A Concise History of Sunnis and Shi'is

Description

The 1,400-year-old schism between Sunnis and Shi’is is currently reflected in the destructive struggle for hegemony between Saudi Arabia and Iran―with no apparent end in sight. But how did this conflict begin, and why is it now the focus of so much attention? Charting the history of Islam from the death of the Prophet Muhammad to the present day, John McHugo describes the conflicts that raged over the succession to the Prophet, how Sunnism and Shi’ism evolved as different sects during the Abbasid caliphate, and how the rivalry between the Sunni Ottomans and Shi’i Safavids ensured that the split would continue into the modern age. In recent decades, this centuries-old divide has acquired a new toxicity that has resulted in violence across the Arab world and other Muslim countries. Definitive, insightful, and accessible, A Concise History of Sunnis and Shi'is is an essential guide to understanding the genesis, development, and manipulation of the schism that for far too many people has come to define Islam and the Muslim world. Review: Insights you won't find in other books on the Sunni-Shia schism - I've read a lot of books on Islam and always seem to walk away with as many questions as answers. This book offers many more answers that really help to understand the conflict between Sunnis and Shias that underlies so many of the conflicts in the Middle East and South Asia. There were a few places where many Middle Eastern names were referenced that made the read a little challenging, but I powered through and soon found many more chapters of very useful insights. From time to time McHugo does present views that conflict with my own, but I find his perspective useful as a counterpoint. There are few books that I have read that offer this much value. The research is extraordinary and McHugo does a commendable job of diffusing complexity and communicating non-fiction in the manner of a storyteller. Review: An enlightening and fascinating book - John McHugo’s book homes in on the conflicts between Sunnism and Shi’ism presents the history of Islam over nearly 15 centuries. In doing so, it shows how Islam spread from the Arabian peninsula to other part of the Arab world and beyond: Spain, Portugal, Bosnia, Turkey, Persia, Indonesia, Malaysia, India and many other countries. The book shows how Sunnism and Shi'ism originated, partly because of different beliefs but also because of the interplay of important vested interests backed by military force. When Mohammed died there was a tussle to be his successor involving different relatives and powerful clans. This dispute was never really settled and, over time, differences of religious interpretation and practice helped to solidify the differences between those who saw Mohammed’s family (the descendants of his daughter Fatima and son-in-law Ali) as the heirs to whom the Faithful should look for religious guidance, and those who thought it should be sought from the teachings of the Prophet's Companions (even though many of them had bitterly opposed Ali). Military force has from the early days been used to spearhead the spread of Islam to many parts of the world and to settle which broad branch of Islam would be established as the official creed in different countries. The author is careful not to draw parallels with the religious wars between Catholics and Protestants in Europe from the 16th to the 17th centuries – conflicts which were also partly over territory, as well as being inspired by differences of interpretation and practice. The Quran, like most religious texts, exhorts people to treat others with kindness and consideration. As a reader, one therefore can’t help feeling depressed that Muslims still manage to fight about these things after nearly 1500 years. There was a period when it looked as if Muslims of both Sunni and Shi’i persuasion might recognise that the wise words of the Quran could unite them rather than divide them, but the spat between Saudi Arabia and Iran, with most Muslims in the Middle East tending towards one side or the other, continues to poison the atmosphere and has led to hundreds of thousands of deaths in recent years.