ABSTRACT
After the death of its founder, the Islamic community was faced with a number ofinternal and external challenges. Its very existence depended on the ability of itsmembers to cope with them. Perhaps the most dangerous scenario was the potential conflict over the leadership of the umma between the “helpers” (al-ansár) of Medina and the “emigrants” (al-muhájirún), the early Meccan converts who had accompanied Muhammad to Medina after he had been banished from Mecca. This rift could have led to the election of two rival leaders and, as a result, to the inevitable split of the community into Meccan and Medinan “branches.” Were this to have happened, Muslim unity would have been fatally ruptured.
