Musruq said to Ayesha, "Uthman died because of you, you wrote to people and incited them against him."
al Tabaqat al Kubra
(Volume 3 Page 82)
When the people saw what Uthman was doing, the companions of the Prophet in Medina wrote to other companions who were scattered throughout the frontier provinces: “You have gone forth but to struggle in the path of Almighty God, for the sake of Muhammad's religion. In your absence the religion of Muhammad has been corrupted and forsaken. So come back to re-establish Muhammad's religion.” Thus, they came from every direction until they killed the Caliph.
al Tabari,
(Volume 15 Page 184 on the authority of Ibn Ishaq)
Succeeding a Warlord
Muhammad left no clear succession plan for his empire; an oversight which has to this day led to factions and wars within Islam as to who are the true Muslims. From 632 to 661, four Caliphs ruled from Medina, elected by the closest followers of the prophet. (Caliph means “a successor”, but it became the title of the person who became the religious and political leader after Muhammad's death.)
There was a core group of believers who along with Muhammad came to be known as the salafiya (the righteous companions). They became the first four caliphs - Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali ibn Abu Talib.
When Muhammad died, a struggle developed among his followers as to who should assume leadership of the ummah. A group of followers that ultimately became Sunni believed the position should be by consensus from prominent leaders. The group that believed the succession should be based in familial ties ultimately became Shi’ite. As Ali was the only blood relation to Muhammad, this group pressed for Ali’s claim as Caliph.
However, Umar petitioned the believers to select Abu Bakr as successor to the prophet and he was duly appointed the first Caliph.
Two weeks prior to his death, Muhammad had planned a campaign to conquer the Christian tribes of Jordan, in which he enjoined all Muslims to take part. Due to his ill health this was not to occur before his passing. On the first day of his caliphate, Abu Bakr ordered the army to undertake this mission to carry out the last military wish of the Prophet. Forty days later, after conquering the Christian tribes of Banu Kalb and Ghassanids the army under the leadership of Usama returned to Medina, bringing a large number of captives and a considerable amount of wealth from the spoils of war.
Many of the tribes initially subdued into Islam by Muhammad, now with his death, grabbed at the opportunity to renounce the religion, Muslim rule and payment of Zakat tax. However Abu Bakr was determined to keep all of Arabia Islamic as prophesised by the prophet. SB 92:388 When Allah's Apostle died some of the Arabs reverted to disbelief, 'Umar said …. “Allah's Apostle said, I have been ordered to fight the people till they say 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah'”. Abu Bakr said, “By Allah, I will fight him who discriminates between Zakat and prayers, for Zakat is the compulsory right to be taken from the wealth. By Allah, if they refuse, I would fight them for withholding it.”
In response he launched an offensive, known as the Ridda Wars (Wars of Apostasy) in which he formed eleven units to be sent throughout Arabia to quell the widespread occurrence of apostasy. Armies were despatched to Yamamah, Tabuk, the Syrian frontier, East Medina, Mecca, Bahrain, Oman, Mahra and Yemen. It was obvious that given the opportunity, the Arab people preferred their original way of life to that of Islam. However only through force were the people of the region shackled to this ideology for so many centuries.
With the Ridda wars concluded Abu Bakr assembled a military force of 18,000, and advanced on Palestine and Syria in 634 and defeated the Byzantine armies at Yarmouk River in 636. Under the leadership of Khalid a force was sent to conquer Iraq, the richest province of Persia. Forty thousand more Muslims marched to conquer North Africa. At home he used Umar to force Ali and his followers to submit to his caliphate and denied Ali's family the inheritance of Muhammad's property and land.
With the death of Abu Bakr only two years into his Caliphate, who from some accounts was murdered as a result of eating poisoned food months earlier, Umar was elected the second Caliph. He was the father of Hafsa, Muhammad's fourth wife. Under his rule the Muslim empire expanded throughout Egypt, Syria and into the Persian Empire and achieved the surrender of Jerusalem to the Muslims. Umar was stabbed to death by a fellow Muslim in the Medina Mosque in 646.
Again Ali was bypassed as Caliph when Uthman ibn Affan was selected. He was from the Ummayid clan and was married to Ruqqayah and Um Kuthulm, two of Muhammad's daughters by Kadijja. Under his rule, the empire expanded rapidly with him appointing family members to military and government positions to maintain control. Also he spearheaded the revision of the Qur’an and ordered all previous copies to be burnt. He too was murdered aged 80 while reading the Qur’an at his palace.
When Ali, the first cousin of Muhammad, husband of Muhammad’s daughter, Fatima, and one of the first Muslims, was finally appointed in 656, the governor of Syria, Muawiya, refused to recognize him as Caliph. This resulted in a long drawn out civil war between the two parties. Trouble also brewed with Aisha who had hoped that Zubayr would become caliph after Uthman. She incited the citizens against Ali and was able to summon support from various corners of the empire. Aisha now took command of an army opposed to Ali.
Ali was forced to abandon his campaign against Muawiya, deciding instead, to use his small force against Aisha. The two armies met outside Basra with Aisha mounting her camel (Battle of Camel). Ali ordered his men not to take offensive action unless the enemy reached their lines. Wherever the camel of Aisha stood, there the battle was waged most fiercely. As long as that animal was standing, Ali realized, the battle would continue. He therefore ordered that the legs of the camel be cut. Within a very short time after bringing down the animal, the bugle sounded to signal the end of the battle. Ali allowed Aisha to return to her home advising her that it was not becoming of the prophet’s wife to be involved in squabbles within the ummah.
The caliphate of Ali came to an end in 661 when he was assassinated by one of his own followers. Previously, Ali in the interest of conciliation between the various contentious groups bided his time until he was finally caliph. However upon his assassination the major split in Islam took root.
With the death of Ali came the end of the period known as Rashidun (The Rightly Guided Caliphs). These were the Caliphs who were companions of the prophet and hence considered to be guided properly in the faith.
The governor of Syria, Muawiyah, a cousin of Uthman (the third caliph), insisted on the return of the caliphate to the Ummayid clan. Ali's son, Hassan agreed to the request under military pressure. With Hassan's death under suspicious circumstances, followed shortly after by Muawiyah death, Yazid, son of Muawiyah was appointed the next caliph.
Hassan's brother, Husayn, son of Fatima and hence grandson of the prophet, raised an army to march against the Ummayad’s who Ali’s descendants called the Usurper's dynasty. On October 10th 680 (Muharram - first month of the Islamic calendar.), Husayn and his companions fought against a large army of perhaps 4,000 men under the command of Umar ibn Sa'd. Husayn and all of his men were killed. The bodies of the dead, including that of Husayn were then mutilated.
Today, the death of Husayn ibn Ali is commemorated by Shi’ah Muslims as the Day of Ashura (or Hosay in some countries) during the month of Muharram. To mourn the death and wash away their sins, Muslims cut their bodies and sometimes their own children’s with knives or flagellate themselves with chains in public processions.
The bloody struggle for power and ideology within Islam continues unabated since the death of Muhammad. With their goal also to rid the planet of Dar-ul-Harb, the non-believing world, Islam in this technologically advanced age poses a distinct threat to humanity when swords and poison can be easily swapped for weapons not yet imagined in the minds of Muhammad and his companions.