After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split in Islam

I just finished reading Lesley Hazleton's book After The Prophet and I am delighted. Most writers describing historic events do so in a very dry, sterile manner that is exhausting for the poor reader. Hazleton manages to go over the same material that has been endlessly researched and re-written and puts down her version that draws the reader directly into the story. She breathes life into her story, puts expressions and thoughts into the personalities . She analyses personalities and inter-relationships and even as she deals only with facts...the same facts as most other historians, she makes hers come to life such the readers feels emotions and get involved in the story while reading facts.This book is about the period after the prophet Mohammed and the machinations that followed over the next several decades. Hazleton spares no one in her analyses of what might reasonably have gone through their minds, she stays faithful to the matters of historic record while conjecturing what people may have been planning as evidenced by their past and later actions. She deals with the fracturing relationships after the death of the prophet and how they degenerated into what we know today, as "The Shia-Sunni Divide".In my opinion, thus book is a "must read" for any non-Muslim in order to even begin to understand how Shia and Sunni relate with one another; this is a book the policy-makers in the halls of Washington, should read before they deal with anything further, regarding Iran or the Middle East.Most Muslims go through life knowing only what their peers and their faith-leaders tell them about the "other" sect. Sunnis believe in a whole lot of mythology about the Shia, that stirs up suspicions and antipathy towards the Shia. Shia, on the other hand, have little ability to help inform their Sunni brethren, about the origins and distinctions of the Shia sect.Would that this book were read by members of both sects!My congratulations to Hazleton for another excellent work, it is a real contribution to human understanding.

I think that this is good chronicle of the Shia-Sunni split in Islam. Interestingly, what makes this book intriguing is almost the same thing that takes away from it, albeit not by much.This book is divided into 3 chapters, about Muhammad, Ali, & Hussein. The death of one leads to the other & so on. Since this book is organized by its emphasis on characters, with chronology/historical context tacitly tucked in, this book reads like a great novel, with character sketches complete & additional narrative to add flavor to historical text which otherwise may come across as insipid.Aside the main characters, the story of Aisha finds great resonance in this text & is probably, as other other reviewers have commented, is the most polemic & divisive content of this text. If you do not have an opinion on this historical figure, you're very likely to find her powerful & assertive - however, the way in which power manifests itself demarcates it as virtuous or vile &, I think, that is in this judgement that the 2 sects of Islam differ widely. This, however, is not the only source of separation - there are many others & this book does a good job of highlighting the various other disagreements between the two sects.Because of it's flavors, you could argue that the book is not exactly an academic view on the matter - I, like many other reviewers, felt that it glorifies the Shia slightly more than it should have, or, on the other hand, represented the Sunni in ways that are more redeeming. I also found certain discrepancies in the exact detail of history between the book by Reza Aslan - No God but God - & this one. Finally, I felt that not enough content was there between the death of Hussein & the formalizing of the Shia as cogent sect of Islam.This is a good introductory book, very easy to read & thoroughly enjoyable - my slight disappointments with it, notwithstanding.

This is a highly engrossing book that is highly relevant to today’s world. The author is a journalist and as such writes in a highly readable style. The book reads more like a novel, rather than a textbook, but nonetheless covers the subject based on numerous sources, some of which go back to the 9th century. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of Islam and to all those interesting in understanding the roots of today’s Muslim fanaticism.This book details the death of the prophet Mohammed and his initial successors, particularly that of his cousin and adopted son Ali. Ali, initially passed over for the leadership of Islam, eventually became its leader. However, the struggle for the leadership of Islam and Ali’s assassination set the stage for the eventual struggle between the Shia (followers of Ali) and the Sunni who believed that the leadership of Islam should not be through Mohammad’s kin. Ali’s son Hussein (also Mohammad’s grandson because Ali married one of Mohammad’s daughters) was likewise killed by the Sunni leadership, creating the basis for Shia martyrdom. The events surrounding the deaths of Ali and Hussein and the nature of how and why they died are highly relevant to today’s world as they created the basis both the Sunni fanaticism of groups like Al Qaida, and Shia fanaticism. The author is clear in explaining these connections, making this book important for understand the modern world.

An excellent analytical assessment of the early Muslim period but largrly influenced by Shiate mindset

Da primeira à última página este livro traz os acontecimentos com uma narrativa simples e fácil de acompanhar.Já havia lido outras descrições do conflito Shia X Sunni e nenhuma delas com a clareza apresentada nesta obra.Uma das maravilhas do estudo da História é conseguir trazer aos nossos dias as raízes dos conflito que vivemos e cujas origens muitas vezes se situam dezenas de séculos no passado.Toda vez que leio narrativas com origem nos relatos árabes antigos impressiona-me o cotejo entre o cavalheirismo (chilvary) de um lado e a barbárie de outro, como no exemplo do massacre de Karbala.Recomendo muito o livro àqueles que se interessam pelo tema.

Excellent book on how islam spread in middle east....and subsequent events leading to Shia Sunni conflict..an eye opener...I recommend everyone to read this Lesley's book if you are truly interested in middle east and roots of its modern conflicts....A big thumb and 5 STAR....very well written....Thank You Very Much - Lesley Hazleton for enlightening me....

Ein sehr schönes Buch...

Se lit comme un roman. Edifiant.