Rashidun - History

History

The first four Caliphs who ruled after the death of Muhammad are often quoted as the Khulafah Rashidun.

The Rashidun were either elected by a council (see The election of Uthman and Islamic democracy) or chosen based on the wishes of their predecessor. In the order of succession, the rashidun were:

  • 1. Abu Bakr (632-634 CE) --Bakr is often spelled "baker" in the American scholarship.
  • 2. Umar ibn al-Khattab, (Umar І) (634-644 CE) -- Umar is often spelled Omar in some Western scholarship.
  • 3. Uthman ibn Affan (644-656 CE)-- Uthman is often spelled Othman (or even Osman) in some Western scholarship.
  • 4. Ali ibn Abi Talib (656-661 CE)

In addition to this, there are several views regarding additional rashidun. Umar ibn Abdul Aziz (Umar ІІ), who was one of the Umayyad caliphs, is sometimes regarded as one of the Rashidun and is quoted by Taftazani. In the Ibadhi tradition, only Abu Bakr and Umar are considered to be the Two Rightly Guided Caliphs. Suleiman the Magnificent and Abdul Hamid I of the Ottoman period are regarded by some to be amongst the rightly guided Caliphs.

Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani includes the Khulafah of the Bani Abbas (i.e., the Abbassids) in his enumeration.

Read more about this topic:  Rashidun

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    “While the Republic has already acquired a history world-wide, America is still unsettled and unexplored. Like the English in New Holland, we live only on the shores of a continent even yet, and hardly know where the rivers come from which float our navy.”
    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    “Hence poetry is something more philosophic and of graver import than history, since its statements are rather of the nature of universals, whereas those of history are singulars.”
    —Aristotle (384–322 B.C.)

    “Bias, point of view, fury—are they ... so dangerous and must they be ironed out of history, the hills flattened and the contours leveled? The professors talk ... about passion and point of view in history as a Calvinist talks about sin in the bedroom.”
    —Catherine Drinker Bowen (1897–1973)