RASHIDUN

(Arabic: Rightly Guided, or Perfect), the first four caliphs of the Islamic community, known in Muslim history as the orthodox or patriarchal caliphs: Abu Bakr (reigned 632634), 'Umar (reigned 634644), 'Uthman (reigned 644656), and 'Ali (reigned 656661). The 29-year rule of the Rashidun was Islam's first experience without the leadership of the Prophet Muhammad. His example, however, in both private and public life, came to be regarded as the norm (sunnah) for his successors, and a large and influential body of ansar (companions of the Prophet) kept close watch on the caliphs to insure their strict adherence to divine revelation (the Qur'an) and the sunnah. The Rashidun thus assumed all of Muhammad's duties except the prophetic: as imams, they led the congregation in prayer at the mosque; as khatibs, they delivered the Friday sermons; and as umara' al-mu'minin (commanders of the faithful), they commanded the army. The caliphate of the Rashidun, in which virtually all actions had religious import, began with the wars of the riddah (apostasy; 632633), tribal uprisings in Arabia, and ended with the first Muslim civil war (fitnah; 656661). It effected the expansion of the Islamic state beyond Arabia into Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Iran, and Armenia and, with it, the development of an elite class of Arab soldiers. The Rashidun were also responsible for the adoption of an Islamic calendar, dating from Muhammad's emigration (hijrah) from Mecca to Medina (622), and the establishment of an authoritative reading of the Qur'an, which strengthened the Muslim community and encouraged religious scholarship. It was also a controversy over 'Ali's succession that split Islam into two sects, the Sunnite (traditionalists) and the Shi'ite (shi'at 'Ali, party of 'Ali), which have survived to modern times. The religious and very traditionalist strictures on the Rashidun were somewhat relaxed as Muhammad's contemporaries, especially the ansar, began to die off, and the conquered territories became too vast to rule along theocratic lines; thus the Umayyads, who followed the Rashidun as caliphs, were able to secularize the operations of the state.