The first era of

Islam

is known as

the era of the

Righteous

Caliphs

During this era, the four

leaders

were from the first

generation of Muslims

who

accepted

Islam during the

lifetime of Prophet Muhammad

(may Allahs

Peace and

Blessings be

upon him).They

were amongst the first to accept

Islam while

Muhammad was in

Mecca and his following

was

weak and

persecuted .

Understanding the meaning of the word

Caliph

is vital to understand the role of the

Caliphate.

Abu

Bakr was

Prophet

Muhammads

closest companion and

best friend

Abu Bakr became the leader after

Prophet

Muhammad

died,

and he

had a daunting task.

Many of the tribes that had become Muslim,

began to

revolt against

the new

leader.

However, Abu

Bakr and his

trusted general Khalid ibn Waleed,

fought

the rebels into

submission

and

held the Muslim world together.

Abu Bakr's reign

nly lasted

two years. He

developed a serious fever that

he never

recovered from

Before

he died, he nominated

Umar, another

close companion of Prophet

Muhammad, as the next

leader. With

Umar

leader, the Muslim world began a period

vast expansion and

development that

was

never

equaled.

Omar ruled for 10 years. During this time, the

Muslim world evolved from a

small

confederation of Arab

tribes, to become the

most powerful empire

on earth. The

Muslims conquered most of the Roman

lands

in the Middle

East, including

Damascus, Jerusalem, and Egypt.

During the reign of Umar, the Muslim armies

basically conquered the

entire Persian Empire. This

caused

difficulties

later, however

as there was

much

friction between the Arab rulers and their

Persian

subjects.

This discord

would lead

to the formation of the

Abbasid

dynasty a

century

later

Caliph Umar was stabbed during prayer by a disgruntled Persian Christian. As he lay

dying, Umar left

instructions to

his companions on how

hey should appoint the next Caliph

These

companions were

lso close friends and

companions of

Prophet

Muhammad as well.

Eventually the companions chose Uthman to become the next ruler.

Uthman was a very

old man by the

time he

became ruler. He left much of

the running of the

Islamic

empire

members of his family. This

gave

some

people the

opportunity to sow discord amongst

the populace.

After a while, these malcontents became powerful enough to demand

Uthman give up the

leadership

When Uthman

refused, they infiltrated

Medina (the capital at the time) and

surrounded his house.

They

eventually broke into the house

and assassinated Uthman

while he was

reading the

Quran.

These rebels pretended to support Ali ibn Abi Talib, another close

companion of Prophet

Muhammad.

They pressured

him into accepting the

position of ruler, but because

of the anger throughout the

Muslim

world at

Uthmans murder, Ali

never enjoyed

complete sovereignty.

Many of the influential Muslims in the empire refused to acknowledge Ali.

Though Ali ibn Abi Talib was

the

fourth leader

of the Muslims, he never

xperienced a moments peace. Throughout his entire five

year

reign, he

was constantly

fighting Muslims

insurgents

Caliph Ali was also assassinated, and his main rival Muawwiyah became

the ruler.

Muawwiyah was a

relative of

Uthman. Muawwiyah had refused to

accept Alis authority

until Uthmans killers were

punished.

Muawwiyah and

Uthman

both belonged to the

Umayyad clan of Mecca.

The Righteous Caliphs