After Muhammad died in 632 and was buried in Medina, the unity of the umma he left behind was severely tested. The Prophet’s old friend Abu Bakr claimed to be his successor, but there were a large number of Arab tribes who took the view that their loyalty had been to Muhammad as God’s messenger and was not to be transferred as a matter of course to his replacement. Other prophets, encouraged by Muhammad’s example, laid their own claims to have a special relationship with God, which naturally privileged their own tribal groups. As a result, a short but bloody conflict known as the Ridda Wars
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