After the Prophet

The worthy sequel of the first part - The First Muslim. The book traces the Muslim history after the life of Prophet Mohammed. It digs deep into the issues which started the chasm between Shias and Sunnis and explores the current context in which this wound still festers. Full of fascinating historical accounts and anecdotes, this book also arms the readers with a viewpoint to understand the pitfalls of exploting the religion for political gains.

'' Religion is an amazing phenomenon that plays contradictory roles in people's lives '' - Ali Shariati ( The Intellectual founder of the 1979 Iranian revolution ) This book is divided into the following three parts :- ➡️ Muhammad ➡️ Ali ➡️ Hussein ➡️ After the prophet, the epic story of the Shia - Sunni spilt, tells us that how after the death of prophet Muhammad (PBUH), the religion which he established in the 7th century Arabia got divided into two rival sects within a few years of his death. And the effect of which is still can be seen in middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan and other Islamic countries, where shia and sunni killing each other in the name of islam. ➡️ When prophet Muhammad ( PBUH ) overthrowed the prevailing status quo in the 7th century Arabia and established the religion of islam, he never thought in his wildest dreams that after his death the same religion which preaches the message of equality, got divided into two rival sects i.e Shia and Sunni. ➡️When prophet established islam in the 7th century Arabia, his message was very radical and revolutionary, but after his death the problem arose that who will lead the community. ➡️Some says Ali, his cousin and son-in-law, since he was the first Man who accepted islam and he also belongs to the family of the prophet. But his candidature was opposed by the meccans, and later a shura ( A kind of tribal council) was called, and Abu bakr was selected as the first caliph of islam. ➡️Later when Abu bakr died he nominated Omar as his successor, and after the death of latter, a Umayyad was selected for the post of caliph and his name is Othman. ➡️For three continuous time ali was denied the post of caliph, and when he finally got the position of caliph, the favorite wife of prophet, Aisha, waged a war against ali, and this battle was known as the " Battle of camel ", although Ali defeated the forces led by Aisha and retained his Position. But later Ali was assassinated by an Islamic fundamentalist, when he was praying in the mosque, and his killing were laid the foundation of what we known as Shia's or followers of Ali. ➡️ After the death of Ali, the position of caliph were awarded to a person by the name of Muawiya, and his modus operandi was deception. Infact he was the same man who offered Ali, when the latter was alive, a proposal to divided the empire between them, but Ali refused his proposal and waged a war against him, and this battle is known as the Battle of Siffin, although the forces of Muawiya was almost got defeated by the forces of Ali, but he ordered his army to use Quran as a political tool rather than using white flag for surrender. And it is the first time when Quran was used as a political tool, and his army pearced the Quran with their Lance's, and when the forces of Ali saw Quran they just stopped fighting. ➡️ After the death of Ali, his sons Hasan and Hussein remained quite for some time, but people encouraged the eldest son of Ali, Hasan, to reclaim the position of caliph, but he simply refused, because Muawiya told Hasan that he will nominate Hasan as the next caliph after his death, and also offered him a good amount of money, which Hasan readily accepted, ignoring the advice of his younger brother Hussein that Muawiya is just deceiving him. Later Hasan went to live in Medina where he devoted his time in learning and Waited for the death of Muawiya, but Hasan himself passed away in Medina before he proclaimed the position of caliph. Some people say he was being poisoned by his own wife, and latter was under the influence of cunning Muawiya. ➡️ As Hasan was already dead, and the only person left who can challenge Muawiya was Hussein. And Muawiya has already decided that he will not give the position of caliph to Hussein, so he nominated his son yazid as the next Caliph. ➡️As soon as taking over the position of Caliph, Yazid ordered his army to bring Hussein in front of him. But Hussein already made his mind to sacrifice himself, and he went with his family and seventy two warriors to fight the mighty army of yazid in a place called Karbala ( in Iraq ). One by one all the seventy two warriors got killed by the forces of yazid, Hussein was himself brutally killed, and his head was chopped off, and presented to yazid as a war trophy. His sister zaynab were taken as prisoner of war, her head was shaved and they just humiliated the granddaughter of the man who established islam. ➡️ Infact what happened at Karbala in the 7th century is the foundation story of the sunni-shia split, and iraq became the cradle of Shia islam. ➡️ And if Ali was the foundation figure of shia-islam, Hussein was it's sacrificial icon. ➡️ The Author had done a good amount of research before writing this book and she stayed neutral and stick to the facts and she connected the past and the present very well. Anyone who are interested in reading about islam,and about the so called shia - sunni split can go for this book. I learned a Good amount of information about islam after reading this book. The main characters of this book - Prophet Muhammad ( PBUH ) - The last messenger of God, and the founder of islam. Caliph - The successor to Muhammad and the temporal leader of the muslim community. Abu Bakr - The first Caliph of islam and the father of Aisha. Omar - The second Caliph of islam, and a great warrior of his time. Othman - The third Caliph of islam. Ali - The fourth caliph of islam, and the first imam for the Shia's. Fatima - The eldest daughter of prophet and wife of Ali. Aisha - The first wife of prophet after the death of Khadija. Hasan - The eldest son of Ali and Fatima and the grandson of prophet, and second imam for Shia's. Hussein - The youngest son of Ali and Fatima, and the third imam for Shia's. And he is the sacrificially icon for Shia's. My Ratings : ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ( 4/5 ) I hope you like the Review, thanks for reading, Jai Hind.

Muslims and every one interested in knowing Islam should read this book. The story telling is just amazing. As the history of Islam encompasses all the ingredients of a master thriller, the book keeps enriching and enchanting readers, to the last words. Understanding religion unambiguously, helps shedding bigotry, which remain so enshrined in the matters of faith. A great epic, written by an agnostic JEW, needs to be told and retold to all "MUSLIMS" to be the better Muslims.

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....

A more apt title for the book could have been “After the Prophet: The story of the birth of Shiite sect”. The book starts right near the end of Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) life. A successor has to be chosen to carry forward the flag of Islam. Instead of specifying it, this is left to the people to resolve amongst themselves. This, as per the book, created the basis for deep schism present in the current Islamic landscape between Sunnis and Shias. The book recounts the history of about 50 years after the Prophet’s death, going through the life and death of Ali (the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law), Ali’s elder son Hasan, and his younger son Hussain. This comprises about 80-90% of the book. The last 2-3 chapters rush by, trying to recreate 1400 years of differences and struggles in about 10-15 pages. Right off the bat, the first thing one would notice is that it is heavily biased and awfully inclined towards the Shiite beliefs. While I do not doubt the events that have been described, I have my reservations for the motivations and the conversations that precede the actions the characters perform. While the revered Sunni personalities are mostly shown in a negative light, often paragraphs describing the ulterior motives and harsh (almost megalomaniac) words, the Shiite-revered personalities are taken for granted and almost always shown as the oppressed tragic figures that Shias believe. The author could have taken into account the same approach while writing about the other side. The author assumes the reader is thorough with the early years and life of the Prophet, so the information overload to a reader who has no prior knowledge can be a bit jarring. The less said about the last 2-3 chapters, the better. They fly by, fitting in all the information of 1400 years into a handful of pages, with none of the nuances. Probably would have been the pressure from the publisher or so. It seems like even the author did not have the heart to get into the fine details. What this book has a very positive point is the writing. It is exceedingly lucid and very much engaging. The maps and the family tree are also helpful. This book is recommended if you want to learn about the formative 50 years after the Prophet’s life and the birth of the Shia-Sunni schism, provided you can read through the clear bias.

The book, having been been written by a knowledgeable writer, is helpful in understanding the early period of Islam and how the events of that period had subsequently effected and shaped the future history of the Islamic world.

Good follow up after First Muslim. Explains the division of Muslim religion into two sects in a simple and easy manner

Hazleton tells this pivotal Islamic story beautifully. Despite her occasional stream of rhetorical questions as a device, which can grate, she writes with sensitivity, sympathy and historical understanding. Her flowing and conversational prose can, when describing emotional events, transcend to the poetic; the highlight being her moving and poignant re-telling of the events and tragic climax at Kerbala. She narrates the factual events in a concise, usually neutral and strictly temporal way, underscoring similarities between 7th century and 21st century figures and events in a shrewd and at times wickedly wry way, while weaving in her own thoughts, insights and ascriptions of motives to key figures. Some of these will not only jar with but also vex many Muslims as hers is not a hagiographical account. The account she offers seems to be heavily flavoured by Shia versions which might be why she makes the howler that the Lady Fatimah was the Prophet's eldest daughter as opposed to being his fourth and youngest one (a flick through the bibliography shows that the contemporary Muslims books are indeed Shia; this may be more a reflection on Sunnis and their neglect to author good well written books on this subject in English than any bias on Hazelton's part). Lady Aisha emerges as a head strong feisty woman child who is driven by the need for recognition and attention, an unrecognisable person to most Sunnis. On the other hand Imam Ali rightly emerges as a towering otherworldly man full of nobility, integrity, moral courage and ethical conviction. Hazelton seems to think that officially Sunnis are against Imam Ali whilst Shias were for him. She neglects or is unaware that the real root for the continuing hostility between the two groups isn't so much the political split but rather the theological diversion which resulted in some Shia sects ritually cursing the first three Caliphs as well as denigrating Lady Aisha and other leading companions of the Prophet (PBUH) with some extreme sects going so far as putting Imam Ali on the same station as the Prophet (PBUH) himself. It is arguably this that raises the Sunni red mist rather than the claims and counter claims of succession. Of course this sensitivity has been ruthlessly exploited by many, Muslims and non-Muslims alike. However she does rather splendidly point out in the end that the similarities between Sunnis and Shias are, ultimately, more than their differences. How long before more Muslims can see this. Overall I would recommend this book as worth reading, maybe along with a book on the topic from an orthodox Muslim perspective. This has whetted my appetite for her forthcoming biography of the Prophet (PBUH).

Lasley summarises the issue nicely without compromising on key events. Additionally, most text on this issue might be perceived biased due to other authors' being part of one of two groups, which isn't the case with Lesley.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this wonderful little book about the split in Islam that took place after the death of the holy prophet. Although full of historical details, the writing style is so flowing that it almost reads like a novel. I was left with many questions answered after reading this book. It presents facts which may be hard for some people on both sides of the divide to swallow. However, I found it to be very unbiased and thought provoking and the ideas it presents could motivate muslims to work towards greater unity amongst themselves and people of other faiths. Overall an excellent book!

Ein sehr schönes Buch...

especially in our current times, when people condemn Islam as a whole, not knowing much about it, based only on the atrocities carried out by extremist. The book is easy to read, in a ’’modern’’ style, full of details that make the narrative interesting and authentic. For those, who want more information and/or further reading there are sources, notes and an index. And for those dealing with quarrels in their family ... it‘s quite nice to know that even Muhammad, the Prophet himself, struggled with this problem.