Muhammad Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===After Muhammad=== {{further|Succession to Muhammad|Rashidun|Early Muslim conquests}} [[File:Map of expansion of Caliphate.svg|thumb|right|Expansion of the caliphate, 622โ750 CE: {{legend|#a1584e|Muhammad, 622โ632 CE.}} {{legend|#ef9070|Rashidun caliphate, 632โ661 CE.}} {{legend|#fad07d|Umayyad caliphate, 661โ750 CE.}}]] With Muhammad's death, disagreement broke out over who his successor would be.{{sfn|Holt|Lambton|Lewis|1977|p=57}}{{sfn|Lapidus|2002|pp=31โ32}} [[Umar ibn al-Khattab]], a prominent companion of Muhammad, nominated [[Abu Bakr]], Muhammad's friend and collaborator. With additional support, Abu Bakr was confirmed as the first [[caliph]]. This choice was disputed by some of Muhammad's companions, who held that Ali ibn Abi Talib, his cousin and son-in-law, had been designated the successor by Muhammad at [[Event of Ghadir Khumm|Ghadir Khumm]]. Abu Bakr immediately moved to strike against the [[Byzantine]] (or [[Eastern Roman Empire]]) forces because of the previous defeat, although he first had to put down a rebellion by Arab tribes in an event that Muslim historians later referred to as the [[Ridda wars]], or "Wars of Apostasy".{{efn|See: *{{harvnb|Holt|Lambton|Lewis|1977|p=57}}. *{{harvnb|Hourani|Ruthven|2003|p=22}}. *{{harvnb|Lapidus|2002|p=32}}. *{{harvnb|Esposito|1998|p=36}}.}} The pre-Islamic Middle East was dominated by the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] and [[Sassanid Empire|Sassanian]] empires. The [[RomanโPersian Wars]] between the two had devastated the region, making the empires unpopular amongst local tribes. Furthermore, in the lands that would be conquered by Muslims, many Christians ([[Nestorian Church|Nestorians]], [[Monophysite]]s, [[Syriac Orthodox Church|Jacobites]] and [[Copt]]s) were disaffected from the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] which deemed them heretics. Within a decade Muslims conquered [[Mesopotamia]], [[Muslim conquest of Syria|Byzantine Syria]], [[Muslim conquest of Egypt|Byzantine Egypt]],{{sfn|Esposito|1998|pp=35โ36}} large parts of [[Greater Iran|Persia]], and established the [[Rashidun Caliphate]]. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page