Rashidun
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The Rashidun (
The reign of these caliphs, called the Rashidun Caliphate (632–661), is considered in Sunni Islam to have been 'rightly guided' (Arabic: rāshid), meaning that it constitutes a model (sunna) to be followed and emulated from a religious point of view.[1]
History
The first four
- Abu Bakr (c. 573–634; r. 632–634)
- Umar ibn al-Khattab(c. 583–644; r. 634–644) – often known simply as Umar or Omar
- Uthman ibn Affan (c. 573–656; r. 644–656) – often known simply as Uthman, Othman, or Osman
- Ali ibn Abi Talib (c. 600–661; r. 656–661) – often known simply as Ali
The succession to Muhammad is the central issue that divides the Muslim community. Sunni Islam, according to the author Carl Ernst, accepts the political status quo of their succession, regardless of its justice, whereas Shia Muslims largely reject the legitimacy of the first three caliphs, and maintain that Muhammad had appointed Ali as his successor.[2][3]
Abu Bakr
Abu Bakr, (
Umar
Umar |
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Umar ibn al-Khattab (
Uthman
Uthman The Generous (al-Ghani) |
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Uthman ibn Affan (
Uthman is perhaps best known for forming the committee which was tasked with producing copies of the Quran based on text that had been gathered separately on parchment, bones and rocks during the lifetime of Muhammad and also on a copy of the Quran that had been collated by Abu Bakr and left with Muhammad's widow after Abu Bakr's death. The committee members were also reciters of the Quran and had memorised the entire text during the lifetime of Muhammad. This work was undertaken due to the vast expansion of Islam under Uthman's rule, which encountered many different dialects and languages. This had led to variant readings of the Quran for those converts who were not familiar with the language. After clarifying any possible errors in pronunciation or dialects, Uthman sent copies of the sacred text to each of the Muslim cities and garrison towns, and destroyed variant texts.[11]
Ali
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Ali ibn Abi Talib (
Shortly after
It has been suggested that Ali inherited the grave internal problems of Uthman's reign.[40][41] After his appointment as the caliph, Ali transferred his capital from Medina to Kufa, the Muslim garrison city in the present-day Iraq.[42] Ali also dismissed most of Uthman's governors whom he considered corrupt, including Muawiya, Uthman's cousin.[43][44] Under a lenient Uthman, Muawiya had built a parallel power structure in Damascus that, according to Madelung, mirrored the despotism of the Roman Byzantine empire.[43][45][46] Muawiya defied Ali's orders and, once the negotiations failed, the two sides engaged in a bloody and lengthy civil war, which is known as the First Fitnah.[47][48]
After Ali's assassination in 661 CE at the mosque of Kufa, his son, Hasan, was elected caliph and adopted a similar approach towards Muawiya.[49][50][51] However, as Muawiya began to buy the loyalties of military commanders and tribal chiefs, Hasan's military campaign suffered defections in large numbers.[52][53][54] After a failed assassination attempt on his life, a wounded Hasan ceded the caliphate to Muawiya.[54][55]
Military expansion
The Rashidun Caliphate greatly expanded Islam beyond Arabia, conquering all of
Social policies
During his reign, Abu Bakr established the Bayt al-Mal (state treasury). Umar expanded the treasury and established a government building to administer the state finances.[56]
Upon conquest, in almost all cases, the caliphs were burdened with the maintenance and construction of roads and bridges in return for the conquered nation's political loyalty.[57]
Civil activities
Civil welfare in Islam started in the form of the construction and purchase of wells. During the caliphate, the Muslims repaired many of the aging wells in the lands they conquered.[58]
In addition to wells, the Muslims built many tanks and
During a famine, Umar ibn al-Khattab ordered the construction of a canal in Egypt connecting the
After four floods hit Mecca after Muhammad's death, Umar ordered the construction of two dams to protect the Kaaba. He also constructed a dam near Medina to protect its fountains from flooding.[57]
Settlements
The area of Basra was very sparsely populated when it was conquered by the Muslims. During the reign of Umar, the Muslim army found it a suitable place to construct a base. Later the area was settled and a mosque was erected.[61][62][63]
Upon the conquest of Madyan, it was settled by Muslims. However, soon the environment was considered harsh, and Umar ordered the resettlement of the 40,000 settlers to Kufa. The new buildings were constructed from mud bricks instead of reeds, a material that was popular in the region, but caught fire easily.
During the conquest of Egypt the area of Fustat was used by the Muslim army as a base. Upon the conquest of Alexandria, the Muslims returned and settled in the same area. Initially the land was primarily used for pasture, but later buildings were constructed.[64]
Other already populated areas were greatly expanded. At
Religious significance
The first four caliphs are particularly significant to modern intra-Islamic debates: for Sunni Muslims, they are models of righteous rule; for Shia Muslims, the first three of the four were usurpers. Accepted traditions of both Sunni and Shia Muslims detail disagreements and tensions between the four rightly guided caliphs.[citation needed] The Nizari Ismailis on the other hand, have come to accept the caliphates of Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman in the modern times under the leadership and teachings of the Aga Khans,[66] even though polemics against those early caliphs were prevalent during the Fatimid period. For instance, the Fatimid Ismaili Imam-Caliph Al-Hakim bi Amr Allah ordered the public cursing of the first three caliphs in the year 1005 in Cairo.[67]
Sunni view
In Sunni Islam, the application of the label 'rightly-guided' to the first caliphs signifies their status as models whose actions and opinions (Arabic: sunna) should be followed and emulated from a religious point of view.[68] In this sense, they are both 'rightly-guided' and 'rightly-guiding':[69] the religious narratives about their lives serve as a guide to right belief.[68]
They were all close companions of Muhammad, and his relatives: the daughters of Abu Bakr and Umar,
The Sunni have long viewed the period of the Rashidun as an exemplary system of governance—based upon Islamic righteousness and merit—which they seek to emulate. The Sunni also equate this system with the worldly success that was promised by Allah, in the Quran and hadith, to those Muslims who pursued His pleasure; this spectacular success has further added to the emulatory appeal of the Rashidun era.[70][71][72]
At the same time, it has been noted that the domination of Arabs over non-Arabs on an ethnic basis during Umar's reign and the widespread nepotism of Uthman's caliphate are in essential conflict with the call of Islam.[73][74]
Shia view
The
In the Shia view, since the time of the first prophet, Adam, the earth has never remained without an Imam, in the form of prophets and their divinely-appointed successors. Likewise, Imamate was passed on from Ali to the next Imam, Hasan, by divinely-inspired designation (nass).[80] After Hasan's death, Husayn and nine of his descendants are the Shia Imams, the last of whom, Mahdi, went into occultation in 260 AH, due to the hostility of Mahdi's enemies and the danger to his life.[81] His advent is awaited by the Shia and Sunni alike, although the Sunni hold different views about Mahdi.[82] In his absence, the vacuum in the Shia leadership is partly filled by marjaiyya and, more recently, by wilayat al-faqqih, i.e., guardianship of the Islamic jurist.[83]
While the Ismaili Shi'ites accept a closely-related understanding of Imamate as the Twelver Shia, the Ismailis under the leadership of the Aga Khans do recognize the caliphates of the first three caliphs before Ali ibn Abi Talib while distinguishing Imamate as a separate office apart from the Caliphate:
"In the present Imamat the final reconciliation between the Shia and Sunni doctrines has been publicly proclaimed by myself on exactly the same lines as Hazrat Aly did at the death of the Prophet and during the first thirty years after that. The political and worldly Khalifat was accepted by Hazrat Aly in favour of the three first Khalifs voluntarily and with goodwill for the protection of the interests of the Muslims throughout the world. We Ismailis now in the same spirit accept the Khalifat of the first Khalifs and such other Khalifs as during the last thirteen centuries helped the cause of Islam, politically, socially and from a worldly point of view. On the other hand, the Spiritual Imamat remained with Hazrat Aly and remains with his direct descendants always alive till the day of Judgement." – Aga Khan III: Selected Speeches and Writings of Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah, pg. 1417[66]
Timeline
Note that a caliph's succession does not necessarily occur on the first day of the new year.
See also
- Hadith of the ten promised paradise
- The Four Companions
Notes
- ^ Melchert (2020, p. 63; cf. p. 72, note 1)
- ^ a b Abbas (2021, p. 6)
- ISBN 9780807828373.
- ^ "Abu Bakr - Muslim caliph". Archived from the original on 2015-04-29.
- ^ a b Juan Eduardo Campo, Encyclopedia of Islam Archived 2023-03-12 at the Wayback Machine, Infobase Publishing, 2009
- ^ Ibn Kathir, "al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah", part 7.
- ISBN 0-7388-5963-X.
- ^ Hourani, p. 23.
- ^ "The Caliphate". Jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Archived from the original on 2014-07-09. Retrieved 2014-04-16.
- ISBN 0-07-244233-6.
- ^ Shafi', Maulana Mufti Muhammad. "Ma'ariful-Qur'an" (PDF). Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- ISBN 9780853982005.
- ^ Gleave, Robert (2021). "ʿAlī B. Abī Ṭālib". In Fleet, Kate (ed.). Encyclopedia of Islam (Third ed.). Brill Reference Online.
- ISBN 9780929093123.
- ^ Abbas (2021, p. 34)
- ^ Hazleton (2013, pp. 95–97)
- ^ Irving, Washington (1868), Mahomet and his successors, vol. 8, New York: G. P. Putnam and Son, p. 71, archived from the original on 2024-02-07, retrieved 2021-10-06
- ^ Abbas (2021, pp. 45, 46)
- ^ Hazleton (2013, pp. 159–161)
- ISBN 9780791418758.
- ISBN 9780929093123.
- ^ Watt, W. Montgomery (1953). Muhammad at Mecca. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 149–151.
- ^ Abbas (2021, pp. 5, 48)
- S2CID 159678004.
- ^ Momen (1985, pp. 12, 13)
- ^ Miskinzoda (2015, p. 69)
- ^ Momen (1985, p. 13)
- ^ Abbas (2021, pp. 54, 112, 191)
- ISBN 9780349117577.
- ^ Madelung (1997, pp. 15, 16)
- ^ Abbas (2021, p. 87)
- ^ a b Momen (1985, pp. 12, 15)
- ^ Madelung (1997, p. 142)
- ^ Momen (1985, p. 22)
- ^ Abbas (2021, p. 129)
- ^ Abbas (2021, p. 128)
- ^ Hazleton (2009, p. 99)
- ^ Madelung (1997, pp. 141, 142)
- ^ Jafri, S.H.M. (1979). The Origins and Early Development of Shia Islam. London: Longman. p. 63.
- ^ Hazleton (2009, p. 100)
- ^ Momen (1985, p. 24)
- ^ Abbas (2021, p. 141)
- ^ a b Abbas (2021, p. 134)
- ^ Madelung (1997, p. 148)
- ^ Madelung (1997, p. 197)
- ^ Hazleton (2009, p. 183)
- ISBN 9781498539005.
- ISBN 9780759101906.
- ^ Glassé (2003, p. 423)
- ^ Abbas (2021, p. 163)
- ^ Madelung (1997, p. 318)
- ^ Abbas (2021, p. 164)
- ^ Madelung (1997, pp. 318–320)
- ^ a b Momen (1985, p. 27)
- ^ Hazleton (2009, p. 228)
- ^ Nadvi (2000), pg. 411
- ^ a b Nadvi (2000), pg. 408
- ^ Nadvi (2000), pg. 403-4
- ^ Nadvi (2000), pg. 405-6
- ^ Nadvi (2000), pg. 407-8
- ISBN 9781135179601. Archivedfrom the original on 2023-08-15. Retrieved 2016-05-07.
- ISBN 9788174352231. Archivedfrom the original on 2024-02-07. Retrieved 2016-05-07.
- ISBN 9780857720269. Archivedfrom the original on 2024-02-07. Retrieved 2016-05-07.
- ^ Nadvi (2000), pg. 416-7
- ^ Nadvi (2000), pg. 418
- ^ ISBN 0710304277.
- ISBN 978-1-903900-36-9.
- ^ a b Melchert (2020, p. 63)
- ^ Melchert (2020, p. 72, note 1)
- ISBN 9780230106581.
- ISBN 9781118959503.
- ISBN 9789004106727.
- ^ Madelung (1997, pp. 77, 81)
- ^ Momen (1985, p. 21)
- ^ a b Madelung (1997, pp. 8–12)
- ^ a b Madelung (1997, p. 17)
- ^ a b c Momen (1985, p. 147)
- ISBN 978-1-135-04473-2.
- ^ "(Quran 3:7) It is He who has sent down to you the Book. Parts of it are definitive verses, which are the mother of the Book, while others are metaphorical..." Archived from the original on 2004-01-01. Retrieved 2021-10-08.
- ^ Momen (1985, pp. 147, 153, 154)
- ^ Momen (1985, p. 161)
- ^ Momen (1985, p. 168)
- ^ Mavani (2013, p. 136)
Bibliography
- Abbas, Hassan (2021). The Prophet's Heir: The life of Ali ibn Abi Talib. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300252057.
- Hazleton, Lesley (2009). After the prophet : the epic story of the Shia-Sunni split in Islam (1st ed.). New York: Doubleday. OCLC 310714958.
- Hazleton, Lesley (2013). The first Muslim : the story of Muhammad. London: Atlantic Books. ISBN 9781782392293.
- Madelung, Wilferd (1997). The succession to Muḥammad : a study of the early Caliphate. Cambridge. )
- ISBN 978-1-83860-765-4.
Further reading
- Fayda, Mustafa (1998). HULEFÂ-yi RÂŞİDÎN - An article published in 18th volume of Turkish Encyclopedia of Islam (in Turkish). Vol. 18. Istanbul: ISBN 978-97-53-89445-6.
External links
- Media related to Rashidun Caliphs at Wikimedia Commons
- Rashidun - Encyclopaedia Britannica