There are conflicting reports about the nature of Muhammad’s death. Some Muslims insist it was a natural death while others (including Muhammed himself) believed he was poisoned by a Jewish woman (probably a convert to Islam). Some even accuse Abu Bakr and Omar of plotting to assassinate Muhammad towards the end of his life. Muslims’ split regarding succession surfaced immediately after their leader’s death and remains unresolved up to the present day. Abu Bakr’s era was marked by a blood bath (the Ridda Wars) on a scale Arabia never experienced before. The Ridda Wars were to do with succession after the passing of Muhammad in 632 AD. His passing plunged the Islamic state into an intense state of crisis. The relatively young state faced threats from the outside when opposition movements started in the Arabian Peninsula by those who were already in its dominion as well as those who were watching with increasing concern how the empire was spreading its wings. It was therefore essential the Islamic state face these challenges as a unit, but for that, it was necessary to have a leader who could unite them, just like Muhammad did. The elite of slam comprised of a few different groups who were internally at daggers drawn with each other, and in the absence of Muhammad to mediate and arbitrate, the hostilities started to come to the fore. The three major groups who wanted the next leader to be from them were the Ansar (Hosts of Muhammad in Madina), the Muhajireen (the migrants from Mecca into Madina), and the new converts of Quraysh and Thaqif. The Ansar felt they had done great service to Islam and Muhammad, and now they should be heard when they say that there should be three separate leaders for the three groups, all mutually serving the cause. The conclusion to this debate however came in the form of Muhammad’s father-in-law and close companion Abu Bakr, with the firebrand Umar Al Khattab boldly swearing his allegiance in the middle of heady debate and deliberations. At the time, sounds of rebellion were coming from different quarters. At least 7 ‘false Prophets’ have been mentioned by Donner in his book, in Yemen, Bahrain, Najd, and Al Yamama. These widespread movements were collectively called ‘Ridda’ (apostasy or repudiation of Islam), confirming that even in the early years of Islam there were incidents of ‘blasphemy’, which were dealt with by military suppression. Other aspects of Ridda can be looked into separately.
After being selected as the successor to Muhammad and the first Caliph of Islam, Abu Bakr got down to containing the acts of rebellion by sending his most trusted and capable commanders to Yemen, Bahrain, Najd, Oman, South Eastern Arabia, and also to a smaller rebellion near Madina. All those who sided with Madina in defiance of their own tribes and condemned the ‘false Prophet’ within them, were rewarded handsomely by Abu Bakr. These wars carried on for over one year after which the Islamic forces suppressed all uprisings and Abu Bakr was able to carry on expanding on Muhammad’s empire of hostile takeovers. We must remember that the conquest did not mean all succumbed to Islam, but they were forced to accept the authority of the new Aram Muslims and accept them as the ruling class. The conversion took place over the next 5 centuries, using violence, money, and influence. Abu Bakr was one of the fewer leaders of Islam who died of natural causes after remaining the leader of Islam for around 2 years.
He nominated Umar Ibn e Khattab as his successor. During his 10-year-long era of leadership, Umar took over the Byzantine and Sassanian empire, and got control of the Levant, leading to the take over of Jerusalem from the Jews. Umar was a staunch believer in Allah’s will and made an example of it by removing the most successful strategist and ruthless Army commander Khalid Bin Waleed from his position, as Khalid claimed to have won a lot of territory for Islam thus defying Allah’s capacity to do so. Umar implemented Jizya tax on all non-Muslims in the captured territories, in the guise of allowing them to practice their faiths peacefully. These non-Muslims were usually marked and at many times had placards hung around their necks identifying them as infidels. Additionally, the Sharia laws were implemented in their totality during the era of Umar and this laid the road map for faster conversions into Islam over the last few centuries. Umar was killed by a Persian slave Lu’lu in 634 CE. The killing happened while Umar was offering Namaz in a mosque. According to many established historians including John Joseph Saunders, it was an act of retribution for the Persian defeat in the Battle of Nihavand – the man was stricken with shame at the loss of his civilization and decided to avenge his brethren who had fallen in the field.
The third rightly guided Caliph Usman had the good fortune of marrying two of Muhammad’s daughters, namely Ruqqaiya and Umm e Kulsoom. Due to this great feat, Usman got the title of Zul Nurayn (Possessor of two lights). Usman was the earliest wealth contributor to Muhammad’s political aspirations, and he continued to contribute to the militancy causes after Muhammad’s passing too. During his tenure of 12 years, Usman faced underlying opposition from Muhammad’s child prodigy bride Ayesha who accused him of becoming a Kafir at one point. This led to an uprising against him which eventually resulted in his painful death in 656 AD. The death was not simple; Usman was badly tortured and murdered in a horrific way by fellow Muslims. According to many acknowledged historians and writers, the reign of Usman was marked by widespread nepotism and moral degradation.
After Usman, the caliphate was run by Ali Ibn Abi Talib, who was both a cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad. Ali was married to Fatima, who felt that the first right to caliphate was Ali’s seeing that he was the closest living relative to Muhammad. Fatima and Ali had challenged the appointment of Abu Bakr alongwith some supporters. However, Abu Bakr famously had a pushing and shoving sequence with Fatima which resulted in the latter getting injured. Ayesha always had a bone to pick with Ali and Fatima and she was most distressed to see Ali being made a Caliph. After instigating the murder of Usman, the third caliph, Ayesha changed her tune, blamed Ali for not being strong enough to catch the murderers of Usman, and thu used Usman’s murder to instigate another uprising against Ali. In the book called The Early Islamic Conquests, this is detailed:
“To trace the roots of this crisis, it’s worthwhile to track Aisha’s judgements, especially during the caliphate of Uthman. She was still in Makkah when the news arrived of Uthman’s murder. Her reaction was a mix of guilt, shock and fury. Although her own letters had contributed to the rebellion against Uthman, fuelling the fire, her departure from Medina and abandonment of Uthman to his fate were what undoubtedly sent her on a guilt trip. She had not anticipated such a horrible outcome. No one had. On top of that, the news of Ali’s succession as caliph – the man she despised – was all too much to handle. Her frustration at this point had no boundaries. Aisha walked to the holy Kaaba and gave a passionate speech in the name of justice. She called for the revenge of Uthman’s blood and fired up the Makkans. In the name of the Prophet and in the name of Islam, the Makkans vowed revenge for Uthman. Tabari maintains that the leaders of Banu Umayya, including the governor of Makkah, Abdullah ibn Amir al- Hadrami, were the first to see where things were headed and joined Aisha’s campaign without delay.”
The rebellion led by Ayesha against Ali was a short one and failed miserably. Moreover, it resulted in the death of over ten thousand Muslims who were killed by fellow Muslims in the battle of ‘the Camel’. Later on, in 659 AD, Ali had to suppress another rebellion by fellow Muslims at ‘the Nahrawan’ battle. Again, thousands of Muslims were killed by fellow Muslims. Ali was murdered by fellow Muslims in 661 AD while praying in a mosque in Kufa (in Iraq). This encapsulates the history of war, blood feuds, killing for apostasy and blasphemy, and cold-blooded murders during the era of the first four rightly guided Caliphs of Islam.

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