The Crisis of Succession and the Rightly Guided Caliphs
At the time of Muhammad’s death, communities throughout Arabia were united under Islam, but it was unclear to Muhammad’s followers who should succeed him to lead the Muslims.
When he died, most Muslims thought that Muhammad had not designated a successor.
The companions of the Prophet thus chose the highly respected Abu Bakr to lead the Muslim community. Recall that Abu Bakr was one of the first converts to Islam and was Muhammad’s father-in-law. A minority of Muslims, however, believed that Muhammad had designated his cousin ‘Ali to succeed him. ‘Ali was also Muhammad’s son-in-law because he had married Fatima, Muhammad’s daughter by Khadija. Although ‘Ali was highly regarded even by those who did not think Muhammad had designated him to be his successor, he was much younger than Abu Bakr. Therefore, many considered him too young to lead the community.This controversy over leadership of the Muslim community is often known as the crisis of succession, and it led to the development of the two major branches of Islam: the Sunni and the Shi‘a. The majority group became known as the Sunni, which remains the larger of the two major branches. The minority group became known as the Shi‘a, a name that comes from the term Shi‘at ‘Ali, which means the “party of ‘Ali.” The Shi‘a is the smaller of the two major branches of Islam. Later in the chapter, we discuss how this dispute over succession led to other differences between the Sunni and the Shi‘a.
The leaders who came after Muhammad were not viewed as prophets. They were known rather as caliphs, who ruled as the representatives of God and the Prophet and had both religious and political authority. This was a new form of government called a caliphate, and it remained the model for Islamic society for several hundred years. The designation of Abu Bakr as caliph started a historical period that came to be known as the time of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, who were Abu Bakr and his successors: ‘Umar, ‘Uthman, and finally ‘Ali.
As caliph, Abu Bakr sought to strengthen relationships with the communities and tribes of Arabia who had formed alliances with Muhammad. Abu Bakr faced the potential breakdown of Muslim unity because some of these tribes, particularly those in parts of Arabia far from Medina and Mecca, wanted to break their ties to the Muslim community when Muhammad died. After the death of Abu Bakr, which was only two years after he had been appointed caliph, the Muslims chose a man called ‘Umar to lead. Like Abu Bakr, ‘Umar had been close to Muhammad. Also like Abu Bakr, he was confronted with the problem of some communities wanting to break away from Islamic rule. However, he managed to preserve unity and expand Muslim rule, conquering the lands of Egypt, Syria, and Iraq. When ‘Umar died in 644 ce, another of the Prophet’s companions, a man called ‘Uthman, was selected as the new caliph.
‘Uthman led the Muslims for twelve years, from 644 to 656 ce. He continued the rapid political expansion that ‘Umar had begun, but he also faced many problems. Muslim rule now extended from the Mediterranean and North Africa into Central Asia. Because the umma now reached beyond Arabic-speaking lands, there was a great deal of cultural and linguistic diversity among the Muslims. This situation made leadership a far more complex undertaking than it had been in the time of Muhammad and Abu Bakr, when nearly all Muslims were Arabs. This eventually led to charges that the caliphs discriminated against non-Arab
Muslims. Furthermore, many accused ‘Uthman of nepotism when he appointed his nephew Mu'awiya as governor of Syria. ‘Uthman also placed other relatives in key posts, many of whom grew rich as a result. A few years into his rule, ‘Uthman faced a number of rebellions in outer provinces of the empire, and in 656 ce he was killed by insurgents who had marched on Medina.
After ‘Uthman’s death, ‘Ali was named caliph. During the time of the first three caliphs, ‘Ali’s supporters grew in numbers.
Despite this growing support, ‘Ali’s time as caliph saw many fractures in the Muslim community. Supporters of‘Uthman were upset that ‘Ali had never punished his murderers. This controversy resulted in the Battle of the Camel. This traumatic moment in Islamic history was the first to pit Muslims against Muslims. In the battle, ‘Ali defeated an army led by ‘A’isha and other prominent Meccans. ‘A’isha directed the battle from her mount on a camel, from which the battle took its name. ‘Ali’s forces attacked and brought down her camel in order to hinder her leadership, and his forces were victorious. Mu‘awiya also challenged ‘Ali’s authority. This conflict reached a peak in the Battle of Siffin in 657 ce. When they met on the battlefield in Syria, Mu‘awiya asked ‘Ali for an arbitration of their dispute, and he accepted. However, some of ‘Ali’s followers disapproved of the arbitration, which they viewed as a surrender to Mu'awiya. This group formed a splinter group known as the Kharijites, which means “those who seceded.” In 661 ce, ‘Ali was murdered by a Kharijite.