SPREAD OF ISLAM IN THE MEDITERRANEAN
With the death of Muhammad, the Muslim community found itself without a leader. While as the ‘seal of the prophets’ he could have no successor, as a political guide Muhammad was succeeded by the so-called al Khulafa' al Rashidun, the four ‘rightly-guided caliphs’ who were chosen from his most loyal companions. It was during the leadership of these caliphs ( 632 – 56 ), and particularly under the second caliph and great statesman ‘Umar ibn al Khattab (634–44), that the conquest of territories outside Arabia began.