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Overview

About this Course

12 Weekly Topics

Course breakdown

• Week 1: Introduction to the Caliphate

  The political order left by the Prophet ﷺ; khilāfah, imāmah, and amīr al-muʾminīn; the responsibilities and powers of the caliph; legislation versus administration; bayʿah, shūrā, obedience, Quraysh, and the qualifications of the imam; legitimacy, justice, and effective rule; an introduction to the classical Sunni jurisprudence of government.

• Week 2: Istikhlaaf: Saqifah and the Accession of Abu Bakr (RA)

  The death of the Prophet ﷺ and the succession crisis; Saqīfat Banī Sāʿidah; the Muhājirūn and Anṣār and the debate over leadership; the bayʿah of Abū Bakr; his inaugural address; what Saqīfah established about political appointment; nomination, shūrā, and other recognized modes of accession; the problem of political legitimacy after the Prophet ﷺ.

• Week 3: The Abu Bakr (RA) Years: Stabilization and the Ridda Wars

  Usāmah’s expedition; the Ridda wars; refusal of zakāh and rebellion against the central government; Musaylimah and the false prophets; the Battle of Yamāmah; the collection of the Qurʾān; administration under Abū Bakr; the opening campaigns in Iraq and Syria; Abū Bakr’s nomination of ʿUmar and consultation over succession.

• Week 4: The Umar (RA) Years I: Expansion and the Conquered Lands

  The defeat of Byzantine and Sasanian forces; Yarmūk and al-Qādisiyyah; the conquest of Jerusalem, Iraq, Persia, and Egypt; treatment of conquered populations; kharāj, jizyah, fayʾ, and the decision not to distribute conquered land; the foundation of garrison cities; governing a rapidly expanding, multiethnic state.

• Week 5: The Umar (RA) Years II: Institutions, Administration, and Accountability

  The dīwān and bayt al-māl; provincial government and supervision of governors; appointment of judges; shūrā and consultation; public accountability and complaints against officials; stipends and welfare; the Hijrī calendar; governance during plague and famine; the assassination of ʿUmar; the six-man shūrā and the succession process.

• Week 6: The Uthman (RA) Years I: Expansion, Codification, and Administration

  The six-man shūrā and the accession of ʿUthmān; continuity and change from ʿUmar’s administration; expansion in Armenia, North Africa, Persia, and the Mediterranean; the creation of a Muslim navy; the standardization and distribution of the muṣḥaf; provincial appointments and the Banū Umayyah; wealth, demographic change, and the pressures of a larger state.

• Week 7: The Uthman (RA) Years II: Opposition, Rebellion, and Regicide

  Growing opposition in Egypt, Kūfah, and Baṣrah; accusations against ʿUthmān and his governors; grievance, rumor, and political agitation; rebel delegations and the siege of Madinah; ʿUthmān’s refusal to shed blood in his defense; his murder; the jurisprudential questions of accountability, deposition, obedience, and rebellion.

• Week 8: The Ali (RA) Years I: Accession and the Battle of the Camel

  The bayʿah to ʿAlī after ʿUthmān’s murder; the unresolved demand for qiṣāṣ; changes to provincial government; Ṭalḥah, al-Zubayr, and ʿĀʾishah; the road to Baṣrah; negotiations and the Battle of the Camel; the aftermath of the battle; the transfer of the political center to Kūfah; legitimacy and unity amid civil conflict.

• Week 9: The Ali (RA) Years II: Siffin, Arbitration, and the Khawarij

  Muʿāwiyah’s position in Syria and demand for justice for ʿUthmān; Ṣiffīn; arbitration and the political consequences of taḥkīm; the emergence of the Khawārij; Nahrawān; the weakening of ʿAlī’s authority and his assassination; baghy and the later Sunni jurisprudential reading of the First Fitnah.

• Week 10: Al-Hasan (RA) and the Year of Unity: Ending the First Fitnah

  The bayʿah to al-Ḥasan after ʿAlī’s death; the political and military conditions facing Iraq and Syria; negotiations with Muʿāwiyah; al-Ḥasan’s relinquishment of authority; ʿĀm al-Jamāʿah in 41 AH; the prophetic report concerning al-Ḥasan’s reconciliation of two Muslim groups; the “thirty years of khilāfah” tradition; unity, compromise, and the end of the First Fitnah.

• Week 11: The Muawiyah (RA) Years I: Consolidation and Administration

  The reunification of the state under Muʿāwiyah; Damascus as the political center; provincial government and powerful governors; administrative continuity and innovation; the dīwān al-khātam and barīd; frontier warfare with Byzantium; campaigns in North Africa and the east; management of tribal and regional interests; relations with leading Companions and former opponents.

• Week 12: The Muawiyah (RA) Years II: Succession, Mulk, and the Transformation of the Caliphate

  Muʿāwiyah’s later rule; the nomination of Yazīd and opposition to hereditary succession; the arguments surrounding Yazīd’s nomination and bayʿah; the distinction between khilāfah and mulk in later Sunni thought; Muʿāwiyah’s death in 60 AH; course synthesis: succession, shūrā, administration, legitimacy, obedience, rebellion, and how the caliphate changed from Abū Bakr to Muʿāwiyah.

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