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Mohammed's Companions > Page1
If we look at Mohammed's companions and successors we see men who had similar life-styles as Mohammed, though like Mohammed they may have been mystics and were pious in their religious beliefs. They do not include monks or yogis, or people who talked of or sought Self-realization, but became generals who led armies trying to conquer the world, something we cannot imagine any yogi attempting to do. The first Caliph Abu Bakr was a merchant turned general. Like Mohammed he had the successive Caliphs (heads of Islam) were simultaneously the leader of the army, the political leader and chief judge, as well as the leader of the religion.
In addition Islamic generals and soldiers, starting with Mohammed's successors, took personally from the wealth of the lands they conquered and set up hereditary pensions for themselves and their families. They turned themselves not into ascetics but into the new ruling class. Some Muslims, particularly members of the Shia branch claim that Mohammed was not militaristic, but that the Caliphs starting with Abu Bakr, misinterpreted his teaching that what was a defensive struggle in the life of Mohammed trying to preserve Islam in the face of unfair attack, because an offensive battle after he died, an attempt to promote their version of Islam through force.
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