The name Following Muhammad's death in 632 C.E., the early Muslim community was immediately confronted with the question of who would succeed the prophet as the spiritual and political leader of the community. This was an important issue, since Muhammad had no living male heirs, and left no universally agreed upon successor. The terms for the subsequent and long-lasting divisions of the community, along the lines of proper leadership, are Shi'a and Sunni. The former comes from the Arabic phrase "Shi'at Ali," the "Party of Ali," which supported the leadership of Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law. The term Sunni refers to those who did not support The Investiture of Ali, at Ghadir Khumm (MS Arab 161, fol.162r, AD 1309/8 Ilkhanid manuscript illustration).: Public DomainAli's leadership at this crucial juncture, and is also a term derived from an Arabic phrase, "ahl al-sunna wa al-jamaa," the "People of the Prophet's way and Community." While there are subdivisions within each of these two categories, they represent the main sectarian divide among Muslims.
While Sunnism proper would develop legal and theological traditions in subsequent centuries, its origins lie in this original disagreement over who should lead the young Muslim community. It was generally agreed upon that the next leader, or Caliph, should be a member of the prophet's tribe of Quraysh. According to Sunni tradition, an ailing Muhammad designated his longtime companion Abu Bakr as his successor when he asked his friend to lead the community in congregational prayer. Traditionally an indication of leadership, the role of leading prayer is thus interpreted by Sunnis as a gesture signifying Abu Bakr as the proper heir to the prophet's authority.
Following Muhammad's death, a group composed of émigrés from Mecca (the Prophet's birthplace) and of Medinans who supported them (called the Ansar, Arabic for helpers, supporters), gathered at a place called Saqifah and chose Abu Bakr as their new leader, eschewing dynastic succession. This type of consensus, called shura, was rooted in longstanding methods of communal arbitration in the Arabian Peninsula. Later traditions developed, in the wake of this controversial decision, that had the prophet singling Abu Bakr out more explicitly or even naming him in particular, but these are parts of an ongoing dialogue and disagreement with sectarian adversaries who supported other candidates.
Following Abu Bakr's death in 634, he was succeeded by another prominent Companion, Umar ibn al-Khattab. When Umar was murdered in 644, he was succeeded by yet another member of Quraysh, Uthman ibn Affan. It was Uthman's murder, in 656, that entrenched sectarian affiliations for the long term, since his supporters felt that Ali, upon assuming the caliphate, was lax in his pursuit of the criminals. It is important to note at the outset that Sunnis still held Ali in high esteem, as he was related to the prophet and had been an early convert to Islam. His prominence in the community, even to those who did not pledge him their initial loyalty, was and would remain intact. He would even eventually succeed to the caliphate himself. Yet the initial divide over the justice of his having been passed over was sufficient to lay the groundwork for permanent sectarian divides.
These divides were exacerbated and made firm by the conflict and turmoil that continued to plague the Muslim community in its first decades. The First Civil War took place upon the murder of the third Sunni caliph, Uthman. The caliph, of a mixed reputation because of claims of ineffective leadership and nepotism, was besieged in his home and brutally killed. By this time, Ali had succeeded to the caliphate, and Uthman's supporters accused Ali of failing to avenge his slain predecessor.
"Golden Age" or "Age of Rashidun"
Death of Muhammad ........... 632 CE
Caliphate of Abu Bakr ........... 632-634 CE
Caliphate of Umar ibn al-Khattab ........... 634-644 CE
Caliphate of Uthman ibn Affan ........... 644-656 CE
Caliphate of Ali Ibn Abi Talib (cousin & son-in-law of Mohammad) ........... 656-661 CE
Fitna: first Islamic civil war ........... 656-661 CE
Arbitration between Ali and Mu'awiyah ........... 658 CE
Death of Ali ibn Abi Talib ........... 661 CE
For the next five years, the entirety of his reign, Ali faced opposition and revolts. In 656, he faced and defeated an uprising led by one of the prophet's widows, Aisha, and her supporters Talhah and al-Zubayr. This event, dubbed the Battle of the Camel because Aisha herself is said to have ridden into battle in a litter on a camel's back, was not the last obstacle Ali would face. Contenders for power in Syria, relatives of Uthman, faced off in the Battle of Siffin in 658. This prolonged battle came to a close when Muawiya, the leader of the Syrian opposition, had his troops ride into an arbitration with copies of the Quran affixed to the ends of their lances. Ali agreed to arbitration, a fact for which he would pay dearly. Secessionists from his own group of supporters, called Kharijites, betrayed him and declared him an illegitimate leader. Ali was assassinated by a Kharijite in 661.Muawiya, poised for leadership from his base in Syria, became caliph. His was the first caliphate to end with the explicit designation of a successor, his son Yazid. The institution of dynastic succession for leadership over the numerical majority of the Muslim community, while not entirely uncontroversial, signified a decisive answer to Shi'i claims about Muhammad's direct descendants (Ali had married the prophet's daughter, Fatima, so her children and their descendants were the most direct hereditary line going back to Muhammad) having the right to lead, and entrenched the Sunni/Shi'i divide.
| Shi'a | Sunni |
| *believe Muhammad named Ali as successor | *Do not believe Muhammad named succesor |
| *Muhammad's family has sole claim to legitimate leadership | *the Prophet's companions have authoritative leadership |
| *rely on authoritative teaching of Muhammad's decedants | *rely on consensus (Arabic, ijma) of religions and re |
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