A prosperous merchant in Mecca who was an early convert to Islam (see Ṭabarī, Taʾrīkh, ed. M.J. de Goeje et al., i, 1165-6) and the first caliph of the community. Abū Bakr (d. 13/634) is often thought to be referred to in the Qurʾān, for example, in q 39:33, where he is considered to be the one who “confirms the truth” of Muḥammad's message. See also companions of the prophet . Andrew Rippin Bibliography

A location on the road from Jedda to Mecca (q.v.) just outside the sacred territory. Here Muḥammad stopped while attempting to perform the pilgrimage (q.v.) in 6/628 and, through the agency of ʿUthmān, negotiated a truce with the tribe of Quraysh (q.v.) which would allow the Prophet and his followers to perform the pilgrimage the following year. This truce became known as the Pact of Ḥudaybiya. For further details, see muḥammad; expeditions and battles; treaties and alliances. Andrew Rippin Bibliography

Economic activity focused on the exchange of goods among people. The language of the Qurʾān is imbued with the vocabulary of the marketplace both in practical, day-to-day references and in metaphorical applications (see metaphor; literary structures of the qurʾān). The way in which commercial activities are to be conducted among people is dealt with as a moral issue and a matter of social regulation (see ethics and the qurʾān ). For example, rules governing contracts and trusts, and general economic principles find their place in the text and have been used within the sharīʿa to formula…

Reports, transmitted generally from the Companions of Muḥammad (see companions of the prophet ), detailing the cause, time and place of the revelation of a portion (usually a verse; see verses ) of the Qurʾān. Underlying the material transmitted as “occasions of revelation” (asbāb al-nuzūl) are certain understandings about the process of qurʾānic revelation (see revelation and inspiration ). The Qurʾān is understood to have been revealed piece by piece over the period of some twenty-two years of Muḥammad's preaching career. Muslim exegetes (see exegesis of the qurʾān: …