Shaykh Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (رضی اللہ عنہ) descended from Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (رضی اللہ عنہ) on his father’s side and from Ali ibn Abi Talib (رضی اللہ عنہ) on his mother’s side. He was born on a Thursday, in the holy month of Ramadan.
It is narrated that he said, “My grandfather, Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (رضی اللہ عنہ), was alone with the Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) in the Cave of Thawr during migration from Makkah to Madinah, and the Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) said to him: ‘You have been with me all your life and you have carried all sorts of difficulties. And now I want to make a supplication to invoke God’s favor on you.’ Abu Bakr (رضی اللہ عنہ) then said, ‘O Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) of God, you are the secret of my soul and the secret of my heart. You know better what I need.’”
The Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) raised his hands and said, “O God, as long as my Divine Law proceeds to Judgment Day may God grant that among your descendants are those who carry it and those who inherit its inner secrets, and grant that among your descendants are those who are on the Straight Path and those who guide to it.”
The first answer to that supplication and the first one to receive that blessing was Sayyidina Qasim (رضی اللہ عنہ). In his time he was known in Madina as Abu Muhammad. People came to listen to his guidance, his lectures (suhba) and his disclosures of the hidden meanings of the Quran. Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (رضی اللہ عنہ) was one of the seven most famous jurists in Madinah, being the most knowledgeable among them. It was through these seven great Imams that the Traditions, early jurisprudence, and Quranic commentaries were disseminated to the people.
He met some of the Successors of the Companions, including Salim ibn Abd Allah ibn Umar (رضی اللہ عنہ).
He was a pious imam and was very knowledgeable in the narration of the Traditions. Abu Zannad said, “I never saw anyone better than him in following the Sunnah of the Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم). In our time no one is considered perfect until he is perfect in following the Sunnah of the Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم), and Qasim (رضی اللہ عنہ) is one of the perfected men.”
Abdur-Rahman ibn Abi Zannad said that his father said, “I did not see anyone who knew the Sunnah better than al-Qasim (رضی اللہ عنہ).”
Abu Nuaym said of him in his book Hilyat al-Awliya: “He was able to extract the deepest juristic rulings and he was supreme in manners and ethics.”
Imam Malik narrated that Umar ibn Abd ul-Aziz (رضی اللہ عنہ), considered the fifth rightly-guided caliph, said, “If it were in my hands, I would have made al-Qasim (رضی اللہ عنہ) the caliph in my time.”
Sufyan said, “Some people came to al-Qasim (رضی اللہ عنہ) with charity which he distributed. After he distributed it, he went to pray. While he was praying, the people began to speak negatively about him. His son said to them, ‘You are speaking behind the back of a man who distributed your charity and did not take one dirham from it for himself.’ Quickly his father scolded him saying, ‘Do not speak, but keep quiet.’” He wanted to teach his son not to defend him, as his only desire was to please God. He had no concern for the opinion of people.
Yahya ibn Sayyid said, “We never found, in our time in Madinah, anyone better than al-Qasim (رضی اللہ عنہ).” Ayyub as-Saqityani (رضی اللہ عنہ) said, “I have not seen anyone better than Imam Qasim (رضی اللہ عنہ). He left 100,000 dinars behind for the poor when he passed away, and it was all from his lawful earnings.”
He went to al-Qudayd, a place between Makkah and Madinah, on the 9th of Muharram, where he passed on to the next life. The year was 108 (or 109) AH/726 CE, and he was seventy years old. He passed the secret of the Naqshbandi Golden Chain to his successor, his grandson, Imam Jafar as-Sadiq رضی اللہ عنہ.