\paperw4260 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 \fs24 The moral and political unity, the \b \i \cf2 \ATXht12102 ummah\b0 \i0 \cf0 \ATXht0 that Muhammad had given his people, was ups
et only a few years after his death by struggles between the early caliphs over legitimate rights of succession. The ProphetÆs mantle was first assumed by the caliphs \b \cf2 \ATXht10102 Abu\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 Bakr and Omar, his loyal and wise companions,
who were invested with religious as well as civil authority. But the fourth \b \cf2 \ATXht10301 caliph\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 Ali, MuhammadÆs son-in-law, was not recognized by the powerful family of the Umayyads, led by the founder of the dynasty Muæawiyah. Th
e struggle for power was fierce and, in 661, Ali was treacherously killed. In 680 a second revolt led by AliÆs son Hussein ended in a blood bath at the battle of Karbala, in Iraq. The Umayyads emerged the victors, but the followers of Ali had grown in nu
mbers. The schism, which led to the creation of the two main currents of \b \cf2 \ATXht10904 Islam\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 , the Sunnis and Shiites, was now irreversible.\par
