This page groups figures by the year their life is said to have begun. Wikipedia notes that "questions of historicity frequently arise in relation to historical studies of religion," since a birth year for an ancient figure is often an estimate rather than a fixed record. Browsing by lifespan start year lets a visitor compare how far back one figure's own life reaches against another's.
Facts
Overview
What Defines This GroupingThe successors to Muhammad in the leadership of the community. Shia Islam holds that authority passed from Muhammad to Ali and to his descendants by designation, does not recognise the first three caliphs as rightful successors, and locates religious authority in the Imamate rather than the caliphate. 2Tradition: Shia Islam What Defines This GroupingThe successors to Muhammad in the leadership of the community. Sunni Islam counts the first four, Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali, as the Rightly Guided caliphs and treats their succession as legitimate. 3Tradition: Sunni Islam Size of the Traditional SetFour Rightly Guided caliphs on the Sunni reckoning: Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali. 3Tradition: Sunni Islam Learn More
The caliphs
This group gathers caliphs, the successors who led the Muslim community after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, holding both political and religious authority as head of the ummah. The early caliphate is of foundational importance in Islamic history.
The browser will find the caliphs the atlas gathers, including the early leaders whose status is understood differently by Sunni and Shia Muslims. The entries describe each figure's reign and the traditions surrounding him.
Lifespan Start Year
Sources
1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Tree
2. An Introduction to Shi'i Islam: The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shi'ism
Moojan Momen, Yale University Press, 1985On the Imamate as a doctrine of designated and sinless authorityView the Source 3. Encyclopedia of Religion
Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005Abu Bakr; the Rashidun caliphate and the Sunni-Shia divergenceView the Source Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptions
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