January 28, 661 - The Rashidun Caliphate Effectively Ends with the Death of Caliph Ali

Unlike other religions, Islam expanded rapidly shortly after it’s establishment. During his life, the prophet Muhammad led his followers to the conquest of all of the Arabian Peninsula, a territory exceeding that of modern-day Saudi Arabia. Following his death in 632 AD, the territory he conquered came under the rule of Abu Bakr, the first of the four “Rightly Guided” (“Rashidun”) caliphs. Under their rule, the new Islamic force swept over the middle East, conquering the Sassanian Empire in 651, ending what many historians call the “Second Persian Empire” in just a few years. However, this aggressive expansion soon led to instability during the reign of the fourth caliph, Ali. In addition to being blamed for this instability, Ali also angered a group known as Kharijites, a group that believed that only God could choose the next Caliph, when he agreed to negotiate with one of his rivals on the subject of the heir to the Rashidun Caliphate. After his death, the Umayyad Caliphate quickly took power, and extended Islam all the way to Southern Spain.

(Rashidun Caliphate at its’ maximum extent, 654 AD)