Editing Abu Bakr (section)

=== Expeditions into Mesopotamia, Persia and Syria ===
With Arabia having united under a single centralised state with a formidable military, the region could now be viewed as a potential threat to the neighbouring [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] and [[Sasanian empire]]s. It may be that Abu Bakr, reasoning that it was inevitable that one of these powers would launch a pre-emptive strike against the youthful caliphate, decided that it was better to deliver the first blow himself. Regardless of the caliph's motivations, in 633, small forces were dispatched into Iraq and [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], capturing several towns. Though the Byzantines and Sassanians were certain to retaliate, Abu Bakr had reason to be confident; the two empires were militarily exhausted after centuries of war against each other, making it likely that any forces sent to Arabia would be diminished and weakened.<ref name=NardoP32>{{cite book |last=Nardo |first=Don |author-link=Don Nardo |title=The Islamic Empire |publisher=Lucent Books |date=2011 |pages=30–32 |isbn=9781420506341 |url=https://archive.org/details/islamicempire0000nard |url-access=registration}}</ref>

A more pressing advantage though was the effectiveness of the Muslim fighters as well as their zeal, the latter of which was partially based on their certainty of the righteousness of their cause. Additionally, the general belief among the Muslims was that the community must be defended at all costs. Historian [[Theodor Nöldeke]] gives the somewhat controversial opinion that this religious fervour was intentionally used to maintain the enthusiasm and momentum of the ''[[ummah]]'':<ref name=NardoP32/>

{{Blockquote|It was certainly good policy to turn the recently subdued tribes of the wilderness towards an external aim in which they might at once satisfy their lust for booty on a grand scale, maintain their warlike feeling, and strengthen themselves in their attachment to the new faith… Muhammad himself had already sent expeditions across the [Byzantine] frontier, and thereby had pointed out the way to his successors. To follow in his footsteps was in accordance with the innermost being of the youthful Islam, already grown great amid the tumult of arms.<ref>{{cite book |last=Nöldeke |first=Theodore |author-link=Theodor Nöldeke |title=Sketches from Eastern History |url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.21089 |date=1892 |page=73}}</ref>}}

Though Abu Bakr had started these initial conflicts which eventually resulted in the Islamic [[Muslim conquest of Persia|conquests of Mesopotamia, Persia]] and [[Muslim conquest of the Levant|the Levant]], he did not live to see those regions conquered by Islam, instead leaving the task to his successors.<ref name=NardoP32/>