Skip to content

Era 1 of 12 · Station one

The Rightly Guided Caliphs

الخلفاء الراشدونal-Khulafā’ ar-Rāshidūn

After the passing of the Prophet ﷺ, four of his closest Companions led the ummah in turn, first from Madinah and later from Kufah. This era is being written, chapter by chapter.

Take the Rihla Meet the four caliphs
632 – 661 CE11 – 40 AH 4 caliphs Being written

Who led, and when

The four caliphs

Twenty-nine years, four Companions. The bar below is drawn to scale: Umar’s ten years and Uthman’s twelve take up most of the era.

  1. Abu Bakr632–634
  2. Umar634–644
  3. Uthman644–656
  4. Ali656–661
The first caliph

Abu Bakr as-Siddiq

أبو بكر الصديق

Closest companion of the Prophet ﷺ, with him in the Cave of Thawr on the Hijrah.

632–634 CE11–13 AHProfile coming soon
The second caliph

Umar ibn al-Khattab

عمر بن الخطاب

Known as al-Faruq. The lands of the caliphate grew greatly in his time.

634–644 CE13–23 AHProfile coming soon
The third caliph

Uthman ibn Affan

عثمان بن عفان

Known as Dhun-Nurayn. Standard copies of the Quran were made and sent out in his time.

644–656 CE24–35 AHProfile coming soon
The fourth caliph

Ali ibn Abi Talib

علي بن أبي طالب

Cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet ﷺ. His caliphate was a time of trial.

656–661 CE35–40 AHProfile coming soon

The lands of the era

From Arabia to Persia

A sketch, not a survey. A detailed map of the era will replace it; for now it shows the five lands and the roads that joined them to Madinah.

Sketch map of the lands of the Rightly Guided Caliphs: Egypt, the Levant, Arabia, Iraq and Persia, with roads from Madinah EGYPT THE LEVANT ARABIA IRAQ PERSIA Mediterranean Arabian Sea Madinah Makkah Damascus Jerusalem Kufah Fustat N The lands, c. 661 SKETCH · NOT TO SCALE Capital Roads from Madinah
  • Arabia
  • The Levant
  • Iraq
  • Persia
  • Egypt
Placeholder map · a detailed one is coming

At a glance

The era in six facts

Some slots are filled; the hatched ones are waiting for their chapters.

Years
632–661 CE11–40 AH
Caliphs
FourAbu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali
Capital
Madinahthen Kufah, under Ali
Lands
Arabia to Persiawith the Levant, Iraq and Egypt
Turning points
To be addedwith the chapters
Legacy
To be addedwith the chapters

Key moments

Six stops on the road

  1. 1Abu Bakr becomes caliph632 CE · 11 AH
  2. 2Umar becomes caliph634 CE · 13 AH
  3. 3Jerusalem opened under Umarc. 637–638 CE
  4. 4Uthman becomes caliph644 CE · 24 AH
  5. 5Ali becomes caliph656 CE · 35 AH
  6. More moments to comeas chapters are written

The chapters

Read the era, in six parts

Each chapter will be short, sourced and illustrated. They open one at a time, in order.

Chapters follow the same six stops as the Rihla, so you can read a chapter and then play it.

  1. 01Saqifah & Abu Bakr632 CEComing soon
  2. 02The Ridda Wars & compiling the Quran632–634 CEComing soon
  3. 03Umar & the expansion634–644 CEComing soon
  4. 04Umar in Jerusalemc. 637–638 CEComing soon
  5. 05Uthman & one Quran for all644–656 CEComing soon
  6. 06Ali & the years of trial656–661 CEComing soon

Rihla · a journey to play

Take the Rihla through this era

Six stops from Saqifah to the years of trial. Answer, explore and collect a passport stamp at every station.

Take the Rihla All journeys

Sources

Where this era will come from

Every date and story on this page will cite a book, a page or a lecture with its timestamp. The list fills in as the chapters are written.

  • Classical history
  • Modern study
  • Lecture series
  • Map & atlas

How we choose sources

Classical histories first, checked against trusted modern scholarship. Approximate dates carry a “c.”

The Caravan’s sources