Leaders+of+Islam

The Caliphs of Islam would have never come to unless there was Muhammad. He was born in 570 AD in Mecca. He was considered a prophet who has been contacted by the angle Gabriel. Unlike others who were considered descendants of god, Muhammad was only thought of as a prophet who made contact with "god". Earlier in Muhammad's life he was being protected by both his wife(Khadijah) and his uncle. They both had some power in the city of Mecca which allowed Muhammad to spread his ideas of the Qur'an. However in 619 AD both, his uncle and his wife died. Because of this year Muhammad lost all of his protection, three years later in 622 AD the people of Mecca started to rebel and they chased Muhammad out of the city of Mecca. This action of Muhammad and his followers fleeing and going to the city of Medina was called the "Hegira". While Muhammad was in Medina he was reinforcing his believers and creating a plan to spread his beliefs. Then in 630 AD Muhammad and his army of followers invaded Mecca and completely took over. The beliefs in the Qur'an had spread to such a large area however Muhammad never got to see the beliefs of the Qur'an to spread since he died in 632 AD. Muhammad []

After Muhammad had died there was a discussion on who should be the first caliph of Islam. The argument was between two people. One of them was Abu Bakr and the other was Ali. The argument was that Abu Bakr was one of the first converts to Islam and he had been supervising Muhammad. However he was not a blood relative to Muhammad, the closest relationship was that he was the father in law of Muhammad. However the argument for Ali was that he was a blood relative to Muhammad. But in the end Abu Bakr was the one that became the first caliph. He was a caliph for two years and three months, when he was able to consolidate the Muslim state. However after Muhammad had died there were some tribes that had rebelled, so Abu Bakr fought in the Ridda wars against those Arab tribes to establish Islamic rule over all of Arabia. Also conquered the lands of Syria and Iraq, by invading the Sassanid Persian and the Byzantine Empire. Abu Bakr also collected the verses of the Qur'an and put them into a final book that is read by Muslims today. He did this because many of the people that had the Qur'an known by heart were killed in previous wars, so Abu Bakr was worried about the preservation of the Qur'an. Abu Bakr [|http://www.kidspast.com/images/abu-bakr.jpg] The next caliph after Abu Bakr had died was Umar. He was also a companion to Muhammad when Muhammad was forced to flee Mecca. Umar was then given the title of caliph on the 23rd of August in 634 AD. Umar was an expert jurist and is best known for his justice, that earned him the title Al-Farooq (The one who distinguishes between right and wrong) and his house as Darul Adal (house of justice). Also, Umar was the first Caliph to be called Amir al-Mu'minin (Commander of the Faithful or Prince of the Believers). Under the rule of Umar the Islamic Empire expanded at a unprecedented rate, ruling the whole Sassanid Persian Empire and more than two thirds of the Eastern Roman Empire. His legislative abilities, his firm political and administrative control over a rapidly expanding empire and his brilliantly coordinated multi-prong attacks against Sassanid Persian Empire that resulted in conquest of the Persian Empire in less than two years, marked his reputation as a great political and military leader. It was Umar who for the first time in 500 years since expulsion of Jews from the Holy Land, allowed them to practice their religion freely and live in Jerusalem. Religiously a controversial figure in the Muslim world, Umar is regarded by Sunni Muslims as one of four Rashidun or rightly guided caliphs who were true successors of Muhammad; in stark contrast, regarded by Shia Muslims as unjust in his usurpation of Ali's right to the caliphate, indeed as the principal political architect of opposition to Ali. Umar [] After Umar, Uthman became the next caliph. Uthman was technically Muhammad's son in law. On assuming office, Uthman issued a number of directives to the officials all over the dominions, ordering them to hold fast the laws made by his predecessor Umar. Uthman's realm extended in the west to Morocco, in the east to South east Pakistan, and in the north to Armenia and Azerbaijan. During his caliphate, the first Islamic naval force was established, administrative divisions of the state were revised, and many public projects were expanded and completed. Member of the Umayyad clan; he was one of the early converts to Islam, this is noteworthy because a most members of the clan did not convert to Islam until the conquest of Mecca in 630. Uthman was a shrewd businessman and a successful trader at his youth. Umar had placed a ban on the sale of lands and the purchase of agricultural lands in conquered territories. Uthman withdrew these restrictions, in view of the fact that the trade could not flourish.Under Uthman the people became economically more prosperous, and they invested their money in the construction of buildings. Many new and larger buildings were constructed throughout the empire. During the caliphate of Uthman as many as five thousand new mosques were constructed.

Then after Uthman had lost the role of caliph, Ali and Mu'awiyah were the next to possible caliphs. It had been decided that Ali would become the 4th caliph, but soon after Ali had gained the role of caliph, Ali was assassinated. Because of this Mu'awiyah had gained the role of caliph. Mu'awiyah governed the geographically and politically disparate Caliphate, which now spread from Egypt in the west to Iran in the east, by strengthening the power of his allies in the newly conquered territories. But then he died on May 6th 680 AD.