An Exposition of Some Criticisms Against Khilafat-e-Rashida — Page 4
4 T h e Era of Khilafat - e - Ra shida The First Era of Khilafat - i - Rashida From this prophecy of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, therefore, it is clear that the Khilafat which would come into being after him would consist of two eras – one would follow immediately after his death and between the ot her would intervene a period of suppressive, op - pressive and cruel regimes. The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, defined the span of the first era as well. Safina reports that she heard the Holy Prophet say: “Khilafat shall reign for 30 years and then there shall be monarchy” (Mishkat, Kitabul Fitn). This is exactly what happened, in that the first Khalifa was Abu Bakr, the second Omar, the third Osman and the fourth Ali, who were elected to their august offices by democratic means of one description or another and covered a span of thirty years as pro phesied by the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. The Second Era of Khilafat - i - Rashida From the citings of Huzaifa mentioned earlier, it is clear that the Holy Prophet, ma y peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had prophesied about the second era of Khilafat - i - Rashida and had said that after the first era a long period of unimaginative,