The Main Features and Principles of the Rightly-Guided Caliphate

Few Sentences about the Guided Caliphate

The main difference between the Rightly-Guided Caliphate and that of Banu Umayyah and others lies in the fact that every Caliph of the Guided Caliphate was elected by a team of the men of sound judgment. Even the nominated Caliph had the approval and support of the majority of judicious persons. And such a nomination or election had nothing to do with ancestral rights. But with the end of this era ended this basic principle.

During the Rightly-Guided Caliphate, the Muslim Ummah as a whole had every right to know about the state of affairs, to raise objections and to advance its own reasons and opinions, but this practice was abolished during the later caliphates.

During the Rightly-Guided Caliphate, the Caliphs practiced the utmost simplicity with regard to their clothes, dwellings, food, and mounts. They lived in the company of the common people and had no air of superiority nor demanded any preferential treatment from the public.

During the Rightly-Guided Caliphate, the Caliph was not allowed to spend even a penny from the public treasury on himself or friends and relatives. Afterwards, they became the custodians of the treasury and nobody could raise an objection against their lavish spending.

The Rightly-Guided Caliphs were all from among the exalted Companions and had the honor of joining the blessed company of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم). During the latter caliphates there was none from the Companions except Mu'âwiyah رضى الله عنه and Abdullah bin Zubair رضى الله عنهما.

The Righteous Caliphs belonged to the blessed category who had been given the good news of going to Paradise during their lifetime, afterwards there was none from this blessed and exclusive group.

They were those who showed affection to the Muslims like their own children and did not treat them like their slaves. But later caliphates rose in the pattern of Caesar and Chosroes.

The Rightly-Guided Caliphs were not despotic. In religious matters too they could not act on their own. Whenever any doubt or difference raised its head, they would seek advice from the distinguished Companions and acted according to the example set by the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم). In case any of their decisions proved wrong at a later stage, they put them right when the mistake was brought to their knowledge. The fundamental principle governing their policies and programs, in religious and temporal matters, rose from the Divine law. Enforcement of Divine injunctions and establishing peace and order were some of the duties, which were essentially expected of them. Their people had full freedom of thought and action.

Everybody had as his birthright, the right to ask for an explanation from the Caliph even in matters small and unimportant. A unique feature of the caliphate was that the Caliph needed no force to enforce his laws because everyone was ready and eager to follow the laws on his own. It proves beyond doubt that their caliphates were based on love and faith and not on pressure and atrocities. During the latter caliphates, the task of enforcement of Divine laws were left to the religious scholars and Qâdîs (court judges) and men with religious training were appointed to address the people and lead them in prayer. However, the caliphs had an army and the finance in their hands to rule according to their wishes. Gradually their caliphates changed into despotic regimes. Thus fear, terror, excesses and atrocities spread throughout the land and public freedom was forfeited.

The Rightly-Guided Caliphs gave priority to public welfare. Upholding the Word of Allâh and enforcement of the Divine injunctions were the two things they were very eager to execute, but they had no lust for territorial aggrandizement.

It was not their practice to store collections and spoils of battles in the public treasury; they distributed everything among the Muslims or spent it on Muslim welfare works. They were in the habit of sweeping up the public treasury after spending all the possessions on public projects and welfare schemes. But the latter caliphate worked on contrary lines.

The Rightly-Guided Caliphs would perform Hajj without fail, besides performing Hajj, they took the opportunity to fulfill their duties to the people and also gave them a forum for redressing their problems. They managed to meet people from the various Muslim territories, heard their complaints and examined the merits and demerits of the related governors and mitigated their sufferings. In case they were preoccupied with some urgent work in the capital, they sent their substitute to do the job but the latter caliphates deviated from this practice.

The Rightly-Guided Caliphs led prayers and addressed the congregations in the Grand Mosque of the capital. Later on only the caliphs from Banu Umayyah maintained this practice.

During the Rightly-Guided Caliphates there was no trace of factionalism and they solved their differences, if any, in the light of the Book of Allâh and the Sunnah of the Prophet of Allâh.

The Rightly-Guided Caliphates had no consideration for relations, friendship, nationality and region in comparison with religion and Shari'at. When we examine their methods of doing things, we find the least care and almost no concession even for close relatives like father, brother or son. Freedom of expression was practiced to such an extent that an ordinary person had the courage to interrupt a caliph during his address from the pulpit. But this freedom was strangled later on.

They never took themselves as kings but servants of the Muslims. They served the Muslims like their shepherd and watchmen and looked after their welfare. But the slightest mistake or doubt about the speech and action of the caliphs attracted severe criticism from the public.

The first volume, which is coming to a close, contains an abridged history of the Rightly-Guided Caliphate. Ten Muslims from among the Companions had been given glad tidings of Paradise by the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) even during their lifetime. They are known as 'Ashrah Mubasshirah (the Blessed Ten). Among them are Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthmân, Ali, Abdur-Rahmân bin Auf, Talhah, Zubair, Saad bin Waqqâs, Abu Ubaidiah bin Al-Jarrâh and Saeed bin Zaid رضى الله عنهما. All but the last one have found mention in some chapter of our account. So a few lines about Saeed bin Zaid رضى الله عنه seem proper and relevant.