Abu Bakr (573CE-634CE) was the closest companion of the
Prophet Muhammad (
PBUH), the
prophet of
modern Muslims. His full name is: `Atiq ibn Abi Quhafa `Abd Allah ibn `Uthman ibn `Amir al-Qurashi al-Taymi. He was two years younger that the
Prophet, and had been a close friend of his, even before the
revelation began when the
Prophet was 40 years old. He was the first
man to accept
Islam (
Khadija, the
Prophet's beloved
wife, was the first
person to accept
Islam).
He was wealthy and supported Islam every way he could, through the harsh times in Mecca, where the prophet was initially stationed. When the order was given to migrate to Madinah, Abu Bakr personally accompanied the Prophet while members of his own tribe were close by trying to assassinate him.
His faith was considered to be the highest after Muhammad himself, and he was often entrusted with great responsibilities while the Prophet was alive.
After the Prophet's death, a committee was formed and he was appointed as the first leader (commonly known as Caliph) of the Muslim community. He had to quell a bloody uprising by certain tribes that were renegging on treaties with the Muslims. He also began the process of the compilation of the Qur'an into a written book (note that the Qur'an had been memorized verbatim by thousands of people, and most parts were written down anyway; it's just it had not been compiled into a single volume).
He died two years after the Prophet, in 634CE.