 Blog | Abu Bakr succession to Muhammad | | |
After the death of Muhammad, Muslims who accepted Abu Bakr as the first Caliph became known as Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama`ah or "the people of tradition and unification" in order to differentiate them from the Shia, who rejected Abu Bakr`s authority in favor of Ali, whom Sunnis accepted as the fourth Caliph rather than the first. | |