After the prophet : the epic story of the Shia-Sunni split in Islam

by Leslie Hazelton. In June 632, the founder of Islam died without having clearly designated a successor. It seemed obvious to some that Muhammad's first cousin, Ali, who occupied the place of a son in the prophet's circle, would assume leadership. But Aisha, Muhammad's favorite, youngest, and most forceful wife, favored her father, and others backed Muhammad's greatest warrior. Ali would succeed, but not until 25 years later. Thus began the turmoil that eventuated in the bisection of Muslims into Sunni and Shia and that Hazleton describes in a new masterpiece of a kind of history seldom seen these days, in which the telling of a complicated, eventful story takes precedence over constant quotation of documents and squabbling with other historians. Hazleton closely relies on the great texts of early Islam and vivifies the main players by following what common sense would deduce about their temperaments and personalities from their actions and statements. She brings in parallel modern events only to emphasize the depth of the trauma the conflict she recounts inflicted on Islam. Best, she doesn't pontificate or argue religion. She just thrillingly and intelligently distills one of the most consequential trains of events in all history.-- (Check Catalog)