Rashidun Caliphate

The Rashidun Caliphate (Arabic: ٱلْخِلَافَةُ ٱلرَّاشِدَةُ, romanized: al-Khilāfah ar-Rāšidah) is the early Islamic polity led by the first four successive caliphs (lit. "successors") Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali, collectively known as the Rashidun, or "Rightly Guided" caliphs. These early caliphs led the Muslim community from the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in 632 CE to the foundation of the Umayyad Caliphate in 661 CE.

Rashidun Caliphate ٱلْخِلَافَةُ ٱلرَّاشِدَةُ (Arabic) al-Khilāfah ar-Rāšidah
632–661
The Rashidun Caliphate at its greatest extent under Uthman, c. 654
Capital	Medina (632–656) Kufa (656–661)
Official languages	Arabic
Common languages	Various regional languages
Religion	Islam
Government	Consultative caliphate
Caliph
• 632–634	Abu Bakr
• 634–644	Umar
• 644–656	Uthman
• 656–661	Ali
History
• Succession to Muhammad	632
• Conquest of Persia	633–654
• Ascension of Umar	634
• Election of Uthman	644
• Election of Ali	656
• Assassination of Ali	661
• Abdication of Hasan	661
Area
655	6,400,000 km^2 (2,500,000 sq mi)
Currency	Dirham
Preceded by Succeeded by State of Medina Byzantine Empire Sasanian Empire Ghassanids Umayyad Caliphate

The title Rashidun stems from the doctrine in Sunni Islam that the caliphs were "rightly guided". Endowed with superior piety and wisdom, their era is regarded in Sunni Islam as a "golden age", second only to the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad in sanctity and in providing moral and religious guidance. Sunni Muslims consider the "rightly guided" reign of the first four caliphs as a model to be followed and emulated from a religious point of view. The term Rashidun is not used by Shia Muslims, who make up 10–15% of the global Muslim population, as they only consider Ali to have been a legitimate caliph and reject the first three caliphs as usurpers; while Ibadi Muslims only regard the first two caliphs, Abu Bakr and Umar, as rightly-guided caliphs.

The Caliphate's first 25 years were characterized by rapid military expansion during which it became the most powerful economic and military force in West Asia and Northeast Africa. By the 650s, in addition to the Arabian Peninsula, the caliphate had subjugated the Levant and parts of Transcaucasia to the north; North Africa from Egypt to the edge of present-day Tunisia in the west; and from the Iranian Plateau to parts of Central and South Asia in the east. The Caliphate ended after 5 years of internal strife.

Following Muhammad's death in June 632, Muslim leaders debated who should succeed him. Unlike later caliphates which were ruled by hereditary dynasties, the Rashidun caliphs were either chosen by a small group of high-ranking companions of the Prophet in shūrā (lit. 'consultation') or appointed by their predecessor. Muhammad's close companion and father-in-law Abu Bakr (r. 632–634), of the Banu Taym, was elected the first caliph in Medina and presided over the conquest of the Arabian Peninsula. The only Rashidun caliph not to die by assassination, he was succeeded as caliph by Umar (r. 634–644) from the Banu Adi and who was also a close companion and father-in-law of Muhammad. During Umar's reign, the caliphate expanded at an unprecedented rate, conquering more than two-thirds of the Byzantine Empire and nearly the entire Sasanian Empire.

Following the assassination of Umar, Uthman (r. 644–656) of the Banu Umayya, who was a senior companion and son-in-law of Muhammad, was elected caliph. His reign oversaw the completion of the conquest of Persia in 651 and continued the military campaigns into Byzantine territories. Uthman was assassinated in June 656 and was succeeded by Ali (r. 656–661) of the Banu Hashim, the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, who moved the caliphate's capital to Kufa. Ali's accession to the caliphate triggered the First Fitna, a civil war ignited by the refusal of Uthman's kinsman from the Umayyad clan and the long-time governor of the Levant, Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan (r. 661–680), to recognize Ali's suzerainty and pledge allegiance to him until Uthman's killers were brought to justice.

After the Battle of Siffin between Ali's Iraqi army and Mu'awiya's Syrian forces which resulted in a stalemate and inconclusive arbitration, a faction of Ali's erstwhile supporters known as the Kharijites, who were opposed to his arbitration with Mu'awiya, seceded and rebelled against both sides. Following Ali's assassination by a Kharijite dissident in 661, Mu'awiya invaded Iraq with his Syrian army and compelled Ali's eldest son and successor Hasan, who had been chosen as caliph in Kufa, to abdicate the caliphate to him. Mu'awiya then entered Kufa and received the pledge of allegiance from the Iraqis, with his suzerainty being acknowledged throughout the Caliphate, before being crowned caliph at a ceremony in Jerusalem, thus founding the Umayyad Caliphate.

Names and definitions

The Arabic word rāshid (راشد) means "one who has attained the right path or maturity". The expression al-Khulafāʾ ar-Rāšidūn (الْخُلَفاءُ الرّاشِدُونَ) is an honorific title meaning "successors or representatives who have been guided to the right path". This also implies that they were endowed with superior piety and wisdom, and that their era was a "golden age" following Muhammad in holiness, moral and religious guidance.

During the eighth and ninth centuries, there was a diversity of opinions about which caliphs were rāshidūn. After the ninth century, however, the first four caliphs became canonical as rāshidun in Sunni Islam. The Umayyad caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz (r. 717–720) was cited as a fifth rāshidun caliph by the Sunni hadith collector Abu Dawud al-Sijistani (d. 889). Another hypothesis may have included Hasan ibn Ali (c. 625–670) as a fifth rāshidun caliph, because his six-month reign was needed to complete a thirty-year period after Abu Bakr's ascension, which was predicted by Muhammad in a Sunni hadith as the length of the prophetic succession.

In Shia Islam, the temporal and spiritual heritage of Muhammad is represented by the Imams, who (except for the first Imam Ali, who was his son-in-law) were his descendants. The first three Rashidun caliphs are regarded in Shia Islam as having usurped the rights of Ali, and the later Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs are regarded as having usurped the rights of the following Imams.

Ibadism does not see the caliphate as an institution that includes all believers and that must be obeyed. It considers the first two caliphs after Muhammad, Abu Bakr and Umar, as being on the right path; and their successors, including Uthman and Ali, as having strayed into injustice.

Historicity

The histories were written “a posteriori” in the form of “founding conquest stories” based on nostalgia for the golden age in Abbasid times. Humphrey, quoted by Antoine Borrut, explains that the chronicles related to this period were created according to a pact-betrayal-redemption principle. However, at least one inscription has been found dating to the period that mentions Umar by name and the date of his death, known as the inscription of Zuhayr. Its three lines read:

1. In the name of God
2. I, Zuhayr, wrote (this) at the time Umar died, year four
3. And twenty

Robert G. Hoyland, finds it "all but certain" that the inscription refers to the historical Umar ibn al-Khattab, adding, "and yet the absence of any epithet or title is striking". Inscriptions may be susceptible to alternative readings due to the erasure of letters by environmental influences and inadequate writing systems, and unless specifically stated, dating can only be done approximately based on the "writing style". Other possible mentions in inscriptions from that era could be read as from Uthman ibn Affan include: an inscription at Tayma, Saudi Arabia, and one at the Alia Palace archaeological site in Makkah Province, Saudi Arabia.

Coins: Unlike known historical figures such as Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr and Mu'awiya I who lived during this period, there are no coins minted in the name of these caliphs that could be evidence of political hegemony. The coins in circulation during the specified period contain two types of designs:

1. Byzantine type; this type was presented with Islamic writings in Arabic added onto the pictures of Byzantine kings and Christian figures.

2. Sassanid type; this type was presented with Islamic writings in Arabic added onto the pictures of the last Sassanid rulers and Zoroastrian figures.

In the collections of Islamic literature, a tradition of "letter writing" can be found under the categories of Maktubat, Risalat, etc. and a large number of letters, which need to be historically verified, are attributed to notable early Islamic figures including Umar as well as Muhammad and continue to be the subject of various religious-legal studies.

History

Background

According to the traditional account, the Islamic prophet Muhammad began receiving what Muslims consider to be divine revelations in 610 CE, calling for submission to the one God, preparation for the imminent Last Judgement, and charity for the poor and needy. As Muhammad's message began to attract followers, he was also met with increasing hostility and persecution from Meccan elites. In 622 CE Muhammad migrated to the city of Yathrib (now known as Medina), where he began to unify the tribes of Arabia under Islam, returning to Mecca to take control in 630 and order the destruction of all pagan idols. By the time Muhammad died c. 11 AH (632 CE), almost all the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam, but disagreement broke out over who would succeed him as leader of the Muslim community.

Among those seeking to be the successor of Muhammad were:

• the Muhajirun, senior Companions of the Prophet, including those known as "The ten to whom Paradise was promised" (al-ʿashara al-mubashsharūn).
• the Banu Hashim; members of the Hashemite clan including Ali and Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, who were the closest blood relatives to Muhammad;
• the Ansar; the people of Medina who had sheltered the Prophet and the early Muslim but were now "fed up" with being dominated by refugees from Mecca.
• the members of the aristocratic Quraysh tribe, including the powerful Umayyad clan who had a strong position in Mecca and influential commercial and financial ties.

In determining Muhammad's successor, the strong support and companionship given to him from the early years of his prophethood, praise given by Muhammad and the close kinship ties established with him came to the fore as the determining attitude. The first two caliphs gave their daughters to Muhammad in marriage while the next two married with Muhammad's daughters.

Timeline

(Note that a caliph's succession does not necessarily occur on the first day of the new year.)

• Iraq was divided into two provinces, Basra and Kufa;
• Jazira was divided into two provinces, the Tigris and the Euphrates;
• Syria was a province;
• Palestine was divided in two provinces: Ayla and Ramla;
• Egypt was divided into two provinces: Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt;
• Persia was divided into three provinces: Khorasan, Azerbaijan, and Fars.

In his testament Umar had instructed his successor, Uthman, not to make any change in the administrative setup for one year after his death, which Uthman honored; however, after the expiration of the moratorium, he made Egypt one province and created a new province comprising North Africa.^{[citation needed]}

During Uthman's reign the caliphate was divided into 12 provinces. These were:

1. Medina;
2. Mecca;
3. Yemen;
4. Kufa;
5. Basra;
6. Jazira;
7. Fars;
8. Azerbaijan;
9. Khorasan;
10. Syria;
11. Egypt;
12. Maghreb.^{[citation needed]}

The provinces were further divided into districts. Each of the 100 or more districts of the empire, along with the main cities, were administered by a governor (Wāli). Other officers at the provincial level were:

1. Katib, the Chief Secretary;
2. Katib-ud-Diwan, the Military Secretary;
3. Sahib-ul-Kharaj, the Revenue Collector;
4. Sahib-ul-Ahdath, the Police Chief;
5. Sahib-ul-Bait-ul-Mal, the Treasury Officer;
6. Qadi, the Chief Judge.^{[citation needed]}

In some districts there were separate military officers, though the governor was in most cases the commander-in-chief of the army quartered in the province. The officers were appointed by the Caliph. Every appointment was made in writing. At the time of appointment, an instrument of instructions was issued to regulate the conduct of the governors. On assuming office, the Governor was required to assemble the people in the main mosque and read the instrument of instructions before them.

Umar's general instructions to his officers were:

Remember, I have not appointed you as commanders and tyrants over the people. I have sent you as leaders instead, so that the people may follow your example. Give the Muslims their rights and do not beat them lest they become abused. Do not praise them unduly, lest they fall into the error of conceit. Do not keep your doors shut in their faces, lest the more powerful of them eat up the weaker ones. And do not behave as if you were superior to them, for that is tyranny over them.

During the reign of Abu Bakr, the state was economically weak, while during Umar's reign because of an increase in revenues and other sources of income, the state was on its way to economic prosperity. Hence Umar felt it necessary to treat the officers strictly in order to prevent corruption. During his reign, at the time of appointment, every officer was required to swear an oath:

1. That he would not ride a Turkic horse (which was a symbol of pride);
2. That he would not wear fine clothes;
3. That he would not eat sifted flour;
4. That he would not keep a porter at his door;
5. That he would always keep his door open to the public.^{[citation needed]}

Caliph Umar himself followed the above postulates strictly. During the reign of Uthman the state became more economically prosperous than ever before; the allowance of the citizens was increased by 25%, and the economic condition of the ordinary person was more stable, which led Caliph Uthman to revoke the second and third postulates of the oath.

At the time of an officer's appointment, a complete inventory of all his possessions was prepared and kept on record. If there was later an unusual increase in his possessions, he was immediately called to account, and the unlawful property confiscated by the State. The principal officers were required to come to Mecca on the occasion of the Hajj, during which people were free to present any complaint against them. In order to minimize the chances of corruption, Umar made it a point to pay high salaries to the staff. Provincial governors received as much as five to seven thousand dirhams annually besides their share of the spoils of war (if they were also the commander-in-chief of the army of their sector).^{[citation needed]}

Judicial administration

The judicial administration, like the rest of the administrative structure of the Rashidun Caliphate, was set up by Umar, and it remained basically unchanged throughout the duration of the Caliphate. In order to provide adequate and speedy justice for the people, justice was administered according to the principles of Islam.^{[citation needed]}

Accordingly, Qadis (judges) were appointed at all administrative levels. The Qadis were chosen for their integrity and learning in Islamic law. Wealthy men and men of high social status, compensated highly by the Caliphate, were appointed in order to make them resistant to bribery or undue influence based on social position. The Qadis also were not allowed to engage in trade. Judges were appointed in sufficient numbers to staff every district with at least one.^{[citation needed]}

Accountability of rulers

Sunni Islamic lawyers have commented on when it is permissible to disobey, impeach or remove rulers in the Caliphate. This is usually when the rulers are not meeting public responsibilities obliged upon them under Islam.

Al-Mawardi said that if the rulers meet their Islamic responsibilities to the public, the people must obey their laws, but if they become either unjust or severely ineffective, then the Caliph or ruler must be impeached via the Majlis al-Shura. Al-Juwayni argued that Islam is the goal of the ummah, so any ruler that deviates from this goal must be impeached. Al-Ghazali believed that oppression by a caliph is enough for impeachment. Rather than just relying on impeachment, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani obliged rebellion upon the people if the caliph began to act with no regard for Islamic law. Al-Asqalani said that to ignore such a situation is haram, and those who cannot revolt inside the caliphate should launch a struggle from outside. He used two ayahs from the Qur'an to justify this:

And they (the sinners on qiyama) will say, "Our Lord! We obeyed our leaders and our chiefs, and they misled us from the right path. Our Lord! Give them (the leaders) double the punishment you give us and curse them with a very great curse" ...^[33:67–68]

Islamic lawyers have commented that when the rulers refuse to step down via successful impeachment through the Majlis, becoming dictators through the support of a corrupt army, then the majority, upon agreement, has the option to launch a revolution against them. Many noted that this option is only exercised after factoring in the potential cost of life.

Spoils

Impact on conquerors

The Arab conquests extended to Merv (in what is now Turkestan) by 652. The victorious armies returned to Medina with great treasure including gold and slaves. It was "as if the sky had opened with a flood of gold". Abu Hasan al-Mas'udi (d.957) also writes of the great mass of wealth acquired in a relatively short period of times. Taha Husayn writes:

We find that some Companions who served Islam so well that the Prophet promised them paradise were swayed by the prestige and great wealth they got. Their ambitions clashed; they quarreled and their suspicions of each other were extreme.

Distribution

Beginning of the allowance

After the Battle of the Yarmuk and Battle of al-Qadisiyyah the Muslims gained immense plunder, filling the coffers at Medina. The problem before Umar was what to do with this money. Someone suggested that the money should be kept in the treasury as a reserve for public expenditures. However, this view was not acceptable to the general body of Muslims. Accordingly, a consensus was reached to distribute whatever was received during a year to the citizens as "allowances" (aka pensions), the register of which was called the dīwān.

The next question was what system should be adopted for distribution. One suggestion was to distribute it equally on an ad hoc basis. Others objected that, as the spoils were considerable, the proposal would make the people very rich. It was therefore agreed that, instead of ad hoc division, the amount of the allowance to the stipend should be determined beforehand and this allowance should be paid regardless of the amount of the spoils.

Umar drew up lists of who had a right to booty from the conquests, ranking recipients according to how early they had converted to Islam and how close they were in bloodline to the Prophet Muhammad. Blood relationship was organized by clan. Banu Hashim appeared as the first clan, then the clan of Abu Bakr, and then the clan of Umar. Umar accepted the first two placements but relegated his clan lower on the relationship scale.

The main provisions of the final scale of allowance approved by Umar were:^{[citation needed]}

1. The widows of Muhammad received 12,000 dirhams each
2. 'Abbas ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib, the uncle of Muhammad, received an annual allowance of 7,000 dirhams
3. The grandsons of Muhammad, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali received 5,000 dirhams each
4. Those who had become Muslims by the time of the Treaty of al-Hudaybiya got 4,000 dirhams each
5. The veterans of the Apostasy wars received 3,000 dirhams each

Under this scale, Umar's son Abd Allah ibn Umar received an allowance of 3,000 dirhams, while Usama ibn Zayd got 4,000. The ordinary Muslim citizens were given allowances of between 2,000 and 2,500. The regular annual allowance was given only to the urban population because they formed the backbone of the state's economic resources. The Bedouin living in the desert, cut off from the state's affairs and making no contributions to development, were nevertheless often given stipends. On assuming office, Uthman increased these stipends by 25%.^{[citation needed]}

Examples of stipends for Muslims during Rashidun

Classes of Muslim beneficiaries	Durhams per annum received
Participants of Battle of Badr	5000
Muhajireen of Habsh and participants of Battle of Uhud	4000
Muhajireen before Conquest of Mecca	3000
Those who embraced Islam after the Conquest of Mecca	2000
Participants of the Battles of Qadisiyyah and Yarmuk	2000
Inhabitants of Yemen	4000
Soldiers after the Battles of Qadisiyyah and Yarmuk	3000
Without any distinction of status	2000

Economy

According to a pious work on early Islam by Abdus Salam Nadvi, among their other virtues, the Rashidun were known for their leniency in levying taxation.

Treasury and coinage

Bayt al-Mal (lit., the house of money), i.e. the treasury, or the state exchequer, was established by the first caliph Abu Bakr. His successor Umar built the building housing it.

Revenues for the Bayt came from taxes on lands left in the hands of their owners, rents from confiscated lands, and to a lesser extent the zakat tithe paid by Muslims, one fifth of the military spoils, and tribute and personal taxes paid by the conquered.

A "major portion" of the funds collected for the Bayt al-Mal (at least under caliph Umar) went to stipends or allowances that Muslims gave themselves as conquerors of the land.

After consulting the Companions, Umar decided to establish the central treasury at Medina. Abdullah bin Arqam was appointed as the Treasury Officer. He was assisted by Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf and Muiqib. A separate Accounts Department was also set up to maintain spending records.

Later treasuries were set up in the provinces. After meeting the local expenditure, the provincial treasuries were required to remit the surplus revenue to the central treasury at Medina. According to Yaqubi, the salaries and stipends charged to the central treasury amounted to over 30 million dirhams. A separate building was constructed for the royal treasury, the Bayt al-Mal which in large cities, was protected by as many as 400 guards. Most historical accounts state that among the Rashidun caliphs, Uthman was the first to strike coins; however, some accounts state that Umar was the first to do so.

Social welfare and pensions were introduced in early Islamic law as forms of zakāt (charity), one of the Five Pillars of Islam, since the time of Umar. The taxes (including zakāt and jizya) collected in the treasury of an Islamic government were used to provide income for the needy, including the poor, elderly, orphans, widows, and the disabled. According to the Islamic jurist Al-Ghazali (Algazel, 1058–1111), the government was also expected to stockpile food supplies in every region in case a disaster or famine occurred. Many Muslim thus argue the Rashidun caliphate was thus one of the earliest welfare states.

• Rashidun coinage
• Coin in use during the Rashidun Caliphate (661–750 CE). Pseudo-Byzantine type with depictions of the Byzantine Emperor Constans II holding the cross-tipped staff and globus cruciger.
• The Rashidun caliphs used the Sassanids symbols (Star and crescent, fire temple, the picture of the last emperor Khosrau II) by adding the phrase bismillah on their coins, instead of designing a new one.
• Coin of the Rashidun Caliphate. Imitation of Sasanid Empire ruler Khosrau II type. BYS (Bishapur) mint. Dated YE 25 = AH 36 (AD 656). Sasanian style bust imitating Khosrau II right; bismillah in margin/ Fire altar with ribbons and attendants; star and crescent flanking flames; date to left, mint name to right.

Taxation

A "regular system of revenue" for Iraq was set up during Umar's caliphate. According to Abdus Salam Nadvi, Umar chose to set up a system of taxation of the current (non-Muslim) owners of land of the conquered people instead of distributing the land as spoils among the conquering Arabs.

Among other benevolences reported in Muslim literature, the Rashidun were said to be lenient in their tax collection. He appointed capable Companions of the Prophet to organize an assessment of arable/taxable land, confiscating land only from pagan temples, "absconders and the rebellious" and some others, while setting taxes according to the value of crops raised from the land, giving the taxpayer the choice of several tax collectors to pay their taxes to. In doing all this he sought advice from "venerable persons" for improvement of his work, including non-Muslim dhimmi subjects. Outside of Iraq, he forbade extra confiscation of crops above the rate of tribute taxation and forbade Muslims (who received stipends) from taking possession of the conquered people's land, threatening or punishing those who did. He also confiscated land from those who did not cultivate it.

Caliph Ali reportedly advised a newly appointed tax collector:

"Do not beat with while receiving revenue from any person. Do not take their livelihood, summer and winter garments and beasts of burden. Neither cause anyone stand".

The economic resources of the state were:

1. Zakāt
2. Ushr
3. Jizya
4. Fay
5. Khums
6. Kharaj

Zakat

Zakāt taxes were levied on Muslims to be given to the poor (usually amounting to 2.5% of dormant wealth over a certain amount). The Rashidun caliphs reportedly complied with the practice of Muhammad of not taking the best goods of the taxpayers for Zakat.

Ushr

Ushr was a tax on levied Muslim non-Muslim merchants and artisans. It was also applied on Muslim cultivators. It was a reciprocal 10% levy on agricultural land as well as on imported merchandise that taxed the Muslims on their products. Umar was the first Muslim ruler to levy ushr. Umar issued instructions that ushr should be levied in such a way so as to avoid hardship, so as not to affect trade within the Caliphate. The tax was levied only on merchandise meant for sale; goods imported for consumption or personal use but not for sale were not taxed. Merchandise valued at 200 dirhams or less was not taxed. Imports by citizens for trade purposes were subject to the customs duty or import tax at lower rates. In the case of agricultural produce, ushr is paid by harvest and not annually, at a rate of 5% or 10% depending on the means of irrigation by which the crop is produced.

Jizya

Jizya was a per capita tax imposed on able bodied (disabled persons were exempt) non-Muslim men (known as dhimmis). Nadvi states that collectors were forbidden from abusing the dhimmis while collecting the jizya.

Fay

Fay was the income from state land, whether an agricultural land, or a meadow, or land with any natural mineral reserves.

Khums

Ghanimah or Khums represented war spoils, four-fifths of which was distributed among the soldiers in service, while one-fifth was allotted to the state.

Kharaj

Kharaj was a tax levied on the agricultural lands of both Muslims and non-Muslims. Initially, after the first Muslim conquests in the 7th century, kharaj usually denoted a lump-sum duty levied upon the conquered provinces and collected by the officials of the former Byzantine and Sasanian empires. The taxation rate varied according to the conditions of the farmer and their harvest, if a farmer encountered irrigation constraints or inclement weather that impacted the harvest, the rate of taxation would be reduced. Muslim landowners also paid ushr, which is a religious tithe.

Public works

Upon conquest, in almost all cases, the caliphs were burdened with the maintenance and construction of roads and bridges in return for the conquered nation's political loyalty.

Civil welfare in Islam started in the form of the construction and purchase of wells. During the caliphate, the Muslims repaired many of the aging wells in the lands they conquered.

In addition to wells, the Muslims built many tanks and canals. Many canals were purchased and new ones constructed. While some canals were excluded for the use of monks (such as a spring purchased by Talha ibn Ubayd Allah) and the needy, most canals were open to general public use. Some canals were constructed between settlements, such as the Saad canal that provided water to Anbar, and the Abi Musa Canal to provide water to Basra.

During a famine, Umar ibn al-Khattab ordered the construction of a canal in Egypt connecting the river Nile to the Red Sea. The purpose of the canal was to facilitate the transport of grain from Egypt to Arabia through a sea-route, hitherto transported only by land. The canal was constructed within a year by Amr ibn al-As, and Abdus Salam Nadvi writes that "Arabia was rid of famine for all the times to come."

After four floods hit Mecca in the years after Muhammad's death, Umar ordered the construction of two dams to protect the Kaaba. He also constructed a dam near Medina to protect its fountains from flooding.

Settlements

The area of Basra was very sparsely populated when it was conquered by the Muslims. During the reign of Umar, the Muslim army found it a suitable place to construct a base. The area was later settled and a mosque was erected.

Upon the conquest of Midian, it was settled by Muslims. However, the environment was soon considered harsh, and Umar ordered the resettlement of the 40,000 settlers to Kufa. The new buildings were constructed from mud bricks instead of reeds, a material that was popular in the region but caught fire easily.

During the conquest of Egypt, the area of Fustat was used by the Muslim army as a base. Upon the conquest of Alexandria in 641, the Muslims returned and settled in the same area. Initially the land was primarily used for pasture, but later buildings were constructed.

Other already populated areas were greatly expanded. At Mosul, Arfajah al-Bariqi at the command of Umar, constructed a fort, a few churches, a mosque and a locality for the Jewish population.

Significance and legacy

Notable features

• All four Rashidun caliphs were connected to Muhammad through marriage and were early converts to Islam, and so were thought to be "a continuation of the prophetic period with all its virtues and sanctity"; the daughters of Abu Bakr and Umar, Aisha and Hafsa respectively, were married to Muhammad, and two of Muhammad's daughters Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum were married to Uthman, while another daughter of Muhammad, Fatimah, was married to Ali, who was also Muhammad's cousin and raised in his household.
• They were among Muhammad's closest companions by association and support, often praised by him, and were delegated roles of leadership within the nascent Muslim community.

According to different schools

Sunni

Among the notable features of the Rashidun caliphs were that:

• Their succession was not hereditary, something that would become the custom after them, beginning with the subsequent Umayyad Caliphate and continued by the later Abbasid Caliphate. Council decision-making determined the choice of successor originally.^{[citation needed]} They were chosen according to the will of senior leaders in the Muslim community, rather than inheriting the title through familial relation to their predecessors like most later caliphs;
• They were among the ten Muslims promised paradise according to several hadiths in Sunni Islam.

The term Rashidun, or "Rightly Guided", is derived from a famous Sunni hadith where Muhammad foretold that the caliphate of prophecy after him would last for 30 years (the length of the Rashidun Caliphate) and would then be followed by kingship (the subsequent Umayyad Caliphate and later Abbasid Caliphate being hereditary monarchies).

The Rightly Guided Caliphate is also featured in other hadiths about the end-times in Sunan Abu Dawood and Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal, where it is foretold they will be restored once again by God in the time before Judgement Day. The first four caliphs are particularly significant to modern intra-Islamic debates: for Sunni Muslims, they are models of righteous rule; for Shia Muslims (at least Twelver Shia), the first three of the four were usurpers. Accepted traditions of both Sunni and Shia Muslims detail disagreements and tensions between the four rightly guided caliphs.^{[citation needed]}

In Sunni Islam, the application of the label "rightly-guided" to the first caliphs signifies their status as models whose actions and opinions (Arabic: sunna) should be followed and emulated from a religious point of view. In this sense, they are both rightly-guided and rightly-guiding: the religious narratives about their lives serve as a guide to right belief. For example, pious Sunni historian Salam Nadvi emphasizes that as Companions of the Prophet, the Rashidun were "deserving for Divine caliphate" because of their "beliefs and good deeds", their "moral characteristics", adherence to "the true path", their forbidding others from doing evil deeds, reluctance to be rulers, humility about their abilities ("O people! I do not wish to be a Caliph. If you expect following the Sunnah, I shall not be able to do so do not follow me"), disinterest in comfort and pleasure (sleeping on pebble covered ground.

The Sunnis have long viewed the period of the Rashidun as an exemplary system of governance based upon Islamic righteousness and merit which they seek to emulate. The Sunnis also equate this system with the worldly success that was promised by Allah, in the Quran and hadith, to those Muslims who pursued His pleasure; this spectacular success has further added to the emulatory appeal of the Rashidun era.

In the modern Sunni Salafi movement some have asserted that only was "perfect justice and fairness fully realized" under the Rashidun, and that Muslims should not only "strive to replicate" its religious practices, but that Muslims should also strive to follow (what they believe to be) everyday practices of the Rashidun, such as miswak teeth cleaning, not wearing neckties, not applauding speakers etc. Islamic fundamentalists see the Rashidun caliphs as not only a model to be followed but succeeding dynasties such as the Umayyads and Abbasids as "religious deviants".

At the same time, it has been noted that the domination of Arabs over non-Arabs on an ethnic basis during Umar's reign and the widespread nepotism of Uthman's caliphate are in essential conflict with the call of Islam.

Twelver Shia

The (Twelver) Shia view is that, similar to the past prophets in the Quran, the succession to Muhammad was settled by divine appointment (not consensus), and chosen from Muhammad's family. Specifically, the successor was Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, Ali ibn Abi Talib, who Muhammad announced as his rightful successor (according to Shia doctrine) shortly before his death at the event of Ghadir Khumm and on other occasions, e.g., at the event of Dhul Asheera. In the Shia view, while direct revelation ended with Muhammad's death, Ali remained the righteous guide or Imam towards God, similar to the successors of the past prophets in the Quran. After Muhammad's death, Ali inherited Muhammad's divine knowledge and his authority to correctly interpret the Quran, especially its allegorical and metaphorical verses (mutashabihat).

In the Shia view, since the time of the first prophet, Adam, the earth has never remained without an Imam, in the form of prophets and their divinely-appointed successors. Likewise, Imamate was passed on from Ali to the next Imam, Hasan, by divinely-inspired designation (nass). After Hasan's death, Husayn and nine of his descendants are the Shia Imams, the last of whom, Muhammad al-Mahdi went into occultation in 260 AH, due to the hostility of his enemies and the dangers to his life. His advent is awaited by the Shia, who believe him to be the Mahdi. In his absence, the vacuum in the Shia leadership is partly filled by marjaiyya and, more recently, by wilayat al-faqqih, i.e., guardianship of the Islamic jurist.

Views of other Shia

While the Ismaili Shi'ites accept a closely-related understanding of Imamate as the Twelver Shia, the Ismailis under the leadership of the Aga Khans do recognize the caliphates of the first three caliphs before Ali ibn Abi Talib while distinguishing Imamate as a separate office apart from the Caliphate:

In the present Imamat the final reconciliation between the  Shia and Sunni doctrines has been publicly proclaimed by myself on exactly the same lines as Hazrat Aly did at the death of the Prophet and during the first thirty years after that. The political and worldly Khalifat was accepted by Hazrat Aly in favour of the three first Khalifs voluntarily and with goodwill for the protection of the interests of the Muslims throughout the world. We Ismailis now in the same spirit accept the Khalifat of the first Khalifs and such other Khalifs as during the last thirteen centuries helped the cause of Islam, politically, socially and from a worldly point of view. On the other hand, the Spiritual Imamat remained with Hazrat Aly and remains with his direct descendants always alive till the day of Judgement.

— Aga Khan III, Selected Speeches and Writings of Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah, p. 1417

The Nizari Ismailis on the other hand, have come to accept the caliphates of Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman in the modern times under the leadership and teachings of the Aga Khans, even though polemics against those early caliphs were prevalent during the Fatimid period. For instance, the Fatimid Ismaili Imam-Caliph Al-Hakim bi Amr Allah ordered the public cursing of the first three caliphs in the year 1005 in Cairo.

The Zaydi Shia Muslims also believe the first three caliphs to be legitimate leaders in addition to Ali.

Kharijites

The Kharijites recognize only the first six years of Uthman's caliphate as being legitimate, and only the caliphate of Ali before the arbitration that followed the Battle of Siffin.

Questions about virtue and guidance

Some secular scholars have questioned the reverent view of the Rashidun caliphs in Sunni Islamic tradition. Fred Halliday noted that "of the four caliphs, the first, Abu Bakr, lived less than two years - too short a time to validate any political system - and the other three, Umar, Uthman and Ali, were all murdered".

Jebran Chamieh, quoting Ahmad Amin, lists quarrels that sometimes led to bloodshed between the Rashidun and other Companions that arose after Muhammad died over who should rule:

Aisha, the Prophet's favourite wife, condemned Caliph Uthman, son-in-law of the Prophet, and encouraged his opponents. Then she, with Zubayr, a cousin of the Prophet, and Talha who was promised paradise, fought the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib in the Battle of the Camel (656). The latter two were killed, and Aisha was captured.

Other Companions spoke ill of Aisha accusing her of infidelity. They did not spare Zubayr and Mu'awiya, the Prophet's brother-in-law (the Prophet was married to Mu'awiya's sister Umm Habiba).

Caliph Ali damned Mu'awiya, [Mu'awiya's] right-handed man Amr ibn al-As, and Abu Musa al-Ash'ari who betrayed him in the Siffin arbitration. They reciprocated by damning Caliph Ali, his sons Hasan and Husayn, attacked [Ali's] alleged weaknesses, and did not hesitate to wage war on him. Moreover, the Companions who followed Ali and those who opposed him exchanged insults and suspicions about the veracity of the ahadith each side attributed to the Prophet.

Outside the family of the Prophet, Caliphs Abu Bakr and Umar damned Sa'd ibn Ubada, chief of the Khazraj tribe of Medina and a leading Companion. They exiled him to Syria because he competed with Abu Bakr for the caliphate. Caliph Umar slandered Abu Hurayra, a prolific source of hadith. He also attacked Khalid ibn al-Walid (the Sword of Islam) who conquered Syria, and accused him of dissipation, then deposed him from the command of the army of Syria. He also damned Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, who founded the Umayyad dynasty, and his assistant Amr ibn al-As, accusing them of stealing public money. Few Companions escaped the verbal attacks of Caliph Umar and his heavy hand. Umar also had a dismal opinion of the six Companions he chose to elect his successor, and they countered by telling Umar their equally unflattering opinion of him.

Other Companions spoke ill of Mohammad the son of Caliph Abu Bakr for his role in the assassination of Caliph Uthman. The famous Companion scholar Abd Allah Ibn Mas'ud slandered Caliph Uthman, and the latter banished the famous Companion Abu Dharr al-Ghifari from Hejaz. The Shi'a damned the thirty years sanctified by the Sunnis and accused the first three caliphs of usurping Ali's right to the caliphate. Then, the Umayyads killed Husayn, son of Caliph Ali, who is venerated by the Shi'a as a martyr.

Similarly, Shias do not view the companions, including the Rashidun Caliphs, as being models of piety, instead accusing most of them of conspiring after the Prophet's death to dispossess Ali ibn Abi Talib and his descendants of their right to leadership, which Shias believe was divinely ordained. In the Shi'ite perspective, most of the companions were hypocrites and even usurpers, who never ceased to subvert the religion for their own interests.

Robert G. Hoyland has questioned the moral superiority of the Rashidun caliphs (or at least of Uthman and Ali) to their Umayyad and Abbasid successors, noting that Ali was involved in the first Muslim civil war (First Fitna) and Uthman had "already inaugurated a nepotistic style of government", for which later caliphs would be condemned.

Fred Donner points out the difficulty in reconciling the virtues of the Rashidun caliphs with their infighting. Sunni Muslims might find Abu Bakr and Umar righteous and moral paragons, but since Ali and Uthman's supporters were waging civil war against each other, then logically, at least one of them had to be in error and not "rightly guided".

Skeptical assessments

Donner and Jebran Chamieh write that it was only later when memories of fighting had faded that the community came to consider them both rightly guided. Chamieh and Ahmad Amin note earlier historians saw the Rashidun as mortals who possessed both great achievement and human weaknesses such as competition for political power and pursuit of worldly riches and pleasure. With the political and intellectual decline of the Abbasid dynasty and rise of the religiously conservative Ahl al-Naql (People of Revelation), the idea that the Rashidun caliphate was a "utopia" that Muslims can recreate by imitating its (alleged) purity, took root. In the centuries hence (starting around 874 according to Chamieh), the idea "assumed the character of an absolute truth which accepts no argument."

Robert G. Hoyland questions not only the virtues of the Rashidun but also how much is known about them. He argues that "writers who lived at the same time as the first four caliphs recorded next to nothing about them, and their names do not appear on coins, inscriptions, or documents. Coins struck during the Rashidun rule are inscribed "In the name of God," but do not include the names of Muhammad or the early caliphs. It is only with the fifth caliph, Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680), "that we have evidence of a functioning Arab government, since his name appears on all official state media".

Hoyland explains the idea of a divinely guided "golden age" of early Islam as coming not from the historical virtues of the Rashidun and other Companions of the Prophet (aṣ-ṣaḥāba), but from the desire of the religious scholars (Ulama) of the late Umayyad and Abbasid periods to have Caliphs of their era defer to them (the ulama) in religious matters. By differentiating the first caliphs (who had more power in law making) from contemporary Caliphs, they could argue for taking away the religious power of later caliphs. Consequently, the companions were "given a makeover" as being "models of piety beyond reproach".

List of Rashidun caliphs

Period	Caliph	Calligraphic	Relationship with Muhammad	Parents	House	Notable events
8 June 632 – 22 August 634	Abu Bakr (أبو بكر) Al-Siddiq		Father of Aisha, Muhammad's wife.	Abu Quhafa Umm Khayr	Banu Taym	On 23 August 634, Abu Bakr fell sick and he developed a high fever.
23 August 634 – 3 November 644	Umar (عمر) Al-Faruq		Father of Hafsa, Muhammad's wife.	Al-Khattab ibn Nufayl Hantama bint Hisham	Banu Adi	Assassinated by a Persian slave
11 November 644 – 20 June 656	Uthman (عثمان) Al-Ghani		Husband of Ruqayya and later Umm Kulthum, Muhammad's daughters. Grandson of Umm Hakim bint Abd al-Muttalib, Muhammad's paternal aunt	Affan ibn Abi al-As Arwa bint Kurayz	Banu Umayya	Assassinated at the end of a siege upon his house
20 June 656 – 29 January 661	Ali (علي) AliAl-Haydar		Muhammad's first cousin. Husband of Fatimah, Muhammad's daughter. Husband of Umama bint Abi al-As, Muhammad's granddaughter.	Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib Fatimah bint Asad	Banu Hashim	Assassinated during Fajr prayer in the Great Mosque of Kufah After his death he was succeeded by Al-Hasan in 661. Al-Hasan ruled for five to six months and then was forced to abdicate for and by Mu'awiya.

See also

• The Four Companions
• Islamic Golden Age
• Talut
• The ten to whom Paradise was promised
• Timeline of Medina

Notes

1. Abu Bakr, Uthman and Ali were chosen this way
2. Abu Bakr appointed Umar as his successor before dying in 634 AD.
3. This is also implied by Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi's version of this hadith, which avoided counting Hasan as the fifth rāshid caliph by adding six months to Umar's caliphate; see Melchert 2020, p. 71. The Islamist religious scholar and historian Ali al-Sallabi regards Hasan as a rāshid caliph, citing the fact that some Sunni scholars such as Ibn Kathir (c. 1300–1373) and Ibn Hajar al-Haytami (1503–1566) also held this view.
4. "Key themes in these early recitations include the idea of the moral responsibility of man who was created by God and the idea of the judgment to take place on the day of resurrection. [...] Another major theme of Muhammad's early preaching, [... is that] there is a power greater than man's, and that the wise will acknowledge this power and cease their greed and suppression of the poor."
5. "At first Muhammad met with no serious opposition [...] He was only gradually led to attack on principle the gods of Mecca. [...] Meccan merchants then discovered that a religious revolution might be dangerous to their fairs and their trade."
6. "Al-Tabari tells the story that Umar went to the house of Fatema, Muhammad's daughter, where Ali and leading Companions had gathered, and threatened to burn the house" down on them if they did "not pledge their allegiance".
7. Some information about life under the Rashidun comes from The Ways of the Sahabah by Maulana Abdus Salam Nadvi, a pious work that according to a vender's blurb "depicts the life sketches and heroic deeds of the companions" and provides both a Historical document and "a source of inspiration for Muslims". Since the era of the companions coincides with that of the Rashidun (in addition to some decades before and after), the book is a source for not only (traditional claims of) the many virtues of the companions (humility, forbearance, justice, piety, fortitude, etc.) but also taxation and revenue, social welfare, public works, city populations, rights of slaves, etc. under the Rashidun.
8. The Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) emphasizes the act of giving bayah (pledge) of obedience to the caliph, first by the leading Muslims who selected him and then by the Muslims in general. HT claims to model its plan for restoration of the caliphate on the rule of Muhammad and the Rashidun. For example, in its work "The Institutions of State in the Khilafah In Ruling and Administration", it recommends various government procedures, commenting after each one—"as was the case in the time of the Messenger (and the time of the Khulafaa' Rashidun".
9. There are a number of hadith about the caliphate lasting for 30 years followed by monarchy.
   • According to Abu Dawud "The Caliphate of Prophecy will last thirty years; then Allah will give the Kingdom of His Kingdom to anyone He wills. Sa'id told that Safinah said to him: Calculate Abu Bakr's caliphate as two years, Umar's as ten, Uthman's as twelve and Ali so and so. Sa'id said: I said to Safinah: They conceive that Ali was not a caliph. He replied: The buttocks of Marwan told a lie".
   • According to Abu Dawud "The caliphate of Prophecy will last thirty years; then Allah will give the Kingdom to whom he wishes; or his kingdom to whom he wishes".
   • According to al-Tirmidhi "The Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) said: "Al-Khilafah will be in my Ummah for thirty years, then there will be monarchy after that". Then Safinah said to me: "Count the Khilafah of Abu Bakr", then he said: "Count the Khilafah of Umar and the Khilafah of Uthman". Then he said to me: "Count the Khilafah of Ali".' He said: "So we found that they add up to thirty years".
10. Khaled Abou El Fadl, described this as part of the belief set of "puritan" Salafis, with whom he disagreed.
11. • According to International Crisis Group, "The Salafiyya accordingly invoked the founding fathers of Islam, the so-called "venerable ancestors" (al-Salaf al-Salih, whence the movement's name), notably the Prophet Mohammed and the first four "rightly-guided" Caliphs—al-Rashidun—of the original Muslim community in seventh century Arabia in order to identify the fundamental principles of Islam in their original pristine purity."
    • According to Ahmad S. Moussalli, "Qutb acknowledges, for instance, the legitimacy of the first four caliphs in Islam because they were chosen by the people, but denies the Umayyids any legitimacy because they changed this rule and force themselves on the community."
12. "The early decades of Islam are hardly a very encouraging model, even assuming it was applicable to the world of fourteen centuries later". Halliday was a professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics and author of numerous books.

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Further reading

• Alkram, A. I. The Sword of Allah - Khalid bin al-Waleed, his life and campaigns. National Publishing House. Archived from the original on 9 August 2002. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
• Charles, Robert H. (2007) [1916]. The Chronicle of John, Bishop of Nikiu: Translated from Zotenberg's Ethiopic Text. Merchantville, NJ: Evolution Publishing. ISBN 9781889758879.
• Howard-Johnston, James H. (2021). The Last Great War of Antiquity. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-883019-1.
• Weeramantry, Judge Christopher G. (1997). Justice Without Frontiers: Furthering Human Rights. Brill Publishers. ISBN 90-411-0241-8.