The Succession to the Prophet: The Electionof Abu Bakr Essay

Muhammad’s father-in-law Abu Bakr took over leadership of the umma as the successor (caliph) of Muhammad. Abu Bakr faced two main tasks: standardization of the Islamic religion and consolidation of the Islamic state. Abu Bakr successfully re-established Muslim authority over the Arabs and oversaw the compilation and organization of the Quran in book form.

A change that occurred in the political life of Islamic civilization was the shift from the election of a Caliphate to a more dynastical system. Previously, the caliphates were elected by the Islamic community. Capable leaders were preferred over heirs who were not as qualified. Sunni Muslims were firm believers of this concept, while Shia muslims believed that Ali should’ve

Muhammad a prophet for our time is written by Karen Armstrong. This book is like a diary that tells the life of Muhammad and how he played a big role in the Islamic religion. Muhammad was born in the year 570 ce and died in 623 ce. Muhammad was a man who did not have much going for him, he couldn’t read and lived in a cave with his wife at the time. When Muhammad was reached down upon by Allah he did not know what was happening and why it was happening. “ he knew that some people expected the imminent arrival of an Arab prophet, but it never occurred to him that he would be the one entrusted with the mission.” (p.10). Muhammad was 40 years old when this happened and he lived in Mecca. Mecca at the time had many different civilizations and was a big trading center. Arabs at the time did not like this and kept moving from places to place to get something stable. Some of the Arabs even had settled in urban areas around Mecca. Society in Mecca was based on laws and traditions that even though Allah is the main god

One of the most famous religious splits in human history is the well known Sunni-Shia split. The Sunni-Shia split is highly divisive throughout the world, and predominantly in the Middle East. These sects share similarities, such as they all believe that Allah is the one true god, and Muhammad is his messenger. They also believe in the same five religious pillars that Muslims follow. Although these sects are very similar, there is one big schismatic difference that separates the two. This difference lies with the question of: “Who is the rightful successor of the Prophet Muhammad?” Through this 1,400 year conflict Most sunnis believe that Abu Bakr the Prophet 's closest companion is the true successor. In contrast most Shias believe that Ali, who was the prophet 's cousin and son in law is the true successor. Abu bakr was the rightful heir to lead Muslims after the Prophet’s death. Abu Bakr was arguably his closest confidant throughout their lives, and Abu Bakr understood the Messenger teachings the best. It can also be argued that that Ali would be the fourth caliph instead of the first because choosing a successor to the Prophet based on bloodline could be seen as committing idolatry according to Islamic teaching.

The decline of the Abbasids was not a steady of rapid series of events. There were numerous revivals of the Caliphate in which certain strong Caliphs gained more control and influence over the Islamic world than their predecessors had had. However at no point after the death of Harun al-Rahid (reigned 786-809) was the Caliphate ever as powerful. This period is regarded as the Golden Age of the Abbasid Caliphate and was followed immediately by civil war between his sons. Harun’s two sons were called Al-Amin and Al-Mamun. Al-Amin was the elder and was nominated as the heir to the Caliphate. However Al-Mamun, who was the effective governor of the eastern provinces was ambitious. He was spurred towards seizing the Caliphate for

28. According to which Islamic sect should the first caliph have been the cousin of Muhammad, Ali?

Two more leaders, Umar and Utham, followed, each appointed by Sunnis. The Shi’ite then began to act on their beliefs and some of Ali’s dedicated followers murdered Utham, bringing his reign to an abrupt end. In 656 A.D. Ali became the successor ( Sunni Shi’a 2).

The Umayya remained a powerful clan as Islam spread under Muhammad and, after his death in 632, his two successors, or caliphs—successors of the Prophet. Still, the clan’s power had far from peaked. After the death of Umar, the second caliph, a member of the Umayya became his successor: Uthman ibn Affan (Kishlansky, Geary and O'Brien). Uthman, however, was quickly murdered because he privileged the Meccan elite over the early converts. Shaken by his death, the Umma charged the fourth caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib, as being complacent with Uthman’s murder. Eventually Ali himself was murdered by the Umayyad’s supporters, giving rise to an Islamic state ruled by the Umayya, the Umayyad Caliphate, where the Islamic

After Muhammad’s death in 632, the question was who’d be the caliph? Muhammad’s successors,the four caliphs, were chosen by a group in the Muslim community, the elders, to carry out the leadership of Islam. This only lasted for the four caliphates though; after that, it was the Abbasid dynasty where the next ruler is related to the current.When Abu Bakr was chosen and made the first caliph, from 632 to 634 CE, some people didn’t agree. The choice was disputed by some of Muhammad's companions, who believed that Ali, his cousin and son-in-law, had been designated Muhammad’s successor, because Ali was Muhammad’s first follower. The first 4 caliphs were chosen by the elders, but after that were dynasties because the caliphate system brought disagreements about who was to inherit the position and brought about political battle for power. Some people disagreed with the caliph, others thought they were better and they should be the caliph, or it should be their son. With people

The Ottoman and Safavid Empires share many similarities. Their courts were set-up alike, each empire advanced artistically, and both were deeply rooted within the Islam religion. Although these empires were alike in many ways, the form of Muslim each empire adopted were different. This paper will focus on the religion used by both empires as a pillar to governing its people, but also the differences between the sub-cultures adopted by each empire.

Before the discussion of the difference of the Shiites and Sunnis and why they split into these groups, it’s important to understand who exactly is Muhammad and why he is so important to Islam. To begin with, Islam was started by Muhammad when he was visited by the archangel Gabriel, where the archangel sent a message to Muhammad from Allah. Muhammad had the remarkable

After reading this excerpt, I discovered that there was also theological debates within the Muslim community (Hillenbrand, 171). While in class, we had learned about a divide in the Muslim community; this divide is between two different groups, the Shi‘ites and the Sunnis. Although there is a divide between these two groups, the Shi‘ites and the Sunnis both agree on the fact that Allah is the one true God in the Islamic faith. Furthermore, these two groups also believe that Muhammad was the messenger of God. Unfortunately, these two groups have opposing theories on the rightful successor to the prophet Muhammad. The Shi‘ites feel that Muhammad’s successor should be someone from his bloodline; therefore, the Shi‘ites sought leadership from Muhammad's closest male relative, his cousin Ali ibn Abu Talib. Conversely, the Sunnis felt that a caliphate or religious leader should be elected by the Islamic community as his successor and sought leadership from the rightly guided caliphate, Abu

A religion that will employ great influence in a civilization of more than one and a half billion people. The Prophets death also had the opportunity to split the religion into two main branches the Sunni and Shi’a. The Sunni who are 80 percent of Muslims, and they believed that, Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s father-in-law, to the successor. As for the Shi’a who only make up 15 percent of the Muslims in the world, believed an imam, in their case Ali, cousin, and son-in-law, should be the successor; due to their blood relations. However, with their differences aside, they shared the common belief that Prophet Muhammad was a messenger of Allah. Both the Sunni and Shi’a also share the belief that there are five pillars of Islam: (1) the harmony of Allah and the prophethood of Muhammad, (2) the five obligatory prayers, (3) fasting, (4) charity, and (5) the pilgrimage to Mecca. Both branches oppose several kinds social change that is done by western ideas, and instead have the primary objective of the establishment of Islamic law as the sole basis of their government. The question still is who should have been the rightful successor of the Prophet Muhammad. Someone who is in blood relations or someone who was a close

rightly guided caliphs and continues with the Umayyad dynasty which is the first dynasty of

After ‘The Year of Sorrow’ in which both Muhammad’s uncle- Abu Talib and wife- Kadijah died Muhammad is warned by the angel Gabriel that the situation is getting too dangerous for him in Mecca. “Muhammad knew the faith must find expression in a community which would insure its external force and the opportunity to prevail against opposition” (Cragg). It is at this point that Muhammad is invited to become a leader in Medina (622ce).