Review: After The Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split by Lesley Hazleton

Goodreads rating: 4.08/5

My rating: 4.08/5

After the Prophet is a narrative history focused on the events around and after the death of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) that led to the Sunni-Shia split in Islam.

I honestly don't know how to review this particular book since it's non-fiction. This will be more of a reflection of what I know so far about Islam and what I think of how the book was written.

Like I mentioned previously on Instagram, I'm not a born Muslim so everything that I've known about Islam before reading this book was from my new Muslim courses, from friends and from how much of the Quran I've read, which is honestly not much. I can say I've learned a lot from this book!

I'm Sunni by default and have Shia friends whom I love very much. They've always been willing to answer my questions about Shiism but I've never actually asked them about what happened to cause the split in Islam in fear of causing a conflict. I did ask a friend though this time when I had a doubt that I couldn't leave unclear. Thankfully, he was willing to clear my doubts. Having said that, despite how informative this book was, I did still have some doubts. I'm not sure I can blame the author though.

In fact, I'm quite impressed with Lesley Hazleton as she's not even Muslim but she was able to portray the past events in a way that made me feel like I was there. History bores me but this did not bore me one bit. I didn't feel like I was reading a history book, it felt like I was reading a novel. Hazleton gave me the opportunity to learn history by writing Islamic tales such as 'The Affair of the Necklace', 'People of the Cloak', 'The Episode of the Pen and Paper', and more, in an engaging manner. Hence, I would recommend this book to anyone, Muslims and non-Muslims, that would like to learn more about Islam.

"But whether sacredness inheres in the Prophet's blood family, as the Shia believe, or in the community as a whole, as Sunnis believe, nobody in the West should forget that what unites the two main branches of Islam is far greater than what divides them, and that the vast majority of all Muslims still cherish the ideal of unity preached by Muhammad himself - an ideal the more deeply held for being so deeply broken." - Excerpt from After the Prophet

I've learnt a lot about my religion that I did not know from this book. If I understood everything right, the Sunni-Shia split began after the death of the Prophet (pbuh) when it was time to determine his successor. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was not able to appoint a successor before his death and the Shias and Sunnis had different beliefs as to how to elect the first Caliph. The Shias believed that the person should have been a blood relative, more specifically, the prophet's (pbuh) first cousin, Ali (as). On the other hand, the Sunnis believed that the community as a whole had a say in the matter. The Sunnis had their way for the first 3 Caliphs and as they appointed Ali (as) as the 4th Caliph, he was also called the first Imam by the Shias.

My confusion lies in the details. I understand where the conflict existed but I want details about who decided to create the Shia sect, who the first few Shias were and how the sect grew. Maybe I can find another book with the details that I seek.

Upon reflection, it was quite disheartening to find out how many wars waged and how many deaths and murders were involved for the sake of appointing the right successor each time one passed away. It seems that what split Islam into the two sects was not even about faith or the religion, it was about how to elect a leader. How ironic is it that the one thing they were fighting for that the Prophet (pbuh) did his best to maintain was the one thing that tore them apart - unity.