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The history of prophet Muhammad
The history of prophet Muhammad
The history of prophet Muhammad
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The Succession to the Prophet: The Election of Abu Bakr
The death of the prophet seemed like a catastrophe to all Muslims at the time, after all who would be able to lead such a big empire with the same values, respect and power after the prophet. It would have been easier if the prophet had just asked someone to lead the way after his death. This paper will discuss the events that lead to the election of Abu Bakr as the first successor of the prophet and one of the four rightly guided caliphs.
The four rightly guided caliphs were those who lived and learned from the prophet during his lifetime. The first of them was Abu Bakr, second came Umar b. al-Khattab, third was Uthman b. Affan and finally there was Ali b. abi-Talib. They are called “rightly guided” because they were in a sense righteous due to the shared beliefs and affiliation they had with the prophet. They tried as much as they can to lead the people in the way the prophet taught and gave people rights to live, worship and pray freely even of they were not Muslims. The main problem that was occurring after the prophets death was that each group wanted the caliphate and Abu Bakr who was a very humble and respected man did not want to lead and preferred if the people chose Umar b. Khattab or Abu Ubaida.
Abu Bakr was one of the first people to embrace Islam and in the article “Leadership succession in early Islam” the writer states that “Abu Bakr was among the first people to become a Muslim, and according to Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad is said to have commented that Abu Bakr was the only one to his knowledge who had accepted Islam without reluctance, suspicion, or hesitation” (Campbell, 2008). Abu Bakr was also the father-in-law of the prophet, a well-respected man in the tr...
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...1 Mar 1993. Web. 7 Apr 2014. http://historyofislam.com/contents/the-age-of-faith/the-death-of-prophet-muhammed-pbuh/
Campbell, R. A. (2008). The leadership quarterly. (2nd ed., Vol. 19, p. 426–438). Elsevier. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1048984308000696
Hasan, M. (1982). Hadrat abu bakr, umar, usman, ali (ra). (1st ed., Vol. 4). Lahore, Pakistan: Islamic Publications. Retrieved from http://www.alim.org/library/biography/khalifa/content/KUM/14/7
Nahim , H. (2012). The division after prophet muhammad. (p. 198). Xlibris Corporation. Retrieved from http://books.google.ae/books?id=EKVmBTcd4c8C&pg=PA197&dq=what did the s after the death of the prophet&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Av9CU4LIMM364QSo64HICg&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA
The caliphate of abu bak –I, (2006, August 21). Retrieved from http://consult.islamweb.net/eramadan/index.php?page=articles&id=135193
The first man, named Abu Bakr, many people believed he was a good candidate because he was an old friend and was one of the first ones to convert to Islam. Yet others believed that Ali Talib was the best choice because he was a cousin and a son-in-law to the prophet. The disputes between the two groups of people would lead to a split; the followers of Abu Bark became the Sunnis and the followers of Ali became the Shia. In the end, the majority of people decided to choose Abu Bark and he became Islam’s first caliph. Abu Bark was Muhammad’s caliph for only two years until he died; even though it was a short period of time, he accomplished big things.
Pierce, Jon L. and John W. Newstrom (2011) 6th edition. Leaders and the Leadership Process.
The Abbasids was the third of the Islamic Caliphates who followed the Prophet Mohammed (P.B.H). Their dynasty descended from Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib; the prophet’s youngest uncle. They moved the capital of Muslim’s empire from Damascus, Syria, to Baghdad, Iraq. The Abbasids ruled for two centuries from 750-1258. The Abbasids defeated the Umayyad’s in a battle of the Zab, near the Great Zab, with the leadership of Abu al-'Abbas as-Saffah. This occurred because the Abbasids were supported by the Persians. And that’s how they took over the Calipha. Abu al-'Abbas as-Saffah, brother of Abdullah, proclaimed afterwards the Caliph. The Abbasids believed that they are rightful for the calipha more than the Umayyads. They first centered their government in Kufa, but by the help of Caliph Al-Mansur, it was founded in Baghdad as it’s much more closer to Persia. This resulted in a growing reliance on the Persian bureaucrats. The Abbasids renowned themselves from the Umayyads by confronting their moral personality and administration in overall. They appealed to...
“Library." Sunni Islam Origins, Sunni Islam History, Sunni Islam Beliefs. Patheos, 26 Nov. 2013. Web. 28 Nov. 2013. .
Kouzes, J., & Posner, B., (2007). The leadership challenge, (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-
...ne of the Caliphate was the general economic downturn. This had two main causes, firstly, the series of civil wars which engulfed the Caliphate, and secondly, the devastation done to the agricultural heartland of Mesopotamia on which the Abbasid’s depended on, as did much of the Islamic world. The demise of Iraqi agriculture was due both to the ravishes of war and the chronic lack of state investment over the later decades. My final reason is the diversification of Islam. The Umayyad Caliphate remained strong for 200 years because Islam was confined to the elite. As Islam spread through the entirety of the Caliphate’s population there was increasing disenchantment within the old elites, and ever increasing numbers of religious groups, sects and factions who quarrelled amongst themselves extensively. Such disunity meant a single Islamic nation could no longer exist.
Muhammad was the Prophet of the God. He was the last and final Prophet. His sudden death in 632 CE marked a time of challenge for Muslims as they faced the uncertainty of the future. The most imminent challenge the Muslim community faced was the prospect of who would be the heir to Muhammad. Who was the rightful heir? There was much divide on this subject throughout the Muslim community between the Sunnis and the Shi`a. Along with the uncertainty of who the authority of Islam would now be, the challenge of what kind of authority they would bring also plagued Muslims. Islam was still a developing religion amongst the already dominant religions of Judaism and Christianity so the Muslim community now had the challenge of still expanding their
The Islamic tradition, as reflected in Naguib Mahfouz’s Zaabalawi, has over the course of history had an incredible impact on Arab culture. In Mahfouz’s time, Islamic practices combined with their political relevance proved a source of both great power and woe in Middle Eastern countries. As alluded to in Zaabalawi, Mahfouz asserts the fact that not all Muslims attain religious fulfillment through this common tradition, and other methods outside the scope of Islam may be necessary in true spiritual understanding.
From that time on, the Prophet Muhammad was not only an ideological leader, but also a political leader whose followers would lately conquer
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).
Ahmed, A. S. (1999). Islam Today: A Short Introduction to the Muslim World. New York: I. B. Tauris.
The Fatimid Caliphates were a 10th century Ismacili Shici dynasty that conquered the Ikhshidid dynasty in Egypt. The Fatimids claimed lineage rights from the Prophet Muhammad’s daughter Fatima; and, existed during the Golden Age of Islam. “Unlike the cAbbasids or Umayyads, who were led by a caliph approved by the community, the Shica espoused the concept of designation, in which the Prophet Muhammad chose Ali as his successor and in which each subsequent religious leader was a divinely ordained, supreme, infallible Imam who had the final authority in both religious and social affairs.” In 909, the Fatimid was established by the self-proclaimed Imam, Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi, who migrated his missionary work through the Palestine and Egypt before he finally came to settle in North Africa in the city of Raqqada. Throughout history, there have been differing views towards the establishment and core objectives of the Fatimid dynasty being established for economic or for Islamic progression during the Golden Age of Islam; and further, many claimed there was no separation of religion and government within the Fatimid.
G. Esposito, John L (2002) Islam; What Everyone Should Know. New York. Oxford University Press Inc.
Northouse, P. (2010). Leadership: Theory and practice (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Hazrat Abu Bakr occupies a unique and significant role in the history of Islam. He was the first adult male to accept Islam, and when he first accepted the new faith, he accepted it right away. The Prophet (S) said, “Whenever I offered Islam to any person, he showed some hesitation when embracing it. But Abu Bakr is an exception. He was the prophet’s closest companion. It was Abu Bakr, who traveled with the Prophet (S) to Madinah for the Hijra.