I'm just curious as to whether or not Islam could have remained unified had Abu Bakr or Ali met an early demise before Muhammad himself.
1) If Ali dies early before Muhammad, I am not sure as to who should succeed Uthman because of Ali's early death. Although this could butterfly the schism of Islam into the Sunni and Shia variations.
2) If Abu Bakr dies before Muhammad, then Ali might assume the title of Caliph by default. Assuming of course, Umar and Uthman don't contest Ali's succession claims. This may also butterfly a series of events that I'm not sure what really happened.
Could the Sunni-Shia Split be butterflied away if one of those two scenarios occured?