The Rightly Guided Caliphs
632–661 CE · 11 AH–40 AHAfter the Prophet ﷺ passed away in 11 AH (632 CE), the community chose Abu Bakr al-Siddiq as caliph, followed by ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab, ʿUthman ibn ʿAffan and ʿAli ibn Abi Talib. Their thirty years are remembered as the era of the Rightly Guided Caliphs (al-Khulafaʾ al-Rashidun).
In this short period Islam spread from Arabia across Iraq, Persia, Syria, Palestine and Egypt, and the foundations of Islamic government — consultation (shura), the treasury, the Hijri calendar and administration — were laid.
Capital: Madinah · Kufa
- Abu Bakr (11–13 AH): the Riddah wars; the Quran compiled into one collection.
- ʿUmar (13–23 AH): Jerusalem, Syria, Iraq and Egypt join the Muslim state; the Hijri calendar and the diwan are introduced.
- ʿUthman (23–35 AH): the standard copies of the mushaf are sent to the major cities.
- ʿAli (35–40 AH): the capital moves to Kufa during a time of civil strife (fitnah).
- Abu Bakr al-Siddiq
- ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab
- ʿUthman ibn ʿAffan
- ʿAli ibn Abi Talib
- Khalid ibn al-Walid
- ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAs
The Rashidun period became the model for just, consultative leadership in Muslim political thought, and the standardised mushaf of ʿUthman is the Quran in our hands today.
Prepared from standard sources; pending scholar review.