When Muhammad (PBUH) left…
How various sects of Islam evolved and what is the conflict
The united Muslim community or as it is called “ummah" had no clue what to do and how to elect a leader after Prophet’s death in 632 AD. In the next few days, the seeds of one of the longest conflicts within Islam were sown. The first Caliphate — Rashidun, after Prophet, saw four kings in the most dramatic series of events, spanning 30 years. They were — Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali. These four established the “Rashidun" or “the rightly guided ones".
Caliph Abu Bakr
A 60 year old, close companion and one of the first followers of Muhammad,Abu Bakr rushed towards a gathering of Muslims of Medina, who were trying to elect a new leader. He pleaded to them “not for a prophet , not for a king" but just a person to call meetings. As he was an old and wise men and one of Muhammad’s pious followers he was unanimously elected the first Caliph.
Meanwhile Ali, who was Prophet’s brother as well as son-in-law, was still with Prophet’s remains, was unaware about this progress.
People who wanted Ali to be Prophet’s successor give reference of his “Sermon of Ghadir al-khumm” , where he said
Anyone who has me as his Mawla, has Ali, as his Mawla.
Now, Sunni sect never considered this as Ali’s divine appointment by Muhammad as his successor, who according to them was against dynastic succession in Islam.
The Sunnis interpret the word Mawla as “a friend" whereas Shias insist that it means “ruler/Lord” and interpret this as a declaration by Muhammad himself of Ali as his successor . The reign of Abu Bakr lasted for 2 years from 632 AD to 634 AD. On his deathbed, Abu bakr declared Umar as his successor.
Caliph Umar
A fierce military commander, Umar followed expansionism and led many conquests. As he knew that his invasion of Sassanid empire would not be supported by moral scholars and people by large, he coined the concept of “jihad for military wars". Jihad means “struggle between good and evil" . It does not mean “waging war" it means to participate in any struggle to fend off Islam or to defeat evil. It also signifies inner struggle to be a better Muslim. But it was, for the first time,used to justify a pre-emptive strike against an empire, in the reign of Caliph Umar. Apart from this Umar was a military,political, financial and social reformer. He introduced many governing reforms, taxation system . He divided the gigantic Caliphate into various provinces for efficient administration. He made sure to not give a position of power to any of his family members in spite of their skills. Here the study of Qur’an as a guide for the establishment of law began, which paved way for “Shari’a”. Like many such reforms he also introduced the practice of men and women praying separately in order to avoid sexual thoughts during prayer. Unfortunately this practice would be used as a base by many future rulers and scholars, to further segregate genders for many other purposes resulting in numerous restrictions on women. Caliph Umar was stabbed by a slave, the reasons for which are disputed. On his deathbed he formulated a committee Shura, in order to elect the next Caliph. The committee elected an affluent businessman Uthman as the third Caliph.
Caliph Uthman
A very good looking and wealthy businessman who converted to Islam despite the non cooperation by his family, Uthman married Muhammad’s daughter and became his follower. A significant lack of military expertise led Uthman to rely a lot on commanders and this resulted in them becoming very powerful and corrupt. Slowly the situation further deteriorated and on a tragic day Caliph was assassinated by an angry mob irked due to a conspiracy by his own cousin. In desperate times, people requested Ali to take the position of the 4th Caliph.
Caliph Ali
Shias always believed only Ali to be Prophet’s true successor. Many tribes disagreed with Ali’s truce making and war avoiding strategies and rendered them anti-Islamic. He is referred to as “Imam" by Shias meaning — the teacher. He was later killed while praying at a mosque by a mutineer.
Now, there was no successor of the Caliphate , which was diseased with many internal fights, corruption, and lack of leadership.
Many schools of thoughts and different interpretations of Qur’an and Muhammad’s teachings emerged. Most of which are prevalent today. Many such conflicts lead to riots, fights, conflicts and differences, which was never the purpose of Islam
“If you show mercy to those who are on the earth. He who is in the heaven will show mercy to you.”
- Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
