made use of diplomatic means in addition to military measures. Like Muhammad before him, he used marriage alliances and financial incentives to bind former enemies to the caliphate. For instance, a member of the Banu Hanifa who had sided with the Muslims was rewarded with the granting of a land estate. Similarly, a Kindah rebel named [[Al-Ash'ath ibn Qays]], after repenting and re-joining Islam, was later given land in Medina as well as the hand of Abu Bakr's sister Umm Farwa in marriage.<ref>{{harvtxt|Donner|1981|pages=86–87}}</ref>

At their heart, the Ridda movements were challenges to the political and religious supremacy of the Islamic state. Through his success in suppressing the insurrections, Abu Bakr had in effect continued the political consolidation which had begun under Muhammad's leadership with relatively little interruption. By wars' end, he had established an Islamic hegemony over the entirety of the [[Arabian Peninsula]].<ref>{{harvtxt|Donner|1981|page=86}}</ref>