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Succession To Muhammad

Succession to Muhammad

In 632 CE, the Islamic prophet Muhammad died in the Arabian city of Medina, after a brief illness. After an initial period of confusion, command of the Muslim community was taken by Abu Bakr, Muhammad's father-in-law and one of the leaders of the Ummah. Muslims in later centuries disagreed sharply as to how this transition was made and whether or not it was legitimate. On the one side are the Muslims known as Shi'a, or Shi'at Ali, the party of Ali. They believe that Ali ibn Abi Talib, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, was the actual successor, and had been designated as such by Muhammad in accordance with Allah's command. Other Muslim groups disagreed. The group today known as Sunni, which follows a "traditionalist" scholastic movement that did not exist at the time, is a good representative of the opposing view. Sunnis hold that Abu Bakr was chosen by the community, and that this method of choosing or electing leaders had been endorsed by Muhammad. This article attempts to summarize the sources and arguments for particular versions of the succession to Muhammad. It does not intend to arbitrate and discuss who should have succeeded Muhammad. It only attempts to report the various viewpoints and beliefs of groups involved.

Problems with the historical record

The events of 632 were transmitted orally for more than a century; the first written records date from a period long after the disputed succession. Indeed, they date from the beginning of the Abbasid line of caliphs, who had overthrown the previous Ummayad line, claiming historical justification in the events of the succession and the careers of the first four caliphs. The histories were thus composed in a sectarian milieu, for intensely political purposes. They have since been interpreted and elaborated by several Islamic groups, including the Sunni and the various Shi'a sects. It is extremely difficult to give a historical account of this event without descending into the thick of partisan controversy. See also Historiography of early Islam.

An overview of events

Muhammad was a secular ruler for only the last ten years of his life. Up until the Hijra, or emigration to Medina from Mecca, in 622, he and his followers had been a small, persecuted community. The question of a successor might therefore be considered to have been of no great moment, as Muhammad had none of what might today be called civil authority, and no property to speak of to bequeath. He had proclaimed himself a prophet, but it was not at all clear that a prophet must always have a successor. After the Hijra and the Qur'anic authorization of fighting in self-defense, Muhammad emerged as the political leader of an expanding community. It was only at this point that the question of succession became a pressing one. Did Muhammad make arrangements for a successor? What arrangements did he make? These matters were -- and are -- greatly in dispute. Similarly contentious are the various reports of events immediately surrounding his death. Muhammad did not have a long illness; he fell ill and died in just a few days. Following his death, there appears to have been a time of suspense or, depending on the account, confusion. Umar, one of his lieutenants, is said to have appeared mad with grief, denying that Muhammad could have died, and refusing to allow the body be buried. The accuracy of this account is open to question, as is the possibility that it represented a play for time. Virtually all authorities agree that dormant fissures in the Muslim community, between the Meccan immigrants, the Muhajairun, and the Medinan converts, the Ansar, threatened to split the Ummah. The Ansar met in a house or shed, a saqifah, to discuss whom they would support as their new leader. Abu Bakr, Muhammad's father-in-law, was told of this meeting. Abu Bakr, Umar, and a few others rushed to prevent the Ansar from making a premature decision. Accounts of this meeting vary greatly. All agree that during this meeting, Umar declared that Abu Bakr should be the new leader, and declared his allegiance to Abu Bakr. After the meeting at Saqifah, Abu Bakr had to convince those Muslims who had not attended it to accept the results of the meeting. Most accounts agree that this process took several months, and that there were many who refused to swear allegiance to Abu Bakr. They were called Rafidi, or Refusers. Many of them believed that Ali ibn Abi Talib, Muhammad's cousin, son-in-law, and foster son was the obvious choice for a leader. Whether or not there was violence and intimidation during this process, whether or not Ali submitted willingly to Abu Bakr -- these matters are enduring controversies. It is perhaps worth noting in passing that the terms "cousin" and "son-in-law" cannot begin to convey the closeness of the relationship between Muhammad and Ali. Ali's father was the late Abu Talib, Muhammad's uncle, foster father, and powerful protector. As a member of Abu Talib's family, Muhammad had in fact played the role of an elder brother to Ali -- and Ali had, as a youth, been among the first to accept Islam. He was now a charismatic defender of the faith in his own right, and it was perhaps inevitable that some in the Muslim community assumed that Ali would claim a leadership position following Muhammad's death. In the end, however, it was Abu Bakr who assumed control of the Muslim community, and it was Ali who submitted to his authority. All Muslim sources agree that this was the outcome, but there remains sharp disagreement concerning its significance.

The Shi'a view of the succession

The Shi'a believe that God has stated that the world is never left without a vicegerent. They therefore believe that Muhammad, being one of God’s vicegerents, appointed a successor. They believe that God chose Ali to be the successor. They believe that before he died, Muhammad, in accordance with God’s will, indicated at various times, and in various ways, his trust and reliance upon Ali. Ali was not only his cousin, but the husband of his daughter Fatima, and the father of his beloved grandchildren Hasan and Husayn. Ali was a leader in battle, entrusted with command, and left in charge of the community at Medina when Muhammad led a raid on Tabuk. The Shia refer to these verses from the Qu'ran to make their argument on Quranic grounds: (5:55),(5:3),(5:67). They say that the verses refer to Ali, and the last two verses were revealed at Ghadir Khumm. (See Tabatabaei & Nasr 1979:177-178, or [http://www.balagh.net/english/shia/shia/09.htm#00011 Shi'a] for further details.)

Ghadir Khumm

In 632 CE, Muhammad made his last pilgrimage to the Kaaba. Some early accounts say that after finishing his pilgrimage, on his return to Medina, he and his followers stopped at a spring and waypoint called Ghadir Khom. Here Muhammad delivered a speech to his assembled followers, in the course of which he said, : "For whoever I am his master, Ali is his master." This is known as Hadith-i ghadir, and it is a clear indication of Muhammad's intentions, say the Shi'a. They believe that there were 120,000 witnesses to this declaration.

Muhammad's last illness

Soon after returning from this pilgrimage, Muhammad fell ill. He was nursed in the apartments of his wife Aisha, the daughter of Abu Bakr and an enemy of Ali and Fatima. Aisha did her best to keep Ali away from Muhammad. The Shi'a also claim that most of the prominent men among the Muslims, expecting Muhammad's death and an ensuing struggle for power, disobeyed his orders to join a military expedition bound for Syria. They stayed in Medina, waiting for Muhammad's death and their chance to seize power. According to Ali's relative and partisan, Ibn al-Abbas, the dying Muhammad said that he wished to write a letter -- or wished to have a letter written -- detailing his wishes for his community. Umar insisted that the Quran was guidance enough. According to the Shi'a, Umar also claimed that Muhammad was ill and delirious and that his wishes could therefore be ignored. Those in the sickroom began quarrelling and the prophet, irritated by the noise, ordered them all to leave him. Ibn al-Abbas was sure that if Muhammad had been allowed to write a will, he would have named Ali as his successor. When Muhammad died, Umar seemed to go mad with grief. He claimed that Muhammad was not dead, that he would return. Abu Bakr, who had just returned to Medina, then spoke sharply to him and Umar repented. The Shi'a say that all this was a ploy on Umar's part to delay the funeral and give Abu Bakr (who was outside the city) time to return to Medina.

The events at Saqifah

When Muhammad died, his closest relatives, Ali and Fatima, took charge of the body. While they were engaged in washing the body and preparing it for burial, say the Shi'a, Abu Bakr and Umar invaded a meeting at Saqifah, proposed Abu Bakr as the new leader, and forced those assembled to submit. They were even willing to manhandle one of the Medinan elders who dared to oppose them. Ali was not told of the meeting, and his name was not mentioned as one of those eligible for the leadership, despite Muhammad's clear words at Ghadir Khom.

Persecution of the Rafidi

Many of the Muslims of Medina refused to give their allegiance, their bay'ah, to Abu Bakr -- as did Ali. They were known as the Rafidi, or Refusers. The Shi'a say that it took six months of threat and pressure to force the Rafidi to submit to Abu Bakr. Umar roamed the streets of Medina with his warriors, they say, threatening the holdouts. He even threatened to burn down Fatima's house unless Ali came out and submitted to Abu Bakr. Ali refused; Umar pushed his way into the house; Fatima, who was heavily pregnant, was crushed behind the door. She miscarried of a stillborn son, whom the Shi'a mourn as Al Muhsin. She had been mortally injured by Umar and soon died. Ali buried her at night, secretly, as he did not wish Abu Bakr or Umar, whom he blamed for her death, to attend her funeral. The Shi'a thus blame Abu Bakr and Umar for the death of Muhammad's daughter and grandson.

Ali submits for the sake of his followers

In the end, the Shi'ites say, Ali took pity upon the sufferings of his devoted followers and gave his submission, his bay'ah, to Abu Bakr. Abu Bakr, however, did not treat Ali and his family kindly. In a controversial ruling, Abu Bakr declared that Muhammad had told him, privately, that prophets did not leave estates to their kin. All of Muhammad's holdings in land and moveable property were ruled to be the property of the state. Muhammad's kin were given pensions -- thus making them wards of the state rather than independently wealthy legatees.

The role of hadith

The hadith are recorded oral traditions, preserved from the years when the Muslims did not write history, but recounted it (as was the custom in Arabia at that time). The Shi'a point to a number of hadith that, they believe, show that Muhammad had left specific instructions as to his successor. These hadiths have been given names: Ghadir Khumm, Safinah, Thaqalayn, Haqq, Manzilah, Hadith-i da'wat-i 'ashirah, and others. Many of these oral traditions are also accepted by Sunni Muslims. However, the Sunni do not accept the Shi'a interpretation of these hadith.

The Sunni view of the succession

Sunni Muslims relate various hadith, or oral traditions, in which Muhammad is said to have recommended shura, or consultation, as the best method for making community decisions. In this view of the succession, he did not nominate a successor because he expected that the community would choose the new leader -- as was the custom in Arabia at the time. When a tribal leader died, the chief men of the tribe gathered and chose a leader from amongst themselves. The new leader might belong to the same powerful clan as the deceased leader, but was not necessarily his nearest relation. Leaders were chosen for their abilities, not their descent.

Ghadir Khom

There is one hadith in the collection known as the Musnad which affirms that Muhammad made a speech at Ghadir Khumm, in which he said, "Whoever is my mawla, Ali is his mawla". However, the Sunni insist that the word mawla has many meanings in Arabic, of which "master" is only one. In this case, say the Sunni exegetes, Muhammad was merely saying that anyone who was his friend should also befriend Ali. This was a response to some soldiers who had complained of Ali [http://www.islamawareness.net/Deviant/Shia/ghadir.html]. A similar incident is described in Ibn Ishaq's sira; there the prophet is reputed to have said, "Do not blame Ali, for he is too scrupulous in the things of God, or the way of God, to be blamed." (Guillaume p. 650) The Sunni argue that it is a mistake to interpret an expression of friendship and support as the appointment of a successor. If Muhammad had wished to appoint Ali, surely he would have done so in Medina, in front of all the Muslim notables. The fact that there was a dispute over the leadership after the prophet's death is proof that no one had interpreted Muhammad's words as a binding appointment.

Muhammad's last illness

Muhammad asked to be taken to Aisha's apartment to be nursed and died with his head in her lap. Aisha kept his relatives away from him, because they were tormenting him with useless remedies. He was not prevented from making a will -- that, according to Sunni belief, is just an invention of the Shi'a, based only on the word of one of Ali's partisans. More credible and significant, in Sunni thinking, is the report that Muhammad had such trust in Abu Bakr that he asked him to lead the prayers in the mosque as imam -- a highly visible role virtually always undertaken, when possible, by Muhammad himself.

The events at Saqifah

Most Sunni accounts of Saqifah do not go into details, and merely say that the Muslim elders chose Abu Bakr as their leader. However, even the accounts that agree that Saqifah was a falta, in Umar's words, a rushed and hasty decision, still stress that the decision at Saqifah would not have been binding upon Muslims unless they themselves had chosen to pledge fealty, to give their bay'ah, to Abu Bakr. The fact that they did so shows that the decision was the right one.

Persecution of the Rafidi

Some Sunni narrations say that Ali submitted quickly, others only that he delayed for some time. There was, according to the Sunni, certainly no violent persecution of the Rafidi; they submitted to Abu Bakr because they were convinced to do so by their friends and relatives. The whole story of Fatima's injury and death is, from the Sunni point of view, a complete invention.. If it were true, they ask, would Ali have allowed his daughter Um Khulthum to marry Umar? Would he have given the names Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman to three of his sons by wives other than Fatima?

Muhammad's estates

The Sunni trust Abu Bakr's declaration that Muhammad did not wish his family to inherit his large estates. They were given to Muhammad in his capacity as leader, not as an individual, and they were to be administered for the good of the community. In the Sunni view, there was no need for Muhammad's family to regret losing wealth, as they were well-off due to state pensions.

Western academic views

Western academics have, until recently, taken their cues from the Sunni versions of Islamic history. Until the 1950s and 1960s, many scholars tended to translate and expound on Sunni texts as if these were the only Islamic texts worth studying, and generally tended to treat them as reliable. Then followed the age of doubt, when historians like Wansbrough and his student Crone took an independent, agnostic line, throwing doubt on the Sunni consensus and proposing daring theories about the Qur'an. Of late, the pendulum has swung somewhat the other way. Many contemporary scholars who have sifted through the early Muslim historical writings are proposing narratives that are closer to the received versions. In most cases, this has meant a swing back towards the Sunni version of events. However, one recent publication, The Succession to Muhammad by Wilferd Madelung, Laudian Professor of Arabic at Oxford, examines the course of events from 632, and the death of Muhammad, through the rise of the Umayyads -- and rehabilitates some of the Shi'a narratives.

References

Academic books

- Guillaume, A. - The Life of Muhammad, Oxford University Press, 1955
- Madelung, W. - The Succession to Muhammad, Cambridge University Press, 1997
- Nasr, S. H. - Muhammad: Man of God, 1995.
- Nasr, S. H. - Expectation of the Millennium: Shi'Ism in History, State University of New York Press, 1989.

Shi'a books

- Shi'ite Islam, by Allameh Tabatabaei and Seyyed Hossein Nasr, State University of New York Press, 1979
- Al-Murāja'āt: A Shī'i-Sunni Dialogue by Sayyid 'Abdul-Husayn Sharafud-Dīn al-Mūsawi, 2001, Ansariyan Publications: Qum, Iran.
- Peshawar Nights by Sultanu'l Wa'izin Shirazi, 2001, Ansariyan Publications: Qum, Iran.
- Ask those who know by Muhammad al-Tijani al-Samawi, 2001, Ansariyan Publications: Qum, Iran.
- To be with the Truthful by Muhammad al-Tijani al-Samawi, 2000, Ansariyan Publications: Qum, Iran.
- The Shi'a: The Real Followers of the Sunnah by Muhammad al-Tijani al-Samawi, 2000, Ansariyan Publications: Qum, Iran.
- Lessons on Islamic Doctrine: Imamate and Leadership by Sayyid Mujtaba Musavi Lari, 1996, Foundation of Islamic Cultural Propagation in the World.

Sunni books

External links

Shi'a perspective

- [http://al-islam.org/peshawar/index.html Peshawar Nights by Sultanu'l Wa'izin Shirazi, 2001]
- [http://www.hadith.net/english/ahl-al-bayt/succession.htm Succession to Muhammad]

Sunni perspective

- [http://www.ansar.org/english/beshawer.htm A Response to Peshawar Nights by Abu Muhammad al-Afriqi] Category:Islam

Muhammad

: "Muhammad" is a common Muslim male name. For other prominent people called Muhammad, see Muhammad (disambiguation) Muhammad (, also transliterated Mohammad, Mohammed, Muhammed, and sometimes Mahomet (Latin Mahometus), following the Latin or Turkish), is believed by Muslims to be God's final prophet sent to guide mankind with the message of Islam. Non-Muslims generally consider him to be the founder of Islam. According to traditional Muslim biographers, he was born ca. 570 in Mecca (Makkah) and died June 8 632 in Medina (Madinah); both Mecca and Medina are cities in the Hejaz region of present day Saudi Arabia. Literally, Muhammad means "highly praised" in Arabic.

Summary

Born Muhammad ibn Abdullah, he is said to have been a merchant who traveled widely. Muslims believe that in 610, at about the age of forty, while praying in a cave called "Hira" near Mecca, he experienced a vision. Later, he described the experience (to those close to him) as a visit from the Angel Gabriel, who commanded him to memorize and recite the verses sent by God which were later collected as the Qur'an. Gabriel told him that God (Allah) had chosen him as the last of the prophets to mankind. He eventually expanded his mission as a prophet, publicly preaching a strict monotheism and predicting a Day of Judgement. He did not completely reject Judaism and Christianity, two other monotheistic faiths known to the Arabs; he said that he had been sent by God in order to complete and perfect their teachings. Many of his neighbors resented his preaching, and persecuted Muhammad and his followers. In 622, he was forced to flee from Mecca and settle in Yathrib (now known as Medina) with his followers, where he was the leader of the first avowedly Muslim community. War between Mecca and Medina followed, in which Muhammad and his followers were eventually victorious. The military organization honed in this struggle was then set to conquering the other tribes of Arabia. By the time of Muhammad's death, he had unified Arabia, spread Islam throughout the Arab Peninsula, and launched expeditions to the north, towards Syria and Palestine. Under prophet Muhammad's immediate successors the Islamic empire expanded into Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia, Egypt, North Africa, and Iberia. Later conquests, commercial contact between Muslims and non-Muslims, and missionary activity spread Islam over much of the globe.

Sources about Muhammad's life

The sources available about Muhammad's life are the Qur'an, the sira biographies, and the hadith collections. While the Qur'an is not a biography of Muhammad, it does provide some information about his life. The earliest surviving biographies are the Life of the Apostle of God, by Ibn Ishaq (d. 768), edited by Ibn Hisham (d. 833); and al-Waqidi's (d. 822) biography of Muhammad. Ibn Ishaq wrote his biography some 120 to 130 years after Muhammad's death. The third source, the hadith collections, like the Qur'an, are not a biography per se. In both the Sunni and Shia belief, they are the accounts of the words and actions of Muhammad. Some skeptical scholars (Wansbrough, Cook, Crone, and others) have raised doubts about the reliability of these sources, especially the hadith collections. They argue that by the time the oral traditions were being collected, the Muslim community had fractured into rival sects and schools of thought. Each sect and school had its own sometimes conflicting traditions of what Muhammad and his companions had done and said. Traditions multiplied, and Muslim scholars made a strenuous effort to weed out what they felt were spurious stories. Traditionalists rely on their efforts while the skeptics feel that the question must be revisited. Muslim and non-Muslim scholars alike agree that there are some inauthentic traditions concerning the life of Muhammad in the hadith collections. Most of these traditions are acknowledged by Muslim clerical authorities to be weak; only a few hadith collections are considered reliable. A very small minority called the "Quran Alone Muslims" consider all hadith as unreliable. However, the historicity of the biographical material about Muhammad presented in the summary above is not generally contested. Traditionalists, both Muslim and non-Muslim, paint a much more detailed picture of Muhammad's life.

Muhammad's life according to Sira

Muhammad's genealogy

According to tradition, Muhammad traced his genealogy back as far as Adnan, whom the northern Arabs believed to be their common ancestor. Adnan in turn is said to be a descendant of Ismaeel (Ishmael), son of Ibrahim (Abraham) though the exact genealogy is disputed. Muhammad's genealogy up to Adnan is as follows: Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Muttalib (Shaiba) ibn Hashim (Amr) ibn Abd Manaf (al-Mughira) ibn Qusai (Zaid) ibn Kilab ibn Murra ibn Ka`b ibn Lu'ay ibn Ghalib ibn Fahr (Quraish) ibn Malik ibn an-Nadr (Qais) ibn Kinana ibn Khuzaimah ibn Mudrikah (Amir) ibn Ilyas ibn Mudar ibn Nizar ibn Ma`ad ibn Adnan. (ibn = "son of" in Arabic; alternate names of people with two names are given in brackets.) His nickname was Abul-Qaasim, "father of Qaasim", after his short-lived first son.

Childhood

Muhammad was born into a well-to-do family settled in the northern Arabian town of Mecca. Some calculate his birthdate as April 20, 570 (Shia Muslims believe it to be April 26), and some as 571; tradition places it in the Year of the Elephant. Muhammad's father, Abdullah, had died before he was born and the young boy was brought up by his paternal grandfather Abd al-Muttalib, of the tribe of Quraysh. Tradition says that as an infant, he was placed with a Bedouin wetnurse, Halima, as desert life was believed to be safer and healthier for children. At the age of six, Muhammad lost his mother Amina, and at the age of eight his grandfather Abd al-Muttalib. Muhammad now came under care of his uncle Abu Talib, the new leader of the Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe, the most powerful in Mecca. Mecca was a thriving commercial centre, due in great part to a stone temple (now called the Kaaba) that housed many different idols. Merchants from different tribes would visit Mecca during the pilgrimage season, when all inter-tribal warfare was forbidden and they could trade in safety. While still in his teens, Muhammad began accompanying his uncle on trading journeys to Syria. He thus became well-travelled and knowledgeable as to foreign ways.

Middle years

Muhammad became a merchant and one of his employers was Khadijah, a rich widow then forty years old. The young twenty-five-year old Muhammad has impressed Khadijah and she proposed to him in the year 595. By Arab custom, minors did not inherit, so Muhammad had received no inheritance from either his father or his grandfather. Ibn Ishaq records that Khadijah bore Muhammad five children, one son and four daughters. All of Khadija's children were born before Muhammad received his first revelation. His son Qasim died at the age of two. The four daughters are said to be Zainab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum, and Fatimah. The Shi'a say that Muhammad had only the one daughter, Fatima, and that the other daughters were either children of Khadijah by her previous marriage, or children of her sister.

The first revelations

Muhammad had a reflective turn of mind and routinely spent nights in a cave (Hira) near Mecca in meditation and thought. Muslims believe that around the year 610, while meditating, Muhammad had a vision of the Angel Gabriel and heard a voice saying to him (in rough translation) "Read in the name of your Lord the Creator. He created man from something which clings. Read, and your Lord is the Most Honored. He taught man with the pen; taught him all that he knew not." (See surat Al-Alaq for a fuller account.) The first vision of Gabriel disturbed Muhammad, but his wife Khadijah reassured him that it was a true vision and became his first follower. She was soon followed by his ten-year-old cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib, and Abu Bakr, whom Sunnis assert to have been Muhammad's closest friend. Until his death, Muhammad reportedly received frequent revelations, although there was a relatively long gap after the first revelation. This silence worried him, until he received surat ad-Dhuha, whose words provided comfort and reassurance. Around 613, Muhammad began to spread his message amongst the people. Most of those who heard his message ignored it. A few mocked him. Some, however, believed and joined his small group.

Rejection

As the ranks of Muhammad's followers swelled, he became a threat to the local tribes and the rulers of the city. Their wealth, after all, rested on the Kaaba, a sacred house of idols and the focal point of Meccan religious life. If they threw out their idols, as Muhammad preached, there would be no more pilgrims, no more trade, and no more wealth. Muhammad’s denunciation of polytheism was especially offensive to his own tribe, the Quraysh, as they were the guardians of the Ka'aba. Muhammad and his followers were persecuted. Some of them fled to Abyssinia and founded a small colony there. Several suras and parts of suras are said to date from this time, and reflect its circumstances: see for example al-Masadd, al-Humaza, parts of Maryam and al-Anbiya, al-Kafirun, and Abasa. In 619, both Muhammad's wife Khadijah and his uncle Abu Talib died; it was known as "the year of sorrows." Muhammad's own clan withdrew their protection of him. Muslims patiently endured hunger and persecution.

Isra and Miraj

Some time in 620, the prophet Muhammad told his followers that he had experienced the Isra and Miraj, a miraculous journey said to have been accomplished in one night. In the first part of the journey, the Isra, he is said to have travelled from Mecca to Jerusalem. In the second part, the Miraj, Muhammad is said to have toured Heaven and Hell, and spoken with earlier prophets, such as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Muslims believe that the Jerusalem mosque known as the Masjid al-Aqsa is built over the site from which Muhammad ascended to Heaven.

Hijra

By 622, life in the small Muslim community of Mecca was becoming not only difficult, but dangerous. Muslim traditions say that there were several attempts to assassinate Muhammad. Muhammad then resolved to emigrate to Medina, then known as Yathrib, a large agricultural oasis where there were a number of Muslim converts. By breaking the link with his own tribe, Muhammad demonstrated that tribal and family loyalties were insignificant compared to the bonds of Islam, a revolutionary idea in the tribal society of Arabia. This Hijra or emigration (traditionally translated into English as "flight") marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar. The Muslim calendar counts dates from the Hijra, which is why Muslim dates have the suffix AH (After Hijra). Muhammad came to Medina as a mediator, invited to resolve the feud between the Arab factions of Aws and Khazraj. He ultimately did so by absorbing both factions into his Muslim community, and forbidding bloodshed among Muslims. However, Medina was also home to a number of Jewish tribes (whether they were ethnically as well as religiously Jewish is an open question, as is the depth of their "Jewishness"). Muhammad had hoped that they would recognize him as a prophet, but they did not do so. Some academic historians suggest that Muhammad abandoned hope of recruiting Jews as allies or followers at this time, and thus the qibla, the Muslim direction of prayer, was changed from the site of the former Temple in Jerusalem to the Kabaa in Mecca. Non-Muslim settlements within Muslim territories were taxed rather than expelled. Muhammad drafted a document now known as the Constitution of Medina (ca. 622-623), which laid out the terms on which the different factions, specifically the Jews, could exist within the new Islamic State. In this system, the Jews and other "Peoples of the Book" were allowed to keep their religions as long as they paid tribute. This system would come to typify Muslim relations with their non-believing subjects and that tradition was one reason for the stability of the later Muslim caliphate or Khilafah. In this, the Islamic empire was more tolerant than the other great powers of the area, the Byzantine and Sassanid empires, which were actively hostile to any religions or sects other than the state-sponsored religions (Orthodox Christianity and Zoroastrianism).

War

Relations between Mecca and Medina rapidly worsened (see surat al-Baqara). Meccans confiscated all the property that the Muslims had left in Mecca. In Medina, Muhammad signed treaties of alliance and mutual help with neighboring tribes. Muhammad turned to raiding caravans bound for Mecca. Caravan raiding was an old Arabian tradition; Muslims justified the raids by the state of war deemed to exist between the Meccans and the Muslims. Secular scholars add this was also a matter of survival for the Muslims. They owned no land in Medina and if they did not raid, they would have to live on charity and whatever wage labor they could find. In March of 624, Muhammad led some 300 warriors in a raid on a Meccan merchant caravan. The Meccans successfully defended the caravan and then decided to teach the Medinans a lesson. They sent a small army against Medina. On March 15, 624 near a place called Badr, the Meccans and the Muslims clashed. Though outnumbered more than 3 times (1000 to 300) in the battle, the Muslims met with success, killing at least forty-five Meccans and taking seventy prisoners for ransom; only fourteen Muslims died. This marked the real beginning of Muslim military achievement.

Muhammad's rule consolidated

To the Muslims, the victory in Badr appeared as a divine authentication of Muhammad's prophethood, and he and all the Muslims rejoiced greatly. Following this victory, after clashes, and the breaking of a treaty that risked the security of the city state, the victors expelled a local Jewish clan, the Banu Qainuqa. Virtually all the remaining Medinans converted, and Muhammad became de facto ruler of the city. After Khadija's death, Muhammad married again, to Aisha, the daughter of his friend Abu Bakr (who would later emerge as the first leader of the Muslims after Muhammad's death). In Medina, he married Hafsah, daughter of Umar (who would eventually become Abu Bakr's successor). These marriages sealed relations between Muhammad and his top-ranking followers. Muhammad's daughter Fatima married Ali, Muhammad's cousin. According to the Sunni, another daughter, Umm Kulthum, married Uthman. Each of these men, in later years, would emerge as successors to Muhammad and political leaders of the Muslims. Thus all four of the first four caliphs were linked to Muhammad by marriage. Sunni Muslims regard these caliphs as the Rashidun, or Rightly Guided. (See Succession to Muhammad for more information on the controversy on who the first caliph should have been).

Continued warfare

In 625 the Meccan general Abu Sufyan marched on Medina with 3,000 men. The ensuing Battle of Uhud took place on March 23, ending in a stalemate. The Meccans claimed victory, but they had lost too many men to pursue the Muslims into Medina. In April 627 Abu Sufyan led another strong force against Medina. But Muhammad had dug a trench around Medina and successfully defended the city in the Battle of the Trench. Many of the Muslims believed that Abu Sufyan had been aided by sympathizers among the Medinans, the Jewish tribe of the Banu Qurayza. As soon as the battle was over, the Muslims turned upon the Banu Qurayza. After the Banu Qurayza were defeated, all the adult men were beheaded by the order of Saad ibn Muadh, an arbiter chosen by the Banu Qurayza. The remaining women and children were taken as captives or for ransom. Some critics of Islam feel that this was unjust; Muslims believe that this was necessary. The matter is discussed at greater length in the article on the Banu Qurayza. Following the Muslim's victory at the Battle of the Trench, the Muslims were able, through conversion and conquest, to extend their rule to many of the neighboring cities and tribes.

The conquest of Mecca

By 628, the Muslim position was strong enough that Muhammad decided to return to Mecca, this time as a pilgrim. In March of that year, he set out for Mecca, followed by 1,600 men. After some negotiation, a treaty was signed at the border town of al-Hudaybiyah. While Muhammad would not be allowed to finish his pilgrimage that year, hostilities would cease and the Muslims would have permission to make a pilgrimage to Mecca in the following year. The agreement lasted only two years, however, as the Meccans broke the treaty in 630. As a result, the prophet Muhammad marched on Mecca with an enormous force, said to number 10,000+ men. The Meccans submitted without a fight, and thus, there was no bloodshed. The prophet Muhammad promised a general amnesty to all the Meccans and ensured them that no harm will be done to them. Most Meccans converted to Islam, as a result of this, and Muhammad destroyed the idols in the Kaaba. Henceforth the pilgrimage would be a Muslim pilgrimage and the shrine a Muslim shrine.

Unification of Arabia

The capitulation of Mecca and the defeat of an alliance of enemy tribes at Hunayn effectively brought the greater part of the Arabian peninsula under Muhammad's authority. This authority was not enforced by any formal governments, however, as he chose instead to rule through personal relationships and tribal treaties. Hunayn The Muslims were clearly the dominant force in Arabia, and most of the remaining tribes and states hastened to convert to Islam.

Muhammad as a warrior

For most of the sixty-three years of his life, Muhammad was a merchant, then a prophet. He took up the sword late in his life. He was a warrior for ten years. Much criticism has been leveled at Muhammad for engaging in caravan raids and wars of conquest. Critics say that his wars went well beyond self-defense. Muslim commentators, however, argue that he fought only to defend his community against the Meccans, and that he insisted on humane rules of warfare.

Muhammad's family life

From 595 to 619, Muhammad had only one wife, Khadijah. After her death he married Aisha, then Hafsa. Later he was to marry more wives, for a total of eleven (nine or ten living at the time of his death). Some say that he married his slave girl Maria al-Qibtiyya, but other sources speak to the contrary. Khadija was Muhammad's first wife and the mother of the only child to survive him, his daughter Fatima. He married his other wives after the death of Khadija. Some of these women were recent widows of warriors in battle. Others were daughters of his close allies or tribal leaders. One of the later unions resulted in a son, but the child died when he was ten months old. His marriage to Aisha is often criticized today citing traditional sources that state she was only nine years old when he consummated the marriage. (See Aisha for a discussion of other, conflicting, traditions). Critics also question his marriage to his adopted son's ex-wife, Zaynab bint Jahsh, and his alleged violation of the Qur'anic injunction against marrying more than four wives. For further information on Muhammad's family life and consideration of these criticisms, see Muhammad's marriages.

Companions of Muhammad

The term companions refers to anyone who met three criteria. First, he must have been a contemporary of Muhammad. Second, he must have seen or heard Muhammad speak on at least one occasion. Third, he must have converted to Islam. Companions are responsible for the transmission of hadith, as each hadith must have as its first transmitter a companion. There were many other companions in addition to the ones listed here. List in alphabetic order:
- Aamir
- Abdullah ibn Abbas
- Abdulrahman
- Abu Bakr
- Ali
- Bilal the Ethiopian
- Hamza
- Sa'd
- Sa'eed
- Sad Ibn Abi Waqqas
- Salman the Persian
- Suhaib the Roman
- Talha
- Umar
- Uthman
- Zubair

The death of Muhammad

After a short illness, Muhammad died around noon on Monday 8 June 632, in the city of Medina at the age of sixty-three. According to Shi'a Islam, Muhammad had appointed his son-in-law Ali as his successor, in a public sermon at Ghadir Khumm. But Abu Bakr and Umar intrigued to oust Ali and make Abu Bakr the leader or caliph. The majority Sunni sect dispute this, and say that the leaders of the community conferred and freely chose Abu Bakr, who was pre-eminent among the followers of Muhammad. However it happened, Abu Bakr became the new leader. He spent much of his short reign suppressing rebellious tribes in the Ridda Wars. With unity restored in Arabia, the Muslims looked outward and commenced the conquests that would eventually unite the Middle East under the caliphs.

Muhammad's descendants

Middle East. The mosque now contains the tombs of Muhammad and the first two caliphs, Abu Bakr and Umar ibn al-Khattab]] Muhammad was survived by his daughter Fatima and her children. (Some say that he had a daughter Zainab, who had borne a daughter, Amma or Umama, who survived him as well.) In Shi'a Islam, it is believed that Fatima's husband 'Ali and his descendants are the rightful leaders of the faithful. The Sunni do not accept this view, but they still honor Muhammad's descendents. Descendents of Muhammad are known by many names, such as sayyids, syeds سيد, and sharifs شريف (plural: ِأشراف Ashraaf). Many rulers and notables in Muslim countries, past and present, claim such descent, with various degrees of credibility, such as the Fatimid dynasty of North Africa, the Idrisis, the current royal families of Jordan and Morocco, and the Agha Khan Imams of the Ismaili branch of Islam. In various Muslim countries, there are societies that authenticate claims of descent; some societies are more credible than others.

Muhammad's historical significance

Before his death in 632, Prophet Muhammad had established Islam as a social and political force and had unified most of Arabia. A few decades after his death, his successors had united all of Arabia, and conquered Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Armenia, and much of North Africa. By 750, Islam had emerged as the spiritual counterpart to the two great monotheistic belief systems, Judaism and Christianity, and as the geopolitical successor to the Roman Empire. The rest of North Africa had come under Muslim rule, as well as the entire Iberian Peninsula and much of Central Asia (including Sind, in the Indus Valley). Under the Ghaznavids, in the tenth century, Islam was spread to the mainly Hindu principalities east of the Indus by conquering armies in what is now northern India. Even later, Islam expanded peacefully into much of Africa and Southeast Asia. Islam is now the faith of well over a billion people all over the globe, and is the second largest religion of the present day.

Muslim veneration of Muhammad

Image:Muhammad callig.gif|The name "Muhammad" written in Arabic calligraphy. Many Muslims believe that Islam prohibits art depicting humans or animals; much Islamic art is decorative calligraphy or arabesque (abstract pattern). Image:Miraj2.jpg|A 16th century Persian miniature painting celebrating Muhammad's ascent into the Heavens, a journey known as the Miraj. Muhammad's face is veiled.

All Muslims feel a great love and veneration for Muhammad, and express this feeling in many ways.
- When speaking or writing, Muhammad's name is preceded by the title "Prophet" and is followed by the phrase, Peace be upon him, or Peace be upon him and his descendents by Shias; in English often abbreviated as "(pbuh)" and "pbuh&hd", or just simply as "p".
- Concerts of Muslim and especially Sufi devotional music include songs praising Muhammad (see Muslim music, Qawwali).
- Some Muslims celebrate the birthday of Muhammad (Mawlid) with elaborate festivities. Others do not, believing that such festivities are modern innovations.
- Criticism of Muhammad is often equated with blasphemy, which is punishable by death in some Muslim states.
- Muhammad is often referenced with titles of praise.
- Muhammad's relics, such as his grave, his sword, his clothing, even strands of his hair, are revered by some.
- Even non-iconic representations of Muhammad are traditionally discouraged. From the 16th century however, Persian and Ottoman art frequently represented Muhammad in miniatures, albeit with his his face either veiled, or emanating radiance (see e.g. Siyer-i Nebi).
- Beyond the stories accepted as canonical by Islamic scholars of hadith, or oral traditions, there are many folktales praising Muhammad and recounting miraculous stories of his birth, upbringing and life.

References

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- Sahih Muslim Book 008, Number 3310
- Sahih Bukhari Volume 7, Book 62, Number 64
- Sahih Bukhari Volume 7, Book 62, Number 65

External links

;Non-sectarian biography
- [http://www.pbs.org/muhammad Public Broadcasting System program on Muhammad]
- [http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761553918/Muhammad_(prophet).html/ Encarta Encyclopedia]
- [http://31.1911encyclopedia.org/M/MA/MAHOMET.htm 1911 Encyclopedia article of Muhammad] ;Muslim biographies
- [http://www.al-sunnah.com/nektar/ Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum (The Sealed Nectar)- Memoirs of the Noble Prophet]
- [http://www.witness-pioneer.org/vil/Books/MH_LM/default.htm The Life of Muhammad] Muhammad Husayn Haykal Translated by Isma'il Razi A. al-Faruqi
- [http://www.islamonline.net/English/In_Depth/mohamed/1424/index.shtml Islamonline]
- [http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/prophet/ About Muhammad]
- [http://www.muhammad.net/ Muhammad Biography and more] ;Critical perspectives:
- [http://www.answering-islam.org.uk/Books/Jeffery/historical_mhd.htm The Quest for the Historical Mohammed]
- [http://debate.org.uk/topics/theo/muhbiog.htm Trends in Biographies of Muhammad] ;Other
- [http://www.usna.edu/Users/humss/bwheeler/swords/swords_index.html Swords of the Prophet Muhammad] Category:Muslims Category:Arab people Category:Islamic prophets Category:Islam Category:570 births Category:632 deaths Category:Revolutionaries ko:무함마드 ms:Nabi Muhammad s.a.w. ja:ムハンマド・イブン＝アブドゥッラーフ simple:Muhammad th:มุฮัมมัด

Abu Bakr

:For the entry on Persian philosopher Abū Bakr Muhammad Ibn Zakarīya al-Rāzi, see Al-Razi. Abu Bakr (, alternative spellings, Abubakar, Abi Bakr, Abu Bakar) (ca. 573 – August 23, 634) ruled as the first of the Muslim caliphs (632 – 634).

Early life

Abu Bakr was born in Mecca (Makkah), a Quraishi of the Banu Taim clan. According to early Muslim historians, he was a merchant, and highly esteemed as a judge, as an interpreter of dreams, and as one learned in Meccan traditions. He was one of the last people anyone would have expected to convert to the faith preached by his kinsman Muhammad. Yet he was one of the first converts to Islam (see below) and instrumental in converting many of the Quraish and the residents of Mecca. Originally called Abd-ul-Ka'ba ("servant of the Kaaba"), on his conversion he assumed the name of Abd-Allah (servant of God). However, he is usually styled Abu Bakr (from the Arabic word bakr, meaning a young camel) due to his interest in raising camels. Sunni Muslims also honor him as Al-Siddiq ("the truthful", or "upright"). His full name was Abd-Allah ibn Abi Quhaafah.

Muhamamd's era

He was one of Muhammad's constant companions. When Muhammad fled from Mecca in the migration to Medina of 622, Abu Bakr alone accompanied him. Abu Bakr was also linked to Muhammad by marriage: Abu Bakr's daughter Aisha married Muhammad soon after the migration to Medina. Once a wealthy man, he was known to have impoverished himself by purchasing the freedom of several Muslim slaves from polytheist masters.

Rise to the Caliphate

During the prophet's last illness, it is said by some traditions that Muhammad allowed Abu Bakr to lead prayers in his absence, and that many took this as an indication that Abu Bakr would succeed Muhammad. Soon after the latter's death (on 8 June 632), a gathering of prominent Ansar and some of the Muhajirun, in Medina, acclaimed Abu Bakr as the new Muslim leader or caliph. What happened at this meeting, called Saqifah, is much disputed. Abu Bakr's assumption of power is an extremely controversial matter, and the source of the first schism in Islam, between Sunni and Shia Islam. Shi'a believe that Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, Ali ibn Abu Talib, was his designated successor, while Sunnis believe that Muhammad deliberately declined to designate a successor. They argue that Muhammad endorsed the traditional Arabian method of shura or consultation, as the way for the community to choose leaders. Designating one's successor was the sign of kingship, or mulk, which the independence-minded tribesmen disliked. Whatever the truth of the matter, Ali gave his formal bay'ah, or submission, to Abu Bakr and to Abu Bakr's two successors. (The Sunni depict this bay'ah as enthusiastic, and Ali as a supporter of Abu Bakr and Umar; the Shi'a argue that Ali's support was only pro forma, and that he effectively withdrew from public life in protest). The Sunni/Shi'a schism did not erupt into open warfare until much later. Many volumes have been written on the affair of the succession. A detailed treatment can be found at Succession to Muhammad.

The Ridda Wars

Troubles emerged soon after Abu Bakr's succession, threatening the unity and stability of the new community and state. Various Arab tribes of Hejaz and Nejd rebelled against the caliph and the new system. Some withheld the zakat, the alms tax, though they did not challenge the prophecy of Muhammad. Others apostatized outright and returned to their pre-Islamic religion and traditions, classified by Muslims as idolatry. The tribes claimed that they had submitted to Muhammad and that with Muhammad's death, they were again free. Abu Bakr insisted that they had not just submitted to a leader but joined the Muslim religious community, of which he was the new head. Apostasy is a capital offense under traditional interpretations of Islamic law, and Abu Bakr declared war on the rebels. This was the start of the Ridda wars, Arabic for the Wars of Apostasy. The severest struggle was the war with Ibn Habib al-Hanefi, known as "Musailimah the Liar", who claimed to be a prophet and Muhammad's true successor. The Muslim general Khalid bin Walid finally defeated al-Hanefi at the Battle of Akraba.

Expeditions to the north

After suppressing internal dissension and completely subduing Arabia, Abu Bakr directed his generals towards the Byzantine and Sassanid empires. Khalid bin Walid conquered Iraq in a single campaign, and a successful expedition into Syria also took place. Fred Donner, in his book The Early Islamic Conquests, argues that Abu Bakr's "foreign" expeditions were merely an extension of the Ridda Wars, in that he sent his troops against Arab tribes living on the borders of the Fertile Crescent. Given that the steppes and deserts over which Arabic-speaking tribes roamed extended without break from southern Syria down to Yemen, any polity that controlled only the southern part of the steppe was inherently insecure.

Origins of the Qur'an

Some traditions about the origin of the Qur'an say that Abu Bakr was instrumental in preserving Muhammad's revelations in written form. It is said that after the hard-won victory over Musailimah, Umar ibn al-Khattab (the later Caliph Umar), saw that many of the Muslims who had memorized the Qur'an from the lips of the prophet had died in battle. Umar asked Abu Bakr to oversee the collection of the revelations. The record, when completed, was deposited with Hafsa bint Umar, daughter of Umar, and one of the wives of Muhammad. Later it became the basis of Uthman ibn Affan's definitive text of the Qur'an. However, other historians give Uthman the principal credit for collecting and preserving the Qur'an. Shi'as strongly refute the idea that Abu Bakr or Umar had anything to do with the collection or preservation of the Qur'an.

Death of Abu Bakr

Abu Bakr died on August 23, 634 in Medina. Shortly before his death (which one tradition ascribes to poison, another to natural causes) he urged the Muslim community to accept Umar ibn al-Khattab as his successor. The community did so, without serious incident. (This succession also is a matter of controversy; Shi'a Muslims believe that the leadership should have been assumed by Ali ibn Abu Talib, without any recourse to shura.) Abu Bakr initially served without pay. His followers insisted that he take an official stipend. At his death, his will returned all these payments to the treasury (Age of Faith, Durant, p. 187). Abu Bakr lies buried in the Masjid al Nabawi mosque in Medina, alongside Muhammad and Umar ibn al-Khattab.

Was Abu Bakr the first man to adopt Islam?

Muslim scholars agree that the first woman to adopt Islam was Khadijah, Muhammad's first wife. However, there is some disagreement over the identity of the first male to convert. Some Muslim historians have claimed that it was Abu Bakr, or perhaps Muhammad's adopted son Zayd ibn Harithah. Shi'a Muslims, as well as some other Muslim historians, believe that the first male convert (after Muhammad) was Ali ibn Abi Talib. This matter is discussed at greater lenght in Identity of first male Muslim.

Shia view of Abu Bakr

: Shi'a believe that Abu Bakr, far from being a devout Muslim and wise and humble man, was a schemer who seized the Islamic state for himself, displacing the proper heir, Ali. They believe that Abu Bakr and Umar persecuted Ali, his family, and his followers, and in so doing, caused the death of Ali's wife Fatima Zahra (who was Muhammad's daughter) and her unborn child, Al Muhsin. For a fuller discussion, see Succession to Muhammad.
See also

- Family tree of Abu Bakr ibn abu Qahafa
- Succession to Muhammad
References

- Donner, Fred -- The Early Islamic Conquests, Princeton University Press, 1981.
- Watt, W. Montgomery -- Muhammad at Mecca, Oxford University Press, 1953.
External link

- http://www.ymofmd.com/books/abas/chapter2.htm
- http://www.islamonline.net/English/NewHijriYear/HijrahHeroes/1426/04.shtml
- [http://www.lailahailallah.net/Khutbahs/Khutbah17.asf Sirah of Abu Bakr (Radia'Allahuanhu) Part 1] by Shaykh Sayyed Muhammad bin Yahya Al-Husayni Al-Ninowy.
- [http://www.lailahailallah.net/Khutbahs/Khutbah16.asf Sirah of Abu Bakr (Radia'Allahuanhu) Part 2] by Shaykh Sayyed Muhammad bin Yahya Al-Husayni Al-Ninowy. Category:Sahaba Category:Muslims Category:Caliphs Category:573 births Category:634 deaths ms:Saidina Abu Bakar ja:アブー＝バクル th:อะบูบักรฺ

Sunni

There are several branches of Islam. The majority of Muslims belong to Sunni Islam.

Historical Background of Sunni-Shi'a split

The principal issue upon which Islam's first major sectarian split occurred centers on the question of leadership. According to Sunni thought, Muhammad died without appointing a successor to lead the Muslim community. After an initial period of confusion, a gathering of Muslims at Saqifah accepted Abu Bakr, Muhammad's father-in-law, as the first Caliph. Sunnis consider Abu Bakr to have been Muhammad's closest friend. Sunnis believe this process was conducted in a fair and proper manner and accept Abu Bakr as a righteous and rightful Caliph. The second major sect, the Shia, believe that the Prophet had appointed his son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib as his successor years earlier during an announcement at Ghadir Khom. Shi'a regard the election of Abu Bakr as illegitimate and accuse the companions involved of ulterior motives ranging from enmity towards Ali to outright hypocrisy. Though both Sunnis and Shias believe that Muhammad delivered a major speech at Ghadir Khom, Sunnis interpret any references to Ali as mere praise, and do not view them as constituting his appointment as a successor. (Some secular historians, notably Wilferd Madelung, would regard the whole incident as possible invention.) Thirty years after Muhammad's death, the Islamic community plunged into a civil war, called the Fitna. Many Muslims (among them some of Muhammad's widows and companions) believed that Uthman, the third Caliph, was favoring his kin and abusing his power. Discontented Muslim soldiers from garrisons in Iraq and Egypt surrounded Uthman's house in Medina and demanded that he repent or resign. The Caliph temporized, fighting broke out, and Uthman was killed as he sat reading the Qur'an. Though Ali was appointed Caliph upon Uthman's death, he was opposed by Muawiyah, the governor of Syria and a relative of Uthman's. Muawiyah claimed that because Ali had taken no action to apprehend Uthman's killers, Ali was complicit in his murder. Muawiyah consolidated his own power and refused to accept Ali's authority until Uthman's assassins were brought to justice. Ali was not able to resolve the crisis before he was assassinated by a rebel faction, and Muawiyah claimed the Caliphate upon his death. Muawiyah's rise to power marked the beginning of the Umayyad dynasty, and he managed to bring most of the Muslim community (ummah) under his authority and put an end to the civil war. The Fitna led to the emergence of three distinct Islamic groups:
- Sunnis - Sunnis regard the first four caliphs (Abu Bakr, Umar ibn al-Khattab, Uthman, and Ali) as Rightly Guided Caliphs, that is, Caliphs who followed the tradition of the Prophet in terms of their lifestyles and styles of governance. According to Sunni Muslim tradition, though Caliphs that followed Ali were mostly legitimate and entitled to obedience, most departed from the standards laid down by the prophet. Sunnis regard Muawiyah as a legitimate Caliph, but not a Rightly Guided one. Though most Sunnis acknowledge that Ali had the stronger claim in his dispute with Muawiyah, Sunni authorities usually refrain from questioning the sincerity of Muawiya's intentions and generally give him the benefit of the doubt. The full name of the Sunni branch is Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jama'ah.
- Shi'a - Shi'a generally reject all caliphates except that of Ali. In contrast to Sunnis, Shi'a regard Muawiyah as a conniving usurper who used Uthman's murder as an excuse to seize power. Some Sunnis, particularly the Salafis, do not accept certain groups of the Shi'a as Muslims.
- Khwarij, or Kharijites - The Khwarij were initially loyal to Ali, but turned against him in response to his decision to accept arbitration as a means of resolving the dispute with Muawiya. The Khwarij declared that all the partisans involved in the Fitna had become disbelievers and could only redeem themselves by repenting and renouncing their role in the dispute. The Khawarij killed Ali as part of a string of assassination attempts that targeted Ali, Muawiyah, and Amr ibn al-As, Muawiya's governor of Egypt (Ali's assassin was the only one who succeeded). Because the Khwarij had a very narrow view of what constitutes kufr (acts that invalidate one's Islam), they quickly split up into sects within themselves, each accusing one another of having fallen into disbelief. Though one branch of the Khwarij survives in Yemen and Oman as the Ibadi denomination of Islam, Khwarij doctrine has been largely rejected and relegated to the history books. Other divisions have arisen since the Fitna of the 7th century A.D. Some groups are now extinct. Of the existing groups, Sunni Muslims do not accept members of the Nation of Islam, Ahmadiyya, and Zikri as fellow Muslims.

Demographics

See Demographics of Islam. Present calculations indicate that some 90% of the world's Muslims are Sunni and approximately 10% are Shi'a, but the Shi'a are certainly undercounted. Further work is needed before these statistics are defensible. It should be noted that Sunni-Shi'a adherent counts are quite controversial. Sunni tend to see Shi'a as a small and insignificant sect, and champion a low adherent count for Shi'a; the Shi'a see this as discrimination and claim larger figures.

Sunni schools of law (Madhab)

There are four Sunni schools of law:
- Hanafi (based on work of Abu Hanifa)
- Maliki (founded by Malik)
- Shafi'i (founded by Shafi'i, a student of Malik)
- Hanbali (founded by Ahmad bin Hanbal, a student of Shafi'i) A madhab is a particular tradition of interpreting Islamic law, or shari'a. The schools were started by eminent Muslim scholars in the first four centuries of Islam. Most Sunnis believe that there are no living jurists of the stature of the founders of the four madhabs. Contemporary scholars can comment on the traditions, but they cannot start new ones. This belief is called "the closing of the gate of ijtihad". A madhab is not to be confused with a religious sect. There may be scholars representing all four madhabs living in larger Muslim communities, and it is up to those who consult them to decide which school they prefer. Some Sunni Muslims say that one should choose a madhab and then follow all of its rulings. Other Sunnis say that it is acceptable to mix madhabs, to accept one madhab's ruling regarding one issue, and accept another madhab's ruling regarding a different issue. Some modern Sunni, such as liberals, reject some or all of the intricate structure of hadith and shari'a erected over the centuries. Some Salafis reject strict adherence to traditional jurisprudence and others follow the Hanbali school of thought.

Sunni theological traditions (kalam)

Some Islamic scholars faced questions that they felt were not specifically answered in the Qur'an, especially questions with regard to philosophical conundrums like the nature of God, the possibility of human free will, or the eternal existence of the Qur'an. Various schools of theology and philosophy developed to answer these questions, each claiming to be true to the Qur'an and the Muslim tradition (sunnah). There were the following dominant traditions:
- Mu'tazilah was the school established in Iraq by Wasil bin 'Ata (699-749), a student of the distinguished scholar Hasan al-Basri (642-728). The Mu'tazilites rose to prominence in 750, under the new Abbasid dynasty of caliphs. One caliph, al-Ma'mun, declared Mu'tazilah doctrine to be the state creed, and persecuted dissenters. This completely alienated the Sunni Muslim clergy, the ulema, and Mu'tazilism fell into disrepute after the death of al-Ma'mun. There are no current Sunni adherents of Mu'tazilism, though their texts are still read and preserved as important to understanding the history of Sunni theology. The Shi'a follow a Mu'tazili tradition.
- The Mu'tazilites were heavily influenced by Greek philosophy, and attempted to establish religion and ethics on the basis of reason alone. While they accepted the authority of the Qur'an, they argued that it should be accepted because it was reasonable. They understood many Quranic passages metaphorically, particularly those implying that God has a human body. They stressed human free will, and taught that the Qur'an was created in time, existing only from the moment it was revealed to Muhammad.
- Ash'ariyyah, founded by Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari (873-935). The dominant theology, and the tradition embraced by al-Ghazali, a Muslim jurist and mystic whom many Sunnis follow and revere.
- Ash'ariyyah theology stresses divine revelation over human reason. Ethics, they say, cannot be derived from human reason: God's commands, as revealed in the Qur'an and the practice of Muhammad and his companions (the sunnah, as recorded in the traditions, or hadith), are the source of all morality.
- Regarding the nature of God and the divine attributes, the Ash'ari rejected the Mu'tazilite position that all Quranic references to God as having physical attributes (that is, a body) were metaphorical. Ash'aris insisted that these attributes were "true", since the Qur'an could not be in error, but that they were not to be understood as implying a crude anthropomorphism.
- Ash'aris tend to stress divine omnipotence over human free will. They believe that the Qur'an is eternal and uncreated.
- Maturidiyyah, founded by Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (d.944). Maturidiyyah was a minority tradition until it was accepted by the Turkish tribes of Central Asia (previously they had been Ashari and followers of the Shafi school, it was only later on migration into Anatolia that they became Hanafi and followers of the Maturidi creed). One of the those tribes, the Seljuk Turks, migrated to Turkey, where later the Ottoman Empire was established. Their preferred school of law achieved a new prominence throughout their whole empire although it continued to be followed almost exclusively by followers of the Hanafi school while followers of the Shafi Maliki and Hanbali schools followed the Ashari school. Thus, wherever can be found Hanafi followers, there can be found the Maturidi creed).
- Maturidiyyah argue that knowledge of God's existence can be derived through reason alone, thus following the Mu'tazilites.
- Athariyyah (meaning Textualist) or Hanbali, no specific founder, but Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal played a key historic role in keeping this school alive.
- This school does not employ logic in understanding the names and attributes of God, but rather affirms all of God's names and attributes as they are found in the Qur'an and Sunnah (prophetic traditions), with the disclaimer that the "how" of the attribute is not known. They say that God is as He described Himself "in a way befitting of His majesty." Thus, regarding verses where God is described as having a "yad" (hand) or "wajh" (face), the textualists say that God is exactly as He described himself in a way befitting of His majesty, without inquiring as to the "how" of these attributes.
- The Athariyyah still believe that God does not resemble His creation in any way, as this is also found in the texts. Thus, in the Athari creed, it is still prohibited to imagine an image of God in any way. The Athariyyah say that the "yad" (hand) of God is "unlike any other yad" (since God does not resemble His creation in any way) and prohibit imagining what God would like, even though this attribute of a "yad" is still affirmed.

Sunni view of hadith

The Qur'an as we have it today was written down in approximately 650 A.D., and is accepted by all Muslim denominations. However, there were many matters of belief and daily life that were not directly prescribed in the Qur'an, but simply the practice of the community. Later generations sought out oral traditions regarding the early history of Islam, and the practice of Muhammad and his first followers, and wrote them down so that they might be preserved. These recorded oral traditions are called hadith. Muslim scholars sifted through the hadith and evaluated the chain of narration of each tradition, scrutinizing the trustworthiness of the narrators and judging the strength of each hadith accordingly. Most Sunni accept the hadith collections of Bukhari and Muslim as the most authentic (sahih, or correct), and grant a lesser status to the collections of other recorders. There are however, six collections of hadith that are held in particular reverence by Sunni Muslims:
- Sahih al-Bukhari
- Sahih Muslim
- Sunan Abu Dawud
- Sunan ibn Majah
- Sunan at-Tirmidhi
- Sunan an-Nasa'ii There are also other collections of hadith which, although less well-known, still contain many authentic hadith and are frequently used by specialists such as:
- Sahih Ibn Hibban
- Mustadrak of Al Haakim
- Musonnaf of 'Abd Ar Razzaq
- Sahih ibn Khuzaima
- Muwatta of Imam Malik
- Musnad of Ahmed ibn Hanbal
- Musnad of Umar ibn Abdul Aziz

Current trends in Sunni thought and practice

- Sufism
- Salafism
- Wahabism
- Liberal movements within Islam
- Muslim Brotherhood

External links

Articles and instruction:
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Abbasid

] Abbasid (Arabic: العبّاسيّون Abbāsīyūn) was the dynastic name generally given to the caliphs of Baghdad, the second of the two great Sunni dynasties of the Muslim empire, that overthrew the Umayyad caliphs. It seized power in 750, when it finally defeated the Umayyads in battle, and flourished for two centuries, but slowly went into decline with the rise to power of the Turkish army they had created, the Mamluks. Their claim to power was finally ended in 1258, when Hulagu Khan, the Mongol general, sacked Baghdad. While they continued to claim authority in religious matters from their base in Egypt, their dynasty was ended. However, traces of this dynasty can be found in modern day Iraq, Kuwait, and in northern areas of Pakistan.

Revolt against the Umayyads

The Abbasid caliphs officially based their claim to the Caliphate on their descent from Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (AD 566-652), one of the youngest uncles of the Prophet Muhammad, by virtue of which descent they regarded themselves as the rightful heirs of the Prophet as opposed to the Umayyads. The Umayyads were descended from Umayya, and were a clan separate from Muhammad's in the Quraish tribe. The Abbasids also distinguished themselves from the Umayyads by attacking their secularism, moral character and administration in general. The Abbasids also appealed to non-Arab Muslims, known as mawali, who remained outside the kinship-based society of Arab culture and were perceived of as a lower class within the Umayyad empire. Muhammad ibn 'Ali, a great-grandson of Abbas, began to campaign for the return of power to the family of the Prophet, the Hashimites, in Persia during the reign of Umar II, Muhammad ibn Ali. During the reign of Marwan II this opposition culminated in the rebellion of Ibrahim the Imam, the fourth in descent from Abbas, who, supported by the province of Khorasan, achieved considerable successes, but was captured (AD 747) and died in prison (as some hold, assassinated). The quarrel was taken up by his brother Abdallah, known by the name of Abu al-'Abbas as-Saffah, who, after a decisive victory on the Greater Zab River (750), finally crushed the Umayyads and was proclaimed Caliph.

Consolidation and schisms

The Abbasids had depended heavily on the support of Persians in their overthrow of the Umayyads. Abu al-'Abbas' successor, al-Mansur, moved their capital from Damascus to the new city of Baghdad and welcomed non-Arab Muslims to their court. While this helped integrate Arab and Persian cultures, it alienated many of their Arab supporters, particularly the Khorasanian Arabs who had supported them in their battles against the Umayyads. Khorasan These fissures in their support led to immediate problems. The Umayyads, while out of power, were not destroyed. The only surviving member of the Umayyad royal family, which had been all but annihilated at a pool party, ultimately made his way to Spain where he established himself as an independent Emir (Abd ar-Rahman I, 756). In 929, Abd ar-Rahman III assumed the title of Caliph, establishing Córdoba as a rival to Baghdad as the legitimate capital of the Islamic Empire. The Abbasids also found themselves at odds with the Shias, many of whom had supported their war against the Umayyads, since the Abbasids claimed legitimacy by their familial connection to Muhammed. Once in power, the Abbasids embraced Sunni Islam and disavowed any support for Shi'a beliefs. That led to numerous conflicts, culminating in an uprising in Mecca in 786, followed by widespread bloodshed and the flight of many Shi'a to the Maghreb, where the survivors established the Idrisid kingdom. Shortly thereafter Berber Kharijites set up an independent state in North Africa in 801. At the same time the Abbasids faced challenges closer to home. The Byzantine Empire was fighting Abbasid rule in Syria and Anatolia. Former supporters of the Abbasids had broken away to create a separate kingdom around Khorosan in northern Persia. Harun al-Rashid (786 - 809) added to these troubles by turning on the Barmakids, the Persian family that had supplied the caliphate with competent administrators.

The Mamluks

Faced with these challenges from within, the Abbasids decided to create an army loyal only to their caliphate, drawn mostly from Turkish slaves, known as Mamluks, with some Slavs and Berbers participating as well. This force, created in the reign of al-Ma'mun (813 - 833), and his brother and successor al-Mu'tasim (833 - 842), prevented the further distintegration of the empire. However, it also led to the ultimate eclipse of Abbasid rule. The creation of this foreign army and al-Mu'tasim's transfer of the capital from Baghdad to Samarra created a division between the caliphate and the peoples they claimed to rule. In addition, the power of the Mamluks steadily grew until al-Radi (934 - 941) was constrained to hand over most of the royal functions to Mahommed bin Raik. In the following years the Buyids, who were Shi'ites, seized power over Baghdad, ruling central Iraq for more than a century before being overthrown by the Seljuq Turks. In the same period, the Hamdanids, another Shi'ite dynasty, came to power in northern Iraq, leading to a tremendous expansion of Shi'a influence. In the process the Abbasid caliphs became no more than figureheads.

Learning under the Abbasid dynasty

HamdanidThe reigns of Harun al-Rashid (786 - 809) and his successors fostered an age of great intellectual achievement. In large part this was the result of the schismatic forces that had undermined the Umayyad regime, which relied on the assertion of the superiority of Arab culture as part of its claim to legitimacy, and the Abbasids' welcoming of support from non-Arab Muslims. A number of medieval thinkers and scientists living under Islamic rule, many of them non-Muslims or heretical Muslims, played a role in transmitting Greek, Hindu, and other pre-Islamic knowledge to the Christian West. They contributed to making Aristotle known in Christian Europe. In addition, the period saw the recovery of much of the Alexandrian mathematical, geometric and astronomical knowledge, such as that of Euclides and Claudius Ptolemy. These recovered mathematical methods were later enhanced and developed by other Islamic scholars, notably by Al-Biruni, and Abu Nasr Mansur. Three speculative thinkers, the Persians al-Kindi, al-Farabi, and Avicenna, combined Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism with other ideas introduced through Islam.

The end of the caliphate

Hulagu Khan sacked Baghdad on (February 10, 1258), causing great loss of life. Hulagu and many others feared an earthquake or other shock to nature occurring if the blood of Al-Musta'sim, the last reigning Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad, a direct descendent of Mohammed's uncle, was spilled. Despite having taken advice from Learned Shiites that no such calamity had happened after the deaths of John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, or the Shiite saint Hosein, as a precaution Hulagu had Al-Musta'sim wrapped in a carpet and then trodden to death by horses on February 20, 1258. Al-Musta'sim family was also executed, with the lone exceptions of his youngest son and a daughter who was sent to Mongolia to be a slave in the harem of Hulagu. The Abbasids still maintained a feeble show of authority, confined to religious matters, in Egypt under the Mamluks, but the dynasty finally disappeared with Al-Mutawakkil III, who was carried away as a prisoner to Constantinople by Selim I.

Abbasid Caliphs of Baghdad

- Abu'l Abbas As-Saffah 750 - 754
- Al-Mansur 754 - 775
- Al-Mahdi 775 - 785
- Al-Hadi 785 - 786
- Harun al-Rashid 786 - 809
- Al-Amin 809 - 813
- Al-Ma'mun 813 - 833
- Al-Mu'tasim 833 - 842
- Al-Wathiq 842 - 847
- Al-Mutawakkil 847 - 861
- Al-Muntasir 861 - 862
- Al-Musta'in 862 - 866
- Al-Mu'tazz 866 - 869
- Al-Muhtadi 869 - 870
- Al-Mu'tamid 870 - 892
- Al-Mu'tadid 892 - 902
- Al-Muktafi 902 - 908
- Al-Muqtadir 908 - 932
- Al-Qahir 932 - 934
- Ar-Radi 934 - 940
- Al-Muttaqi 940 - 944
- Al-Mustakfi 944 - 946
- Al-Muti 946 - 974
- At-Ta'i 974 - 991
- Al-Qadir 991 - 1031
- Al-Qa'im 1031 - 1075
- Al-Muqtadi 1075 - 1094
- Al-Mustazhir 1094 - 1118
- Al-Mustarshid 1118 - 1135
- Ar-Rashid 1135 - 1136
- Al-Muqtafi 1136 - 1160
- Al-Mustanjid 1160 - 1170
- Al-Mustadi 1170 - 1180
- An-Nasir 1180 - 1225
- Az-Zahir 1225 - 1226
- Al-Mustansir 1226 - 1242
- Al-Musta'sim 1242 - 1258

Abbasid Caliphs in Cairo

- Al-Mustansir 1261
- Al-Hakim I 1262-1302
- Al-Mustakfi I 1303532-1340
- Al-Wathiq I 1340-1341
- Al-Hakim II 1341-1352
- Al-Mu'tadid I 1352-1362
- Al-Mutawakkil I 1362-1383
- Al-Wathiq II 1383-1386
- Al-Mu'tasim 1386-1389
- Al-Mutawakkil I (restored) 1389-1406
- Al-Musta'in 1406-1414
- Al-Mu'tadid II 1414-1441
- Al-Mustakfi II 1441-1451
- Al-Qa'im 1451-1455
- Al-Mustanjid 1455-1479
- Al-Mutawakkil II 1479-1497
- Al-Mustamsik 1497-1508
- Al-Mutawakkil III 1508-1517

References

Notes

# [http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/050425fa_fact4 Annals of history: Invaders: Destroying Baghdad] by Ian Frazier, in The New Yorker 25 April 2005

External link

- http://www.princeton.edu/~batke/itl/denise/abbasids.htm
- http://www.deremilitari.org/RESOURCES/sources/baghdad.htm
- [http://www.islamicarchitecture.org/dynasties/abbasids.html Abbasids the 2nd dynasty of caliphs] Category:Caliphates Category:Sunni Islam ms:Kerajaan Bani Abbasiyyah ja:アッバース朝

Caliph

:This article is on the highest religious and/or temporal title, aspiring universal authority, in Islam; :for lower, notably gubernatorial, uses of the Arabic title khalifa, see that article Caliph is the term or title for the Islamic leader of the Ummah, or community of Islam. It is an Anglicized/Latinized version of the Arabic word خليفة or Khalīfah () which means "successor", that is, successor to the prophet Muhammad. Some academics prefer to transliterate the term as Khalîf. The caliph has often been referred to as Ameer al-Mumineen (أمير المؤمنين), or "Prince of the Faithful," where "Prince" is used in the context of "commander." After the first four caliphs (Abu Bakr, Umar ibn al-Khattab, Uthman ibn Affan, and Ali ibn Abi Talib) the title was claimed by the Umayyads, the Abbasids, and the Ottomans, as well as by other, competing lineages in Spain, Northern Africa, and Egypt. Most historical Muslim rulers simply titled themselves sultans or emirs, and gave token obedience to a caliph who often had very little real authority. The title has been defunct since the abolition of the Ottoman Sultanate in 1924.

Origins of the caliphate

Most academic scholars do not believe that Muhammad had explicitly established how the Muslim community was to be governed after his death. Two questions faced these early Muslims: who was to succeed Muhammad, and what sort of authority he was to exercise.

Succession to Muhammad

Fred Donner, in his book The Early Islamic Conquests(1981), argues that the standard Arabian practice at the time was for the prominent men of a kinship group, or tribe, to gather after a leader's death and choose a leader from amongst themselves. There was no specified procedure for this shura, or consultation. Candidates were usually from the same lineage as the deceased leader, but they were not necessarily his sons. Capable men who would lead well were preferred over an ineffectual direct heir. Muhammad, if he considered the matter of succession at all, would possibly have thought that the standard procedure would apply. This is also the argument advanced by Sunni Muslims, who believe that Muhammad's lieutenant Abu Bakr was chosen by the community and that this was the proper procedure. They further argue that a caliph is ideally chosen by election or community consensus, even though the caliphate soon became a hereditary office, or the prize of the strongest general. Sunnis accept that the caliph should be chosen from Muhammad's tribe, the Quraysh. Shi'a Muslims disagree. They believe that Muhammad had given many indications that he considered Ali ibn Abi Talib, his cousin and son-in-law, as his chosen successor. They say that Abu Bakr seized power by force and trickery. All caliphs other than Ali were usurpers. Ali and his descendents are believed to have been the only proper Muslim leaders, or imams. This matter is covered in much greater detail in the article Succession to Muhammad, and in the article on Shi'a Islam. A third branch of Islam, the Ibadi, believes that the caliphate rightly belongs to the greatest spiritual leader among Muslims, regardless of his lineage. They are currently an extremely small sect, found mainly in Oman.

The authority of the caliph

Who should succeed Muhammad was not the only issue that faced the early Muslims; they also had to clarify the extent of the leader's powers. Muhammad, during his lifetime, was not only the Muslim leader, but the Muslim prophet and the Muslim judge. All law and spiritual practice proceeded from Muhammad. Was his successor to have the same status? None of the early caliphs claimed to receive divine revelations, as did Muhammad; none of them claimed to be nabi, a prophet. Muhammad's revelations were soon codified and written down as the Qur'an, which was accepted as a supreme authority, limiting what a caliph could legitimately command. However, there is some evidence that the early caliphs did believe that they had authority to rule in matters not specified in the Qur'an. They believed themselves to be the spiritual and temporal leaders of Islam, and insisted that implicit obedience to the caliph in all things was the hallmark of the good Muslim. The modern scholars Patricia Crone and Martin Hinds, in their book God's Caliph, outline the evidence for an early, expansive view of the caliph's importance and authority. They argue that this view of the caliphate was eventually nullified (in Sunni Islam, at least) by the rising power of the ulema, or Islamic scholars, clerics, and religious specialists. The ulema insisted on their right to determine what was legal and orthodox. The proper Muslim leader, in the ulema's opinion, was the leader who enforced the rulings of the ulema, rather than making rulings of his own. Conflict between caliph and ulema was a recurring theme in early Islamic history, and ended in the victory of the ulema. The caliph was henceforth limited to temporal rule. He would be considered a righteous caliph if he were guided by the ulema. Crone and Hinds argue that Shi'a Muslims, with their expansive view of the powers of the imamate, have preserved some of the beliefs of early Islam. Crone and Hinds' thesis is not accepted by all scholars. Most Sunni Muslims now believe that the caliph has always been a merely temporal ruler, and that the ulema has always been responsible for adjudicating orthodoxy and Islamic law (shari'a). The first four caliphs are called the Rashidun, the Rightly Guided Caliphs, because they are believe to have followed the Qur'an and the way or sunnah of Muhammad in all things. This formulation itself presumes the Sunni ulema's view of history.

The history of the caliphate

Abu Bakr nominated Umar as his successor on his deathbed, and the Muslim community submitted to his choice. Uthman was elected by a council of electors, but was soon perceived by many Muslims to be ruling as a "king" rather than an elected leader. Uthman was killed by rebellious soldiers. Ali then took control, but was not universally accepted as caliph. He faced numerous rebellions and was assassinated after a tumultuous rule of only five years. This period is known as the Fitna, or the first Islamic civil war. One of Ali's challengers was Muawiyah, a relative of Uthman. After Ali's death, Muawiyah managed to overcome all other claimants to the caliphate. He is remembered b

Succession to Muhammad

Problems with the historical record

An overview of events

The Shi'a view of the succession

Ghadir Khumm

Muhammad's last illness

The events at Saqifah

Persecution of the Rafidi

Ali submits for the sake of his followers

The role of hadith

The Sunni view of the succession

Ghadir Khom

Muhammad's last illness

The events at Saqifah

Persecution of the Rafidi

Muhammad's estates

Western academic views

References

Academic books

Shi'a books

Sunni books

External links

Shi'a perspective

Sunni perspective

Muhammad

Summary

Sources about Muhammad's life

Muhammad's life according to Sira

Muhammad's genealogy

Childhood

Middle years

The first revelations

Rejection

Isra and Miraj

Hijra

War

Muhammad's rule consolidated

Continued warfare

The conquest of Mecca

Unification of Arabia

Muhammad as a warrior

Muhammad's family life

Companions of Muhammad

The death of Muhammad

Muhammad's descendants

Muhammad's historical significance

Muslim veneration of Muhammad

See also

References

External links

Abu Bakr

Early life

Muhamamd's era

Rise to the Caliphate

The Ridda Wars

Expeditions to the north

Origins of the Qur'an

Death of Abu Bakr

Was Abu Bakr the first man to adopt Islam?

Shia view of Abu Bakr

See also

References

External link

Sunni

Historical Background of Sunni-Shi'a split

Demographics

Sunni schools of law (Madhab)

Sunni theological traditions (kalam)

Sunni view of hadith

Current trends in Sunni thought and practice

See Also

External links

Abbasid

Revolt against the Umayyads

Consolidation and schisms

The Mamluks

Learning under the Abbasid dynasty

The end of the caliphate

Abbasid Caliphs of Baghdad

Abbasid Caliphs in Cairo