ABSTRACT
The issues of political and religious authority were among the most important that Muslims faced during the first three Islamic centuries. Muhammad had exercised both religious and political authority, but after his death Muslims disagreedabout how those functions should be fulfilled. Shi‘ites believed that Muhammad had selected his cousin ‘Ali to be his successor as head of the Muslim community, and they believed that his descendants inherited his ability and right to rule. Sunnis, however, gradually accepted the concept that political and religious authority could be separated between a secular ruler and independent religious scholars.
