After the death of the Prophet (s.a.w.s.), the first caliph Abu Bakr (r.a.) (d. 13/634) became engulfed in civil war. The second, ‘Umar b. al-Khattab (d. 23/644) and third, TJthman b. ‘Affan (d. 35/656) caliphs were assassinated and the fourth, ‘Ali b. Abi Talib (d. 40/ 661) faced a number of rebellions and was likewise assassinated.

These rebellions had underlying socio­economic problems, which reflected the emergent state of a legitimate authority. Soon there became a competition between the Prophet’s tribe, the Quraysh, the Prophet’s family, his close friends and companions, anyone and the Muslim community as a whole.

But by the end of this competition only one had shown to be 40 Book of Advance Essays for Competitive Exams qualified as a “coherent” and “systematic” authority of the religion. That authority was the Law of God, as relayed by the jurists, a specialized group of professionals, who developed institutions, guilds and technical methods for implementing legal rulings based on the Qur’an and Sunnah (traditions of the Prophet).