Rashidun Caliphate
The Rashidun Caliphate (Arabic: الخلافة الرّاشدة, romanized: al-Khilāfat ar-Rāshidah) was the early Islamic polity led by the first four successive caliphs (lit. "successors"): Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali, collectively known as the Rashidun, or "Rightly Guided" caliphs. These early caliphs led the Muslim community (Ummah) from the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in 632 CE to the establishment of the succeeding Umayyad Caliphate in 661 CE, and marked the beginning of the transition out of late antiquity into the Near East's Islamic period.