Search Results: Rashidun Caliphate

The first four caliphs of the Islamic empire – Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali are referred to as Rashidun (rightly guided) Caliphs (632-661 CE) by mainstream Sunni Muslims. Their tenure started with the death of Prophet Muhammad in 632 CE...

The Rashidun Caliphate (632-661 CE) was responsible for setting up the basis of the Islamic empire and expanding its borders beyond the Arabian soil. These leaders were selected by the consent of the people and based on their own merits...

Caliphate (“Khilafat” in Arabic) was a semi-religious political system of governance in Islam, in which the territories of the Islamic empire in the Middle East and North Africa and the people within were ruled by a supreme leader called...

Umar ibn al-Khattab (r. 634-644 CE) was the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate (632-661 CE, as the first four caliphs are referred to by the Sunni Muslims). He was an early convert of Islam and one of the close companions of the Islamic...

The Umayyad Dynasty (661-750 CE), the first dynasty to take the title of Caliphate, was established in 661 CE by Muawiya (l. c. 602-680 CE), who had served as the governor of Syria under the Rashidun Caliphate, after the death of the fourth...

Abu Bakr (l. 573-634 CE, r. 632-634 CE) was an early convert of Islam; he was a close friend and confidant of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and became the first caliph of the Islamic empire – a successor to Muhammad's temporal position but...

Ali ibn Abi Talib, or simply Ali, (l. 601-661 CE) was among the first Muslims, a cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad (l. 570-632 CE), and later reigned as the fourth Caliph of Islam from 656 CE to 661 CE, when he was murdered...

Islam arose as a religious and socio-political force in Arabia in the 7th century CE (610 CE onwards). The Islamic Prophet Muhammad (l. 570-632 CE), despite facing resistance and persecution, amassed a huge following and started building...

A map showing the Rashidun Caliphate (highlighted in green) by the end of Abu Bakr's (r. 632 - 634 CE) life in 634 CE.

The First Fitna (656-661 CE) was the first civil war of the Islamic Empire fought between the fourth Rashidun Caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib (656-661 CE), and the governor of Syria, Muawiya (later Muawiya I; r. 661-680 CE). Deep fissures divided...