Heirs of Muhammad: Islam's First Century and the Origins of the Sunni-Shia Split » (Reprint)

Within a generation of the prophet Muhammad's death, his followers-as vivid a cast of heroic individuals as history has ever known-had exploded out of Arabia to confront the two great superpowers of the seventh century and establish Islam and with it a new civilization. The Heirs of Muhammad is a swaggering saga of ambition, achievement, self-sacrificing nobility, and blood rivalry. Acclaimed historian Barnaby Rogerson recounts the lives of the handful of individuals who led and influenced Islam after the death of Muhammad. The Heirs of Muhammad is the best kind of history-the kind that brings a forgotten era back to life while simultaneously illuminating a neglected history that is vital to an enlightened understanding of our present world.

About the Author:
Barnaby Rogerson is the author of The Prophet Muhammad: A Biography and a number of celebrated travel books

Publishers Weekly

When the prophet Muhammad died in 632, a tempest of political intrigue and deceit blew over Islam, transforming it forever. In this fast-paced and compelling tale, travel writer Rogerson (The Prophet Mohammad) conducts us on a fascinating journey back to seventh-century Medina and the various schemes that led to the division of Islam into Shia and Sunni factions. The 50 years after Muhammad's death witnessed a succession of caliphs who attempted to carry the Prophet's message forward. Rogerson concentrates on the leaders who ruled in these years immediately after Muhammad's death and traces the split between Shiites and Sunnis to Ali, the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law, and Aisha, Muhammad's wife. Ali was assassinated in 661, after being passed over three times as a successor. For the Shia, the vision of Islam was compromised with Muhammad's death. The Sunnis, on the other hand, believe that the first four "Rightly Guided Caliphs" provided models of the ways that humankind should live. Rogerson provides portraits of all these leaders to illustrate their love of Muhammad and his message. Helpful tables of key characters in the Prophet's life and genealogies of Muhammad and the four caliphs round out Rogerson's charming and captivating chronicle. (Feb.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

List of Maps     xi
Preface     xiii
Introduction     1
Part I
Medina: Oasis Capital of the Muslim State     11
Ali: First Disciple of the Prophet     31
Arabian Soldiers of the Seventh Century     62
Aisha and the Other Mothers of the Faithful     80
Part II
Caliph Abu Bakr and the Ridda Wars     125
The Invasion of the Holy Land and the Death of the First Caliph     159
Omar and the Great Victories     170
Uthman: Third Caliph of Islam     232
Imam Ali: the Fourth Caliph     286
Muawiya the Umayyad, Imam Hasan and Imam Husayn     326
The Political Heirs of the Prophet after the Death of Husayn     346
How Can We Know? Aisha's Legacy among the Storytellers of Medina     359
Key Dates in Political and Military History for the Fifty Years after the Death of the Prophet Muhammad, 632-83     367
Key Characters in the Life of the Prophet Muhammad     373
Family Trees of the Prophet Muhammad and the Caliphs     382
Further Reading     396
Index     403