Immediately after the Prophet Muhammad, the successors were termed the 'caliph'. The first four caliphs were all companions of the Prophet, who saw the prophet and were mentored by him directly. They were Abu Bakr (632-634), Omar ibn al-Khattab (634-644), Uthman ibn Affan (644-656) and Ali ibn Abu Talib (656-661). Their rule is especially significant not only for what they actually did, but they are accepted by the majority of Muslims as the ideal rulers and the society they led was idealised as an excellent example of a Muslim society can look like. Many Muslims today look back into that era as an inspiration to emulate.

In 661, Muawiya claimed the caliphate and brought in the Umayyad era which came to be known as a dynastic empire dominated by the Arabic military aristocracy of Syria. Contrary to the previous practice of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, hereditary succession instead of election or selection restricted the caliphate to the Umayyad clan. Under the Umayyad's the Muslim Empire grew into Europe through Spain until it was stopped in the heart of France by Charles Martel in the battle of Tours in 732 while in the east the borders were extended into the Indian subcontinent.

Omar ibn Abdul-Aziz shines as the outstanding Umayyad caliph. He is considered by many to be the fifth Rightly-Guided-Caliph by virtue of his just rule and simple personal life. In his two and a half years of tenure, the sayings of Prophet Muhammad^[33] were officially gathered in one collection and centre through a project that involved the renowned scholars of the time. Social justice and the sharing of wealth through zakat reached such a level that a large portion of the zakat funds could not be distributed in the vast Muslim world due to lack of poverty and excess funds were handed out to neighbouring Christian countries.

In 750, the Umayyad dynasty fell to the descendants of Prophet Muhammad's Uncle al-Abbas. Abbasid rule of the Muslim community brought in an era of centralised government, great economic prosperity and remarkable civilisation with magnificence that came to be immortalised in the West in the form of the Arabian Nights legends.

Abbasids took great care to align their activities and rule with Islam. The basis for success no longer relied on military success, but on trade, commerce, industry and agriculture. The wealth generated sponsored art, culture and science. Although Islam has no clergy, the ulema (learned intellectuals or scholars) had became a major source of influence and control within the society. Their reputation rested on their knowledge and expertise on religious and material sciences, which led them to be the leading scientists, jurists, theologians, educators and opposition to voice public interest.

The best works of literature, art, science and philosophy all around the world were collected and translated into Arabic in massive translation centres and libraries, which numbered hundreds in just Baghdad alone. Thus, the knowledge legacy of humanity was preserved and then developed further ushering in the progress of science by towering intellectual giants such as al-Razi (d. 925), al-Farabi (d. 950), Ibn-Sina (also known as Avicenna d. 1037), ibn-Rushd (aka Averroes d.1198), al-Biruni (d. 1048) and al-Ghazali (d. 1111).

During the Abbasid period, Muslims and Islam were not only changing the world politically, but also in the fields of art, science and culture. Muslim scientists added great new developments to the knowledge base in the fields of art, literature, mathematics, chemistry, astronomy, geography and medicine. All importantly, inspired by the Qur'an, they developed modern scientific methodology and deductive reasoning more than a thousand years ago. European students studied in vast universities of Spain, Egypt and other Muslim lands and carried this heritage into Europe later to fuel the European Renaissance. As a result, Islam in its grandeur and comprehensiveness manifested in all aspects of human life and endeavour in a civilisation that shined for centuries.

[33] See Chapter 4 for information describing the process of the compilation of the Qur'an into a volume.