Abu Bakr (632-634)
Abu Bakr was elected to power by the shura after Muhammad* died. He was given by the representatives of the people a vast land across most of Arabia. Politically it was a web of tribes that he ruled over Arabia, tribes that Muhammad* conquered and tribes that had pledged their allegiance to Islam.
Although in 632, Abu Bakr had to face a problem that would last his whole short reign of two years. After the seal of the prophets* died, many tribes in Arabia defected and left Islam. They believed that now Muhammad* was gone, his message died too as in
pre-Islamic times, the arabs only pledged their allegiance to leaders until they died. These tribes that defected refused to pay tax to the Caliphate state and even some claimed that they had prophets of their own, they were all impostors though as Muhammad* is the last prophet.
Abu Bakr had to re-unify the Islamic state and he did so through the last means he could do so, war. The Ridda (The Wars of Apostasy) started in 632 and ended in 633, this war was mainly between two parties, the Islamic community under Abu Bakr and many rebel tribes scattered around led by self-proclaimed 'prophet' Musaylimah. Abu Bakr divided his army and crushed these tribes in a year, the most powerful branch of his army was led by Khalid ibn al Walid, the future conqueror of Syria and Iraq. Khalid ibn al Walid finally defeated Musaylimah the Liar in the battle of Yamama on a desert plain outnumbered by 28,000.
Abu Bakr put down the revolt and re-unified the Caliphate from the centralized social and political capital of the Muslims, since the Hijrah, Medina. As the Caliphate stabilized Abu Bakr made sure that the Qu'ran was carefully preserved and kept untouched. He also led the first proper invasions against the superpowers of Roman Byzantine (Eastern Roman Empire) and Sassanid Persia.
Khalid Ibn al Walid was sent to conquer Iraq (the richest province of Persia) from the Sassanids and he was successful in gaining territory. The general earned a reputation of being one of the most genius military minds in history, in Iraq he had a magnificent chain of wins against the much more powerful Persians.
Therefore Abu Bakr sent him to conquer Syria from the Romans, which he did with the help of four other generals. Suddenly in the midst of conquest, Abu Bakr, the first Caliph passed away. Khalid ibn al Walid and his generals halted the advance and returned.
Abu Bakr left the Caliphate as shown on the top right.
Umar ibn al Khattab (634-644)
The shura met once more in Medina to decide the future leadership of the Caliphate. It was decided that Umar ibn al Khattab, a very close companion to Muhammad* and a fearless strong and tall man was to rise to power.
Umar ibn al Khattab immediately set to conquering the world and spreading the word of Allah. He became the best conquerer of all the Rashidun Caliph, he took the remainder of Mesopotamia from Persia and the remainder of Syria from Byzantium, hence finishing what Abu Bakr started.
There were two major battles that truly elevated the Caliphate's military status astronomically and marked the beginning of the tremendous expansion of Umar's Caliphate all the way to the fringes of the Sahara to the west and Persia to the east. These two battles were 1) The Battle of Yarmuk and 2) The Battle of Qaddasiyah.
In the year 636, these two major battles occurred, the Battle of Yarmuk was the first major battle between the Caliphate and Roman Byzantium and the second the Battle of Qaddasiyah between the Caliphate and Persia.
In 635, Umar had invaded and conquered most of southern Syria, Palestine and was planning on invading the residence of the Roman emperor Heraclius II, Aleppo in modern day Turkey. The Muslim armies under the generals Khalid ibn al Walid, Abu Ubaidah ibn al Jarrah, Amr ibn al 'As and Yazid ibn Abu Sufyan (brother of Muawiyah) were conquering the Levant and no one came in their way until Heraclius arranged a counter-attack. The battered emperor sent five armies to intercept the Muslim advance and eventually they met near the Yarmuk river (between Jordan and Syria).
100,000-400,000 (according to primary sources) Byzantines consisting of Franks, Georgians, Armenians and Georgians advanced against 25,000-40,000 Muslims. The battle lasted for 6 days and caused a reported 70,000-120,000 deaths among the Byzantines and only 4000 dead Muslims. Thanks to Khalid ibn al Walid and his fellow generals superior tactics and troop management the Muslims won a decisive victory against an army at least three times larger than them.
The result of Umar's victory at Yarmuk was the Muslim armies going on to conquer the Levant, Anatolian territory and Armenia. This battle followed up by Amr ibn 'As conquering Egypt against the disarrayed Byzantine Empire. The victories in the west of the Caliphate went smooth after Yarmuk, and it was time to bring down the second superpower, Sassanid Persia.
Back in Mesopotamia, the Persians were disturbed by internal affairs in Ctesiphon, the lavish Persian capital in Mesopotamian due to the shock that Khalid ibn al Walid's first wave of invasions caused under Abu Bakr. The Muslims now were in the Arabian desert of Mesopotamia still awaiting orders to re-advance on the Persians from Umar ibn al Khattab. They did so and provoked the Persian shah to send an army of 100,000 (primary sources) soldiers to repel the Muslim push west and avoid the same fate of the Byzantines at Yarmuk.
Umar's general Sa'ad ibn abi Waqqas, a Uhud veteran and companion of the Messenger of Allah* was a strong believer and had led his 25,000-30,000 men to Mesopotamian glory. As the colossal Persian juggernaught advanced relentlessly to repel the Muslim invaders, Umar played a major role in reinforcing the Rashidun armies and they prepared for battle.
From November 13th 636CE to November 16th 636CE, Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqqas and Caliph Umar both worked together in destroying Rustam (the famous Persian general) and his armies. On the eve of the 16th of November the battle was over and Allah gave the Muslims victory over another seemingly impossible empire. Iraq was annexed by the Caliphate, the Persians lost at least 30,000 men compared to 6000 Muslims. Booty, gold and jewels in the scandalous city of Ctesiphon, the military men were enriched greatly and the state in Medina received the wealth.
After these two major battles the Caliphate began the planning for the destruction of the once mighty and world commanding Sassanid Persia and Byzantine Rome. Umar would finish by conquering most of North Africa in the east and all of Persia until Central Asia. He reigned for 10 years until 644 and conquest wasn't the only success of Umar ibn al Khattab.
Umar made reforms that have made an impact until today, he created a very complex but efficient bureaucracy for the newly conquered lands, he codified Islamic Law, he decided that the Islamic calendar should start on Hijrah 1, he oversaw the founding of Kufa and Basra in Iraq that are large cities today. He also proved that the most powerful man in the world can also be humble and respectful, there are many stories of him living a humble and poor life, however may Allah be pleased with him. Umar ibn al Khattab died on 644 at the age of 63. The shura in the wonderful and prosperous halls of Medina met again.
Uthman ibn Affan (644-656)
November 11th 644, Uthman ibn Affan became the Commander of the Faithful (Amir al Mu'min). He was elected after a shura of six of the Prophet's* closest companions met, including Ali ibn abi Talib and Sa'ad ibn abi Waqqas (conquerer of Persia) and they decided that Uthman was most eligible to lead. It was between him and Ali by the end of the three day election. In order to strengthen the democracy in the election not only did the council of six representing the people in the various provinces decide but they also asked many of the public in Medina, who were generally in favor of Uthman taking power over Ali, who was still young.
Uthman's successful politics
Uthman ibn Affan's first actions upon becoming the Commander of the Faithful was ensuring that Umar's laws were kept and refined. The bureaucracy Umar made was stronger and increasingly efficient under Uthman ibn Affan who divided the Caliphate into twelve provinces and appointed a governor for each one who in turn appointed his different ministers. Due to this organization the will of the state was always carried out, even from thousands of kilometres away, and communication was quick and effective.
Under Uthman ibn Affan, the hundreds of revelations that Muhammad* received from Allah that were finally all recorder into the final copy and perfected copy of Qu'ran al Kareem. Uthman had an excellent economic policy that the greatly benefited the Muslim World economy, since his days as a youth and an early convert to Islam his business skills were noticed. Uthman was the first to permit Muslims to take loans (free of interest) from the Caliphate's state treasury and this caused business to thrive.
As a global economy was beginning to take shape, Uthman made farther reforms in favour of the non-Muslims, reflecting the tolerance and fairness in Islam, living in the Caliphate. He decided that the property and land in the newly conquered areas would remain owned by those who owned them before Islam's arrival, instead of splitting the property as spoils between the military. Uthman increased wages and opportunity for the average Muslims, he ruled as Caliph and refused to accept a salary to rule. He was rich enough himself.
The living standard increased dramatically in the Caliphate at Uthman's time, 5000+ mosques were built, construction in the major cities thrived, the Holy Mosques in Mecca and Medina were expanded, but construction wasn't the only rising industries. Uthman oversaw that water be provided to the masses, he ordered the making of canals to aid agriculture and connect water supplies and the building of wells in places where water was scarce.
Militarism, Power and a Fateful Assassination
Throughout his reign Uthman made many political and economic reforms that were large successes. Although not only was he enlightened in economics and politics but in militarism. The first Islamic navy was founded by him, the armaments of the Islamic armies were modernized, more stables were built throughout the empire to enlarge cavalry ranged armies and numerous barracks were built. He also founded the sea port and modern metropolis Jeddah (Saudi Arabia).
Uthman ibn Affan added vast lands of high importance to the Caliphate, he conquered the rest of North Africa to the Atlantic ocean with his general Uqba ibn Nafi, he advanced against the Byzantines into the depths of Anatolia, he pushed into the Caucasus into Georgia and parts of Russia, his armies entered deeper into Transoxania, farther east in Afghanistan and farther southeast in Pakistan bordering India. The newly created navy captured the Mediterranean Byzantine islands of Cyprus, Crete, Rhodes and most of Sicily in southern Italy. Uthman's navy had supreme control of the Mediterranean by 654.
Uthman ibn Affan was generally loved due to his major success, although by the end of his reign many were judging his family members - whom were powerful governors across the Caliphate - were corrupt and misusing their power. Uthman ibn Affan investigated this claim by closely inspecting his own family, he also discussed why rebels calling for his overthrowing were arising ever more rapidly with all the governors of his twelve provinces. He sent out emissaries to investigate the cause for the anti-Uthmanism at the time, the curious Caliph even addressed the public denying all charges against him, as the rebels began using critical propaganda against him.
In the final year of his life, 656, a coup d'etat was staged in Egypt by the rebels, in Kufa and Basra the rebels maintained a stronghold. Therefore Uthman's ministers could not control these rebellious places. Eventually, one of the rebel leaders, Muhammad bin abi Hudhaifah sent 1000 men from Egypt to murder the righteous Caliph.
In Medina, the Caliph Uthman refused to allow his entourage and volunteers to fight the assassins as he feared he might cause a fitna. Instead he told his guards to protect his Caliphal court, however the assassins stormed place and Uthman was brutally killed before the guards then killed the Uthman's killers. This murder would change the course of history.
Ali ibn Abi Talib (656-661)
Ali ibn abi Talib took power on 656 after the assassinationof Uthman ibn Affan and his reign would be overshadowed by civil war (fitna) inthe Caliphate. He already had plenty of supporters and enemies by his rise topower. He had been denied the post of the Caliph three times since the death ofMuhammad*, his uncle. In 656, he initially refused to become Caliph, as hethought that he would cause political turbulence among his enemy rebels,however after the masses and the nobles of Medina favored him, he accepted.
In 656, the year the shura decided his legitimacy to rule,Ali ibn abi Talib was to make a very wrong decision that would lead to his demise and the First Fitna of Islam. He didn’t start any investigation and putvery little effort into finding who was responsible for the murder of Uthmanand the late rebellions of 655-656, many opposition groups arose claiming theywanted justice for the late Uthman. Other opposition groups suspected Ali ibn abi Talib of being responsible in a way. Hence due to the mystery of the assassination of Uthman, Ali already had two major oppositions, the first onewas to be led by ‘Aisha, the preferred wife of Muhammad* who disliked ‘Ali and demanded justice, the second by Muawiyah ibn Abu Sufyan, who wanted power and justicefor his murdered cousin.
‘Aisha started her revolt by rounding up an army anddeclared a rebellion against Ali’s Caliphate. She was joined by two other ex-candidates for the position of the Caliph - Al Zubayr ibn al Awwam and Talhah ibn Ubaid Allah – and together they rounded up a rebel army from Basra, Kufa and other rebel-infested cities and they advanced on Ali’s Caliphate from the inside. Ali ibn abi Talib defended with his own army and won a decisive victory against‘Aisha’s forces in 656 at the Battle of the Camel. ‘Aisha was sent to house arrest, Al Zubayr was murdered and Talhah ibn Ubaid Allah died in battle.
After ‘Aisha the second revolt by Muawiyah, the son of Abu Sufyan, shook the Caliphate’s foundations more than any other revolt had ever done so before. A revolt that would end with the death of 'Ali and the rise of the dynasty of Ummaya ibn Abd Shams, the Ummayads.
The end of the Rashidun Caliphate and the coming of the Ummayads
