17.03.

2020
Worksheet 7: The Islamic State after Muhammad’s Death: The Rashidun Period
Worksheet 1 to 6 discussed the question as to how the Middle East was transformed when
several Arab tribes in the Arabian Peninsula adopted Islam as the new way of life, religion and
a new political framework.
The central theme of the first topic concentrated on Muhammad. We have elaborated his role
as a social reformer, religious leader and a statesman in Islamic history.
The first sub-theme (worksheet 1-4) discussed the internal and external cultural and political
specificities of pre-Islamic Arabia, the Islamic message of a break from the past, the historical
reality of continuities from late antiquity, along with dramatic changes of a new religion and
polity, and Muhammad's historical role in his lifetime and beyond.
The history of the Islamic Middle East, especially its early periods, includes several grand
narratives, religious and academic. Such narratives wish to offer complete authoritative and
detailed explanations for the rise of Islam and its historical success. However, we have tried
to understand the nuanced history of the early Islam and the political unification of the Arabian
Peninsula. By paying attention to the cultural, geographical and political aspects, we see that
the rise of Islam among the Arabs didn't occur in the same time or pace. Finally, we tried to
understand various historical interpretations (worksheet 6) that attempted to explain the rise
of Islam.
The second topic is aimed to discuss how tribal Arab states transformed into an Arab
Islamic state and eventually Muslim empires. Now let’s learn about the first Muslim state
and the first Muslim dynasty.

We shall start the second topic where we ended the previous one, the death of Muhammad in
632. This is one of the defining moments in Islamic history. Muhammad was a very charismatic
leader, whose religious and political authority was never questioned by his followers. He died
with no designated heir to succeed him, neither a male son, nor a formally-recognized
successor. Who would lead the faithful? Historian P K Hitti observed that the Arabian chiefdom
was not exactly hereditary; it was more electoral, following the line of tribal seniority. Soon
after his death, some of his followers selected Abu Bakr, a wealthy merchant and Muhammad's
father-in-law as caliph, or temporal leader. AS Salim Kidwai observes the succession was
decided in a way in keeping with tribal custom where a sayyid was chosen, not according to
the formal democratic process but through a process of discussion and consent. The institution
of Caliphates lasted for centuries. However, we need to understand the way the small Islamic
community dealt with this crisis.

To understand the transformation, this topic shall focus on the period of transition between
632, the year of the death of Muhammad, and 750, the year when the Abbasids, one of the
greatest Islamic dynasties, came to power. These 120 years constituted a significant period

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because of the uncertainty after Muhammad's death. The Muslim community went through the
processes of establishing the status of Islam and developing the mechanisms of government
and state, independent of Muhammad. These political process of becoming a powerful state
was crucial for the future of Islam.

The term of the first four Caliphs:

Abu-Bakr : 632-34 Umar: 634-44 Usman: 644-56 Ali: 656-61

The first 30 years is the period of the Rashidun. This term refers to the first four caliphs,
Khulafa in Arabic, that is successors to Muhammad-- Abu Bakr, 'Umar bin al-Khattab, 'Uthman
bin 'Affan, and 'Ali bin Abi Talib. The second period between 661 and 750 is the Umayyad
period, named after the first Muslim dynasty. The name of the dynasty derives from Umayya
bin 'Abd Shams, a prominent, pre-Islamic figure in Mecca, and a member of the tribe of
Quraysh. At first, Umayya's clan even opposed Muhammad, and they converted to Islam only
after the main companions of Muhammad had done so. But eventually they did embrace Islam.
They converted before Muhammad's death and later on rose to power.

Abu Baker 632-34 AD:

The period following the death of the prophet Muhammad seen the appearance of the first
division among the Muslims. After Muhammad's death and weakening of alliance, Abu Bakr
had to reassert his authority. He could bring back all the Arabia together. This was the clear
beginning of the Muslim expansion. Succession was based on the tribal customs where a
sayyid was chosen, not according to the formal democratic process but through a process of
discussion and consent.

In the early 7th century, Muhammad and successive caliphs, took up the Arabic custom of
making raids against their enemies. The Qur'an called these raids the jihad ("striving in the way
of the Lord"). The jihad was not carried out as a means to convert others for the simple reason
that acts of conversion to the Islamic faith were voluntary. Abu Bakr was mainly concerned
about the Islamic apostasy (or abandoning of religious and political belief in Islam). This was
important to maintain the tribal alliance after the death of Muhammad. There were six areas of
conflict and four of them were led by pseudo-prophets. Abu Bakr defeated all of them and
successfully established his leadership. This was the beginning of Muslim expansion. In 633
Abu Bakr successfully conquered a fortified Sassanian town near the river Euphrates. He also
defeated a Byzantine force in Southern Syria.

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Umar: 634-44 AD:
He could further expand and consolidate the Islamic power in the region. Fertile Crescent,
Egypt and most of Iran was conquered. In his early life he was a violent opponent of
Muhammad. But later he converted to Islam and became a great champion of Islam. It was
under Umar that the Byzantines and Persians were the first to feel the pressure of Arab raids.
At Yarmuk in 636, the Muslims defeated the Byzantine army. Syria fell in 640. A decade later,
the Muslims had conquered the entire Persian Empire. He initiated the administrative reforms
of Islamic polity. He retained all defeated land appointed governors (amirs) to look after the
newly annexed provinces. But he retained the existing economic and social structure of the
land. The religion of the subject people was also left undistributed. There was no demand for
conversion. But the non-islamic communities were given a status of zimmis who had to pay
Kharaj or land tax and poll tax called jaziya. Umar also created the title of Diwan or a registrar.
Umar also began the new Islamic era beginning with the year of the migration. This was an
administrative measure.

Usman 644-656 AD:

After Umar’s assassination by an Irani, a six-member committee selected Usman, another early
Meccan convert to Islam as the Caliph. Usman was selected perhaps because he was the
weakest among the six. In the reign of Usman, power struggle between various Meccan
families had been intensified. Usman attempted to retain the unity of the kingdom by
appointing members of his own clan, the Umayyads to the governorship. This initiated the
emergence of aristocratic power. The territory of governor, Muawiya was enlarged to include
the whole of Syria and northern Iraq.

Dissatisfaction also started among the various tribal groups who felt they were being denied
their rightful shares. Usman’s enemies charged him of nepotism. Financial irregularities
affected the administration and invited widespread discontent. Usman tried to increase income
for the Diwan by expanding the borders of the empire further north and east. (In his reign
expansion continued eastwards into Iran and westwards from Egypt). But the booty obtained
from the wars was not enough to meet the expenditures. This forced him to reduce the stipend
of the soldiers.

This created more discontent among his opponents. Moreover, Usman was accused of religious
innovations. He authorized an official version of the Quran by standardizing the text and had

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all other copies of the book burned. As the Quran had a great influence over the masses,
Usman’s action helped to assert the supremacy of the Caliphate in religious matters and
promote the unification of the empire. But his lack of administrative abilities and unpopular
policies and financial irregularities invited widespread opposition from various groups,
especially from Ali, who had been a claimant for the Caliphate since the death of Muhammad.
Arab settlements in southern Iraq and Egypt became centres of opposition to the caliph. There
was a revolt by the Egyptian troops and the discontented Egyptians murdered Usman in 656
CE. The murder of Usman put an end to the first phase of the Arab state and empire formations.
Umar and Usman were the two caliphs provided infrastructures to develop an Islamic Empire.

Ali 656-61 AD:

After a violent struggle over the question of succession after the assassination of Usman, Ali
Abi Talib, the son in law of the Prophet, with the help of Egyptian rebels and Madinians, Ali
emerged as the power centre. Umayyads were not ready to accept Ali. His reign was to see the
first civil war among the Muslims. The first major challenge to Ali’s authority came from
Aisha, a wife of the Prophet. His authority was seriously challenged by the Governor of Syria,
Muawiya. Gradually, Ali was recognized as Caliph everywhere except in Syria where
Mu'awiyyah refused to accept his authority. Muawiya refused to pay tribute to Ali. This made
the confrontation between Ali and Muawiya inevitable. Muawiya openly revolted against Ali.
Ali had shifted his capital from Madina to Kufa in Iraq. With his strong support base Ali
marched to Syria but both of them failed to win the war. They agreed to have an arbitrator to
settle the issue. But the conflict between Ali and Muawiya continued and Ali withdrew from
Syria. Muawaiya became the sole authority of the Syrian province.

This also resulted in the emergence of the first sectarian division in Islam. Supporters of Ali
considered him as the true successor of the Prophet. This group was known as Shiah-the party
of Ali. A secessionist group known as Kharijis opposed bothAli, Muwaiya and Umayyadas and
emerged as a strong rebel group. They had a different interpretation to Islamic ideology.
(Kharijites insist that any Muslim could be a leader of the Muslim community and had the right
to revolt against any ruler who deviated from their interpretation of Islam). Sunnies accept all
the four caliphs. Ali was murdered by a Khariji assassin in 661.

The Rushidun and the Umayyads have a number of similarities between them, political
experimentation, violent tensions, and state formation. First, the Rushidun and the Umayyads
were a period of political trial and error. During the period of 632 and 750, the Muslim

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community experienced several different political practices and saw how different groups
within the Muslim community were gaining strength and power. The Rushidun, the first four
caliphs, were either elected by a council or chosen based on the wishes of their predecessor.
Their legitimacy came from being prominent figures among the Sahaba, that is the companions
of Muhammad-- early converts to Islam and born to noble clans in Mecca. The Umayyads
introduced a new method, whereby power passed from one generation to the next, within the
family. They were, in fact, the first of the great dynasties that dominated the Islamic community
in the centuries that followed.

Map 1: Early Muslim Conquests

These changes in the method of transfer of power were an attempt to find an effective and
stable political system that enjoyed a consensus in the small Muslim community. However,
many of these practices brought about tensions to the point of civil wars. The violent tensions
emerging from the Rashidun and the Umyyads are a second thread that unites the two periods
and justifies discussing them during the same lesson. A third common thread is the process of
state formation. Under Muhammad, the Muslims were an intimate community, geographically
concentrated in one region in the Hejaz, in the Arabian Peninsula, and centered around one
leader. Under his successors, the community grew spread throughout the Middle East and
became socially and politically stratified. All these changes required the foundation of
machinery of government in the form of administration and fiscal apparatus. Alongside
continuities and shared similar historical processes there is a major difference between the two

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periods. And this is the way these periods are rooted in Muslim memory. The Rashidun, as
their collective name suggests, are to this day regarded by Sunni Muslims as an ideal model
for Muslim rulership. The Umayyads, on their part, are remembered for the worse. They are
regarded as an example of secular monarchy and therefore perceived as inadequate and even
corrupt.

Worksheet 8 shall elaborate the history of the Umayyad Caliphates.

Good evening.