Building upon the foundation of the ambiguous term mawālī in the Quran, this chapter investigates an early Muslim freedman named Abū Bakra (d. 52/672) who appears in a few exegeses of Q 33:5, saying, ‘I am one of those whose fathers is not known, so I am your brother in religion and your mawlā.’ Abū Bakra is a relatively obscure figure who should not be confused with the famous second caliph, Abū Bakr; Abū Bakra is a bit player, a lowly curmudgeon on the sidelines of Islamic history. Yet, he is important as a window onto early Islamic history precisely because of his liminality. He provides a case study for how early Muslims navigated the tension between egalitarianism and social hierarchy inherent in the new umma, and he also allows us to see how later authors tried to make sense of his identity. I argue that during his lifetime in the first/seventh century, he was identified as a brother in religion, as a mawlā in its inclusive Quranic sense (without the overtones of later clientage), and as a ‘freedman of God’ (ṭalīq allāh). This latter anomalous phrase seems to indicate a radically inclusive, faith-based community that was not concerned with legal ownership, but instead focused on the mutual cooperation and support of all members. However, by the second/eighth and third/ninth centuries, these inclusive designations had become confusing or even meaningless to the authors of Islamic history, so they sought to place Abū Bakra into more familiar social categories. These sources alternatively describe him as an Arab and a mawlā, a moral authority and an unrepentant sinner, a powerless individual and a member of a powerful family. It is clear that none of these descriptions is simple or objective, but that different authors used Abū Bakra to represent their different worldviews. Thus, Abū Bakra's story helps us discern that seemingly straightforward identifiers such as mawlā and Arab are deeply intertwined in the wider narratives that authors hoped to tell about the trajectory of early Islamic history.

While the details of Abū Bakra's biography vary from source to source and will receive fuller analysis below, a brief overview will provide a sense of orientation.