The personal name of Hazrat Abu Bakr^ra was Abdullah, but based on his son’s name, Bakr, he was known as Abu Bakr. His father was known as Abu Qahafah and his mother as Ummul Khair Salma. He was born in 572AD in Mecca. He was a close friend of the Holy Prophet^sa. He was the first among men to confirm the truth of the claim of the Holy Prophet^sa and thus earned the title Siddiq. He was in the company of the Holy Prophet^sa during his migratory journey (Hijrah) from Mecca to Medina. He was the only companion of the Holy Prophet^sa in the cave Thaur, where they both took refuge during this journey.

After the sad demise of the Holy Prophet^sa, Hazrat Abu Bakr^ra was elected as the first Khalifa. He had to deal with an extremely difficult situation which developed due to the sudden demise of the Holy Prophet^sa.

The first problem was that some of the tribes renounced Islam, simply because their tribal chiefs did not feel necessary to remain loyal to the successors of the Holy Prophet^sa. Not only that but they started preparing to attack Medina to end the newly established institution of Khilafat. After knowing their intentions, Hazrat Abu Bakr^ra sent troops and succeeded in suppressing their rebellion.

Another major problem faced by Hazrat Abu Bakr^ra was that a number of ambitious persons pretending to be prophets, started rebellion against the Islamic state. Musaylimah al-Kadhdhab and Al-Aswad al-Ansi raised large armies and captured some of the Muslim territories. Hazrat Abu Bakr^ra was prompt to fight back these rebellious false prophets. Despite meagre resources, Allah granted him victory against the mischief mongers.

One of the many great achievements of his Khilafat was the collection of the Holy Quran at one place. Although the writing and arrangement of the Holy Quran was done under the supervision of the Holy Prophet^sa himself, yet it was written on various pieces of skin, leaves and slates. Hazrat Abu Bakr^ra collected all these pieces of writings in one place, and re-organized the system of Huffaz, or those who committed it to memory, in a systematic way, for the preservation of the Quran.

Hazrat Abu Bakr^ra passed away on August 23, 634 AD, after remaining ill for fifteen days. He remained Khalifa for a little over two years.

Courtesy: The Ahmadiyya Gazette, Majeed A Mian, April/May 2000, p. 28-29

Hazrat Umar ibn al-Khattab was born in 581 AD in Mecca, and belonged to a noble family of the Quraish. He was a renowned businessman and used to lead trade delegations to Syria and Iraq. When the Holy Prophet^sa announced his claim to Prophethood, Hazrat Umar^ra became a fierce opponent of Islam, so much so that one day he took up his sword and left his house with intention to kill the Holy Prophet^sa. On his way, someone told him to first deal with his own sister and brother-in-law, who had accepted Islam. He went straight to them and knocked at their door, he could hear the Holy Quran being recited inside the house. This made him furious and he started beating his brother-in-law, and wounded his sister who tried to protect her husband. His wounded sister said in a resolute voice, “Umar! You may beat us as much as you like, but we are not going to give up our faith”. This made him calm down and he asked them to recite a portion of the Holy Quran for him. He was so moved by the Quranic verses that his eyes filled with tears. He went straight to the Holy Prophet^sa and accepted Islam. As he was a strong, fearless and influential man of Mecca, he proved to be a source of strength for Muslims.

Hazrat Umar ibn al-Khattab^ra was the second Khalifa of the Holy Prophet^sa. During his Khilafat, the Muslim had to fight a number of battles against Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Egypt. As a result of this, vast areas of these countries came under the Muslim rule. When the city of Jerusalem in Palestine was conquered by Muslim in 17 AH, Hazrat Umar^ra himself visited the city on the request of the Romans, and signed a treaty between the Muslims and the people of Jerusalem.

Hazrat Umar^ra established a splendid system of administration for the Islamic state which includes the establishment of Majlis Shura – a consultative body of advisor to Khalifa, division of the whole Islamic state into provinces to facilitate administration, establishment of a finance department and building of schools and mosques in different parts of the state and the introduction of Islamic calendar of Hijrah.

Hazrat Umar^ra was so anxious about the welfare of his people that he used to go around in disguise, in the city of Medina at night, to see himself if anyone was in need of help. Once, during his patrol at night, he observed a woman cooking something in a pot while her children were crying around her. He found out from woman that the children were hungry for two days and the pot was put on fire just to console them. He immediately went to the treasury, and himself brought all the necessary food items to the woman. On his way, one of his servant offered to carry the load but he stopped him saying: “Would you carry my load on the Day of Judgment?”

The woman, who had not seen Hazrat Umar^ra before, was so pleased that she prayed aloud for him saying, “May Allah make you the Khalifa in place of Umar”. On hearing this Hazrat Umar^ra started crying and without saying a word left the place.

In 644 AD, Hazrat Umar^ra was stabbed by a Persian slave, while he was offering his prayers. This proved fatal and he passed away at the age of sixty three on 26^th of Dhul Hijjah, 23 AH. He was a truly great Khalifa whose period of Khilafat was undoubtedly a golden period in the history of Islam.

Courtesy: The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam, Cyril Glasse, Stacey International, London, 1989, p 408; Ahmadiyya Gazette, April/May 2000, p28-29

Hazrat Uthman ibn Affan^ra belonged to the well-known family, Banu Umayya of the Quraysh. His lineage can be traced back to the Holy Prophet^sa in the fifth generation before him. His generosity for the poor was so well known that he earned the title Ghani, meaning generous.

Hazrat Uthman^ra embraced Islam through the preaching of his close friend, Hazrat Abu Bakr^ra. He was the fourth person to embrace Islam, but he faced much hardships as his uncle started persecuting him. He migrated twice, first to Abyssinia and then to Medina.

The Holy Prophet^sa held Hazrat Uthman^ra in great esteem, and married his daughter Ruqayyah^ra to him. When she died, he married his second daughter, Umm Kulthum^ra to Hazrat Uthman^ra. Thus, he was called Dhun-Nurayn, meaning the one with two lights.

Hazrat Uthman^ra was the third Khalifa of the Holy Prophet^sa after Hazrat Umar^ra. During his Khilafat, Islamic state expanded further. A rebellion in Iran was crushed. In the north, the Romans were once again defeated by the Muslim forces. As a result of these battles, the whole of Iran, Asia Minor and Egypt came under Muslim control.

One of the major achievements of Hazrat Uthman^ra was that he felt the need that Quran should have a standard orthography so that the non-Arabs embracing Islam should not have difficulty in reading and understanding the Holy Book. Hence, he made copies of the Holy Quran from the one compiled by Hazrat Abu Bakr^ra and burned other personal transcriptions which were written in different tribal writing styles.

The last six years of his Khilafat passed in chaos and conflicts due to the conspiracies of certain groups including that of Abdullah ibn Sabah, a Jew who had become a Muslim with an intention of weakening the Islamic state.

Hazrat Uthman^ra was martyred on June 17, 656 AD, at the age of eighty-two, while he was reciting the Holy Quran. He certainly sacrificed his life for the integrity of Khilafat in the best interest of Islam.

Courtesy: The concise Encyclopedia of Islam, Cyril Glasse, Stacey International, London, 1989, p 412; A book of Religious Knowledge, Waheed Ahmad, p.150)

Hazrat Ali^ra was the son of the Holy Prophet’s uncle Abu Talib. He was born in Mecca about twenty years after the birth of the Holy Prophet^sa. When Hazrat Ali^ra was born, the Holy Prophet^sa himself became his guardian, as Abu Talib’s financial position was very weak.

Hazrat Ali^ra was a brave and skilled warrior. He participated in almost all the battles along with the Holy Prophet^sa. Hazrat Ali^ra was married to Hazrat Fatimah^ra, the daughter of the Holy Prophet^sa.

Soon after his election as the fourth Khalifa after the demise of Hazrat Uthman^ra, Hazrat Ali^ra moved the capital of the Muslim State from Medina to Kufa in Iraq, which was a more central place. After his election, he faced the popular demand of Muslims, including influential companions of the Holy Prophet^sa, like Hazrat Talha^ra, and Hazrat Zubair^ra to immediately punish the murderers of Hazrat Uthman^ra.

Hazrat Ali^ra announced that his top priority was to restore law and order in the state, only after which he would be able to bring the assassins of Hazrat Uthman^ra to justice. But Hazrat Talha^ra and Hazrat Zubair^ra did not agree with Hazrat Ali^ra. Hazrat Aisha^ra who was not aware of the real situation also joined them. A group of hypocrites led by Abdullah ibn Saba, who were involved in the murder of Hazrat Uthman^ra took advantage of this situation and furthered the flame of conflict. Hence, Hazrat Aisha^ra, Hazrat Talha^ra and Hazrat Zubair^ra led a small army towards Basra. At this, Hazrat Ali^ra also gathered troops and travelled to Basra.

Hazrat Ali^ra sent an ambassador to the opposing party and sought their opinion. It was mutually agreed that the best course of action would be to contain any further unrest and to let the rule of law be established so that the offenders could be brought to justice.

This news of agreement troubled the hypocrites who were present in both camps. Hence, they secretly met and planned to make sure that the battle continued. They killed Hazrat Zubayr^ra who had readily accepted his mistake in front of Hazrat Ali^ra and had withdrawn from the battle. Hazrat Talha^ra was murdered by another person. They also attacked the camel of Hazrat Aisha^ra and it was only when her camel was injured that the battle came to an end. Hazrat Ali^ra gave her due respect and sent her back to Medina in the escort of her brother.

After the Battle of Jamal, Hazrat Ali^ra urged Amir Muawiya^ra to submit to him who continued to insist that the blood of Hazrat Uthman^ra be avenged first. The circumstances that ensued led to a battle between them but ended in an accord that the matter be decided by an arbitration committee, which unfortunately ended in failure.

A large group of people, who later came to be known as Kharijites (meaning ‘the outsiders’), who were against the arbitration separated from Hazrat Ali^ra and chose an independent leader for themselves. Hazrat Ali^ra tried to persuade them to submit to him, but failed. This led to a fierce battle in which many Kharijites were killed.

Afterwards, Hazrat Ali^ra was attacked by a Kharijite while going to the mosque for prayers. Two days later, this courageous and pious leader passed away on 20^th Ramadan, 40 AH.