Islam. 37but could see that Muawiyyah was far from ideal. They began
to look back on the period of the four rashidun as a time when
Muslims had been ruled by devout men, who had been close
to the Prophet but had been brought low by evil-doers. The
events of the first fitnah had become symbolic, and rival par-
ties now drew upon these tragic incidents as they struggled to
make sense of their Islamic vocation. All agreed, however,
that the shift from Medina, the capital of the Prophet and the
rashidun, to Umayyad Damascus was more than a political ex-
pedient. The ummah seemed to be moving away from the
world of the Prophet, and was in danger of losing its raison
d'etre. The more pious and concerned Muslims were re-
solved to find new ways of putting it back on track.