Rashidun Caliphate · 632-661

The four rightly guided caliphs

After the Prophet's death in 632, four caliphs led the Muslim community from Medina and Kufa. Students explore how a small community became a large state, and why the question of leadership divided it.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, AD 632 to AD 657
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

After the Prophet's death in 632, four caliphs led the Muslim community from Medina and Kufa. Students explore how a small community became a large state, and why the question of leadership divided it.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Name the four Rashidun caliphs in the right order.
  • Explain what a caliph was and how the first caliphs were chosen.
  • Describe one achievement and one problem of the Rashidun period.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 632

Medina, the first capital

Open the map in 632 and zoom in on Medina. The first three caliphs ruled from this oasis town. Why is it surprising that a small town became the capital of a fast-growing state?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 636

Battles in Syria

Move to 636 and turn on Historical Events. Find the Siege of Damascus and the Battle of Yarmouk. Which empire lost Syria in these years?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 657

A capital in Iraq

Move to 657 and zoom in on the Euphrates, about 140 km south of modern Baghdad. Ali, the fourth caliph, ruled from Kufa here. Why might a caliph rule from Iraq rather than Arabia?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Why did the Muslim community need to choose a leader in 632, and why was that so hard?
  2. Umar founded new garrison towns such as Basra, Kufa and Fustat instead of moving into old cities. Why might he have done that?
  3. Under Uthman an official written copy of the Quran was sent to the main cities. Why would one standard text matter for a growing state?
  4. Three of the four caliphs were murdered. What does that tell us about the pressures on the new state?
  5. Sunni Muslims call these four caliphs "rightly guided", while Shia Muslims believe Ali should have been the first. Why do the same events lead to different memories?
4

Game round

9 min

No Rule History ruler fits the first caliphs. Play one round as Wu Zetian, who rose to power in China in the same decades. Discuss: how was a caliph chosen in Medina, and how did rulers come to power at the Tang court?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.