Rashidun Caliphate


The Rashidun Caliphate is the early Islamic polity led by the first four successive caliphs Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali, collectively known as the Rashidun, or "Rightly Guided" caliphs. These early caliphs led the Muslim community from the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in 632 CE to the foundation of the Umayyad Caliphate in 661 CE.
The title Rashidun stems from the doctrine in Sunni Islam that the caliphs were "rightly guided". Endowed with superior piety and wisdom, their era is regarded in Sunni Islam as a "golden age", second only to the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad in sanctity and in providing moral and religious guidance. Sunni Muslims consider the "rightly guided" reign of the first four caliphs as a model to be followed and emulated from a religious point of view. The term Rashidun is not used by Shia Muslims, who make up 10–15% of the global Muslim population, as they only consider Ali to have been a legitimate caliph and reject the first three caliphs as usurpers; while Ibadi Muslims only regard the first two caliphs, Abu Bakr and Umar, as rightly-guided caliphs.
The Caliphate's first 25 years were characterized by rapid military expansion during which it became the most powerful economic and military force in West Asia and Northeast Africa. By the 650s, in addition to the Arabian Peninsula, the caliphate had subjugated the Levant and parts of Transcaucasia to the north; North Africa from Egypt to the edge of present-day Tunisia in the west; and from the Iranian Plateau to parts of Central and South Asia in the east. The Caliphate ended after 5 years of internal strife.
Following Muhammad's death in June 632, Muslim leaders debated who should succeed him. Unlike later caliphates which were ruled by hereditary dynasties, the Rashidun caliphs were either chosen by a small group of high-ranking companions of the Prophet in or appointed by their predecessor. Muhammad's close companion and father-in-law Abu Bakr, of the Banu Taym, was elected the first caliph in Medina and presided over the conquest of the Arabian Peninsula. The only Rashidun caliph not to die by assassination, he was succeeded as caliph by Umar from the Banu Adi and who was also a close companion and father-in-law of Muhammad. During Umar's reign, the caliphate expanded at an unprecedented rate, conquering more than two-thirds of the Byzantine Empire and nearly the entire Sasanian Empire.
Following the assassination of Umar, Uthman of the Banu Umayya, who was a senior companion and son-in-law of Muhammad, was elected caliph. His reign oversaw the completion of the conquest of Persia in 651 and continued the military campaigns into Byzantine territories. Uthman was assassinated in June 656 and was succeeded by Ali of the Banu Hashim, the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, who moved the caliphate's capital to Kufa. Ali's accession to the caliphate triggered the First Fitna, a civil war ignited by the refusal of Uthman's kinsman from the Umayyad clan and the long-time governor of the Levant, Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, to recognize Ali's suzerainty and pledge allegiance to him until Uthman's killers were brought to justice.
After the Battle of Siffin between Ali's Iraqi army and Mu'awiya's Syrian forces which resulted in a stalemate and inconclusive arbitration, a faction of Ali's erstwhile supporters known as the Kharijites, who were opposed to his arbitration with Mu'awiya, seceded and rebelled against both sides. Following Ali's assassination by a Kharijite dissident in 661, Mu'awiya invaded Iraq with his Syrian army and compelled Ali's eldest son and successor Hasan, who had been chosen as caliph in Kufa, to abdicate the caliphate to him. Mu'awiya then entered Kufa and received the pledge of allegiance from the Iraqis, with his suzerainty being acknowledged throughout the Caliphate, before being crowned caliph at a ceremony in Jerusalem, thus founding the Umayyad Caliphate.

Names and definitions

The Arabic word rāshid means "one who has attained the right path or maturity". The expression al-Khulafāʾ ar-Rāšidūn is an honorific title meaning "successors or representatives who have been guided to the right path". This also implies that they were endowed with superior piety and wisdom, and that their era was a "golden age" following Muhammad in holiness, moral and religious guidance.
During the eighth and ninth centuries, there was a diversity of opinions about which caliphs were. After the ninth century, however, the first four caliphs became canonical as in Sunni Islam. The Umayyad caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz was cited as a fifth caliph by the Sunni hadith collector Abu Dawud al-Sijistani. Another hypothesis may have included Hasan ibn Ali as a fifth caliph, because his six-month reign was needed to complete a thirty-year period after Abu Bakr's ascension, which was predicted by Muhammad in a Sunni hadith as the length of the prophetic succession.
In Shia Islam, the temporal and spiritual heritage of Muhammad is represented by the Imams, who were his descendants. The first three Rashidun caliphs are regarded in Shia Islam as having usurped the rights of Ali, and the later Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs are regarded as having usurped the rights of the following Imams.
Ibadism does not see the caliphate as an institution that includes all believers and that must be obeyed. It considers the first two caliphs after Muhammad, Abu Bakr and Umar, as being on the right path; and their successors, including Uthman and Ali, as having strayed into injustice.

Historicity

The histories were written “a posteriori” in the form of “founding conquest stories” based on nostalgia for the golden age in Abbasid times. Humphrey, quoted by Antoine Borrut, explains that the chronicles related to this period were created according to a pact-betrayal-redemption principle. However, at least one inscription has been found dating to the period that mentions Umar by name and the date of his death, known as the inscription of Zuhayr. Its three lines read:
  1. In the name of God
  2. I, Zuhayr, wrote at the time Umar died, year four
  3. And twenty
Robert G. Hoyland, finds it "all but certain" that the inscription refers to the historical Umar ibn al-Khattab, adding, "and yet the absence of any epithet or title is striking". Inscriptions may be susceptible to alternative readings due to the erasure of letters by environmental influences and inadequate writing systems, and unless specifically stated, dating can only be done approximately based on the "writing style". Other possible mentions in inscriptions from that era could be read as from Uthman ibn Affan include: an inscription at Tayma, Saudi Arabia, and one at the Alia Palace archaeological site in Makkah Province, Saudi Arabia.
File:First Islamic coins by caliph Uthman-mohammad adil rais.jpg|thumb|Sassanid style coins were in circulation during the Rashidun period,
Unlike known historical figures such as Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr and Mu'awiya I who lived during this period, there are no coins minted in the name of these caliphs that could be evidence of political hegemony. The coins in circulation during the specified period contain two types of designs:
1. Byzantine type; this type was presented with Islamic writings in Arabic added onto the pictures of Byzantine kings and Christian figures.
2. Sassanid type; this type was presented with Islamic writings in Arabic added onto the pictures of the last Sassanid rulers and Zoroastrian figures.
In the collections of Islamic literature, a tradition of "letter writing" can be found under the categories of Maktubat, Risalat, etc. and a large number of letters, which need to be historically verified, are attributed to notable early Islamic figures including Umar as well as Muhammad and continue to be the subject of various religious-legal studies.

History

Background

According to the traditional account, the Islamic prophet Muhammad began receiving what Muslims consider to be divine revelations in 610 CE, calling for submission to the one God, preparation for the imminent Last Judgement, and charity for the poor and needy. As Muhammad's message began to attract followers, he was also met with increasing hostility and persecution from Meccan elites. In 622 CE Muhammad migrated to the city of Yathrib, where he began to unify the tribes of Arabia under Islam, returning to Mecca to take control in 630 and order the destruction of all pagan idols. By the time Muhammad died , almost all the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam, but disagreement broke out over who would succeed him as leader of the Muslim community.
Among those seeking to be the successor of Muhammad were:
  • the Muhajirun, senior Companions of the Prophet, including those known as "The ten to whom Paradise was promised".
  • the Banu Hashim; members of the Hashemite clan including Ali and Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, who were the closest blood relatives to Muhammad;
  • the Ansar; the people of Medina who had sheltered the Prophet and the early Muslim but were now "fed up" with being dominated by refugees from Mecca.
  • the members of the aristocratic Quraysh tribe, including the powerful Umayyad clan who had a strong position in Mecca and influential commercial and financial ties.
In determining Muhammad's successor, the strong support and companionship given to him from the early years of his prophethood, praise given by Muhammad and the close kinship ties established with him came to the fore as the determining attitude. The first two caliphs gave their daughters to Muhammad in marriage while the next two married with Muhammad's daughters.

Timeline


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from: 632 till: 634 color:orange text:Abu Bakr
from: 634 till: 644 color:yellow text:Umar
from: 644 till: 656 color:blue text:Uthman ibn Affan
from: 656 till: 661 color:red text:Ali