With the death of Muhammad [saw], the Muslim community was faced with the problem of succession. Who would be its leader? There were four persons obviously marked for leadership: Abu Bakr al-Siddiq [ranhu], who had not only accompanied Muhammad [saw] to Medina ten years before but had been appointed to take the place of the Prophet as leader of public prayer during Muhammad’s last illness; ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab [ranhu], an able and...