of caliphate which lasted two years and seven months. The Leader of the Believers, Sayyidunā ‘Umar رَضِىَ اللهُ تَعَالٰی عَنْهُ led the funeral prayer and Sayyidunā Ṣiddīq Al-Akbar رَضِىَ اللهُ تَعَالٰی عَنْهُ was buried inside the blessed tomb beside the Beloved and Blessed Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ تَعَالٰى عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم. (Al-Kamāl-fī-Asmā-ur-Rijāl, p. 387; Tārīkh-ul-Khulafā, pp. 27-62)
On page 37 of ‘Savāniḥ Karbalā’, [the 92-page publication of Maktaba-tul-Madīnaĥ, the publishing house of Dawat-e-Islami] it is stated: ‘Although most of the blessed companions رَضِیَ اللهُ تَعَالٰی عَنْهُم and the Tabi’īn emphasized that Ṣiddīq Al-Akbar رَضِىَ اللهُ تَعَالٰی عَنْهُ was the first Muslim, some said that Sayyidunā ‘Alī رَضِىَ اللهُ تَعَالٰی عَنْهُ was the first Muslim, and others said that Sayyidatunā Khadījaĥ رَضِىَ اللهُ تَعَالٰی عَنْهَا embraced Islam first.’
Imām Abū Ḥanīfaĥ رَضِىَ اللهُ تَعَالٰی عَنْهُ has reconciled these opinions by saying that Sayyidunā Abū Bakr embraced Islam first from amongst the men, the Mother of the Believers, Sayyidatunā Khadījaĥ رَضِىَ اللهُ تَعَالٰی عَنْهَا was the first woman of Islam and Sayyidunā ‘Alī کَـرَّمَ الـلّٰـهُ تَـعَـالٰی وَجۡـھَـهُ الۡـکَـرِیۡم embraced Islam first among all the boys. (Tārīkh-ul-Khulafā, p. 26)
On page 38-39 of ‘Savāniḥ Karbalā’, [the 92-page publication of Maktabaĥ-tul-Madīnaĥ, the publishing house of Dawat-e-