20 Facts About Rashidun Caliphate

1.

Rashidun Caliphate was the first caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

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2.

Rashidun Caliphate was succeeded by Ali, a member of Muhammad's Banu Hashim clan, who transferred the capital to Kufa.

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3.

Rashidun Caliphate is characterized by a twenty-five-year period of rapid military expansion followed by a five-year period of internal strife.

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4.

Notably, according to Sunnis, all four Rashidun Caliphate Caliphs were connected to Muhammad through marriage, were early converts to Islam, were among ten who were explicitly promised paradise, were his closest companions by association and support and were often highly praised by Muhammad and delegated roles of leadership within the nascent Muslim community.

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5.

Rashidun Caliphate was countered with the suggestion that the Quraysh and the Ansar choose a leader each from among themselves, who would then rule jointly.

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6.

Rashidun Caliphate sent general Khalid ibn al-Walid to invade the Sassanian Empire in 633.

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7.

Rashidun Caliphate thereafter sent four armies to invade the Roman province of Syria, but the decisive operation was only undertaken when Khalid, after completing the conquest of Iraq, was transferred to the Syrian front in 634.

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8.

Rashidun Caliphate created the Diwan, a bureau for transacting government affairs.

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9.

Rashidun Caliphate was the second cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad and one of the early converts of Islam.

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10.

The Rashidun Caliphate army conquered North Africa from the Byzantines and even raided Spain, conquering the coastal areas of the Iberian Peninsula, as well as the islands of Rhodes and Cyprus.

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11.

Rashidun Caliphate transferred the capital to Kufa, a garrison city in Iraq.

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12.

Rashidun Caliphate expanded steadily; within the span of 24 years, a vast territory was conquered comprising Mesopotamia, the Levant, parts of Anatolia, and most of the Sasanian Empire.

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13.

Rashidun Caliphate was one of the authors of monothelism, a seventh-century heresy, and some supposed him to have been a secret convert to Islam.

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14.

Rashidun Caliphate's was buried in that same spot, which became a holy site for many local Muslims and Christians and, in 1816, the Hala Sultan Tekke was built there by the Ottomans.

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15.

Rashidun Caliphate consolidated Syria, previously divided into two provinces, into one.

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16.

Judicial administration, like the rest of the administrative structure of the Rashidun Caliphate, was set up by Umar, and it remained basically unchanged throughout the duration of the Caliphate.

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17.

Wealthy men and men of high social status, compensated highly by the Rashidun Caliphate, were appointed in order to make them resistant to bribery or undue influence based on social position.

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18.

The first four caliphs are called the Rashidun Caliphate, meaning the Rightly Guided Caliphs, because they are believed to have followed the Qur'an and the sunnah of Muhammad in all things.

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19.

Rashidun Caliphate Military was the primary arm of the Islamic armed forces of the seventh century, serving alongside the Rashidun Caliphate navy.

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20.

Rashidun Caliphate army was, in quality and strength, below the standard set by the Sasanian and Byzantine armies.

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