Peysepar: Created page with "The '''Succession to Muhammad''', known as the ''Saqifa'' event, is the foundational historical and theological rift between Sunni and Shia Islam. Following the Prophet Muhammad’s death in 632 CE, an immediate crisis emerged over the leadership of the nascent '''Muslim community (Ummah)'''. A gathering resulted in the selection of '''Abu Bakr''' as the first '''caliph (khalifa)''', a decision based on communal consensus Hazleton, L. (2009). ''After the Prophet: Th..."

2025-12-10T05:27:19Z

Created page with "The '''Succession to Muhammad''', known as the ''Saqifa'' event, is the foundational historical and theological rift between Sunni and Shia Islam. Following the Prophet Muhammad’s death in 632 CE, an immediate crisis emerged over the leadership of the nascent '''Muslim community (Ummah)'''. A gathering resulted in the selection of '''Abu Bakr''' as the first '''caliph (khalifa)''', a decision based on communal consensus <ref>Hazleton, L. (2009). ''After the Prophet: Th..."

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The '''Succession to Muhammad''', known as the ''Saqifa'' event, is the foundational historical and theological rift between Sunni and Shia Islam. Following the Prophet Muhammad’s death in 632 CE, an immediate crisis emerged over the leadership of the nascent '''Muslim community (Ummah)'''. A gathering resulted in the selection of '''Abu Bakr''' as the first '''caliph (khalifa)''', a decision based on communal consensus <ref>Hazleton, L. (2009). ''After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split in Islam''. Doubleday.</ref>.
== The Shia Perspective ==
The '''Shia''' maintain that this public selection bypassed a divine designation made by Muhammad at '''Ghadir Khumm''', where he reportedly declared his cousin and son-in-law, '''Ali ibn Abi Talib''', as his successor <ref>Jafri, S. H. M. (1979). ''Origins and Early Development of Shi’a Islam''. Longman.</ref>. For Shia Muslims, leadership was a matter of prophetic appointment restricted to the Prophet’s purified household (''Ahl al-Bayt''), beginning with Ali. This belief forms the core of the Shia doctrine of the '''Imamate'''.
== Lasting Impact ==
This early dispute is the source of diverging conceptions of religious leadership and political legitimacy. The Sunni view of the '''Rashidun (Rightly Guided) Caliphs''' stands in contrast to the Shia narrative, which views the first three as having usurped Ali's right <ref>Hazleton, L. (2009). ''After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split in Islam''. Doubleday.</ref>. This foundational event established the trajectory for sectarian identity, making it the central issue in any '''ecumenical (taqrib) dialogue'''.

==References==

Succession to Muhammad - Revision history