Abu Quhafah
أَبُو قُحَافَةAbū Quḥāfah
Biography
Father of Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq. He was blind and elderly at the time of the Hijrah, and a staunch pagan who had not accepted Islam. He was sharp-tongued and openly mocked his own son's faith. When Abū Bakr emigrated with the Prophet ﷺ taking his entire fortune of five thousand dirhams, Abū Quḥāfah came to his grandchildren Asmāʾ and ʿĀʾishah to taunt them: "What kind of father abandons his daughters without a single coin? He's taken everything he had." Asmāʾ, without lying outright, tricked him by filling the money bag with pebbles and letting the blind man feel its weight.
He did not accept Islam until after the Conquest of Makkah (8 AH), one of the very last converts, at an extremely advanced age. When he finally accepted Islam, his son Abū Bakr wept. The Prophet ﷺ was generous to him, saying that Abū Bakr's service to Islam had been beyond all others. He outlived Abū Bakr, dying at an age said to be over a hundred years.
Significance
Father of Abu Bakr; his mocking of Asma' and his own blindness were used by Asma' in a clever ruse to conceal the Prophet's departure; he accepted Islam only after the Conquest of Makkah