<P> The Rashidun Caliphs ( Rightly Guided Caliphs ; Arabic : الخلفاء الراشدون ‎ al - Khulafāʾu ar - Rāshidūn ) , often simply called , collectively , `` the Rashidun '' , is a term used in Sunni Islam to refer to the 30 - year reign of the first four caliphs ( successors ) following the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad , namely : Abu Bakr , Umar , Uthman ibn Affan , and Ali of the Rashidun Caliphate , the first caliphate . The concept of `` Rightly Guided Caliphs '' originated with the later Abbasid Caliphate based in Baghdad . It is a reference to the Sunni imperative `` Hold firmly to my example ( sunnah ) and that of the Rightly Guided Caliphs '' ( Ibn Majah , Abu Dawood ) . </P>
the rule of the three rightly guided caliphs was called
the Rashidun