Islam • 25there had been no need for officialdom and a bureaucracy.
How would the new deputy (khalifah) of Muhammad pre-
serve the essence of the first u m m a h in very different circum-
stances?
The first four caliphs to succeed Muhammad grappled
with these difficult questions. They were all men who had
been among the Prophet's closest companions, and had
played a leading role in Mecca and Medina. They are known
as the rashidun, the "rightly guided" caliphs, and their period
of rule would be just as formative as that of the Prophet him-
self. Muslims would define themselves and their theology ac-
cording to the way they assessed the turbulent, glorious and
tragic events of these years.
After the Prophet's death, the leading Muslims had to de-
cide what form the ummah should take. Some may not have
believed that there ought to be a "state," a polity which had no
precedent in Arabia. Some seemed to think that each tribal
group should elect its own i m a m (leader). But the Prophet's
companions Abu Bakr and Umar ibn al-Khattab argued that
the ummah must be a united community, and should have a
single ruler, as it had under the Prophet. Some believed that
Muhammad would have wanted to be succeeded by Ali ibn
Abi Talib, his closest male relative. In Arabia, where the
blood-tie was sacred, it was thought that a chief's special
qualities were passed down the line of his descendants, and
some Muslims believed that Ali had inherited something of
Muhammad's special charisma. But although Ali's piety was
beyond question, he was still young and inexperienced, and
therefore Abu Bakr was elected the first khalifah of the
Prophet by a majority of votes.
Abu Bakr's reign (632-34) was short but crucial. He was
chiefly preoccupied by the so-called wars of riddah (apostasy)
when various tribes tried to break away from the ummah and
reassert their former independence. It would, however, be a