Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Genealogical tables
- Chronological survey
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Abū Bakr: the Successor of the Messenger of God and the caliphate of Quraysh
- 2 'Umar: Commander of the Faithful, Islamic meritocracy, consultation and Arab empire
- 3 'Uthmān: the Vicegerent of God and the reign of 'Abd Shams
- 4 ‘Alī: the counter-caliphate of Hāshim
- Conclusion
- Excursuses
- Bibliography
- Index
2 - 'Umar: Commander of the Faithful, Islamic meritocracy, consultation and Arab empire
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 October 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Genealogical tables
- Chronological survey
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Abū Bakr: the Successor of the Messenger of God and the caliphate of Quraysh
- 2 'Umar: Commander of the Faithful, Islamic meritocracy, consultation and Arab empire
- 3 'Uthmān: the Vicegerent of God and the reign of 'Abd Shams
- 4 ‘Alī: the counter-caliphate of Hāshim
- Conclusion
- Excursuses
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The privileged position of ruling the Islamic state which Abū Bakr had allotted Quraysh had no foundation in the Qur'ān. In the early Mekkan Sūra (CVI) addressed to them, the Quraysh were pointedly admonished to serve the Lord of the Ka'ba in gratitude for the prosperity and safety He had granted them. During most of Muḥammad's mission, the majority of Quraysh in Mekka were his staunchest opponents, the unbelievers (kuffār) and polytheists (mushrikūn) unequivocally condemned by the Holy Book. The Muhājirūn, those who left their homes to join Muḥammad in Medina in support of the cause of Islam, were greatly praised in the Qur'ān, given hope for God's mercy (II 218), and promised reward on earth and in the hereafter (XVI 41). By Muhājirūn the Qur'ān, however, meant not only the Mekkan, Qurayshite emigrants, but equally bedouin tribesmen and others who joined the Prophet from all over Arabia. Although more often mentioned in the Qur'ān than the Anṣār, the Muhājirūn were put strictly on a par with them (VIII 72–4, IX 100, 117) and nowhere were they given a preferred rank above them. The poor of the Muhājirūn were granted a share of the estates of the Banu l-Naḍīr on the grounds that they had been expelled from their homes and property, not because they stood higher in merit than the Anṣār (LIX 8–9).
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- The Succession to MuhammadA Study of the Early Caliphate, pp. 57 - 77Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1996