Abu Bakr was born Lennox Philip in Trinidad and Tobago and grew up in a suburb of Port-of-Spain as the eighth of fifteen children.

He graduated from Queen's Royal College, and spent time on his tertiary studies in Toronto, Canada.

In 1990, 100 of Abu Bakr's followers stormed the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago and took the Prime Minister A. N. R. Robinson hostage.

[4] Abu Bakr surrendered to police six days later, and spent two years in jail.

His other known son’s , Radanfah, played football professionally, and Kevin Rajiv Mahabir, a musical composer and promoter who also had political ambitions with the United National Congress (UNC).