Sunni and Shiah Perspective on Islam

by Ahmad Abdullah Salamah

Genres: Islam

130 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Hayam · Rating 5 out of 5]

It explains and touches every point of every perspective without bias, it breaks down the ideology using evidences.

[Joelendil · Rating 2 out of 5]

I ran across this book while browsing the shelves of my local library and thought it would be a good opportunity to see a side-by-side comparison of Sunni and Shiite Islam (after all, the word objective is in the subtitle). Turns out the title should have been something more along the lines of Why the Sunni Think the Shia Are Heretics. Essentially this was a Sunni author analyzing and attacking the Shia arguments relating to Ali as the first Imam and true successor of Muhammad.

On the surface his arguments seem to demonstrate that Sunni Islam is more internally consistent than Shiite Islam, but I do not know enough about the topic to know whether he was being even-handed or not. I suspect straw-man argumentation on at least some points because I find it hard to believe that Shia would hold such self-contradictory positions as he claims (not to his mention his numerous ad hominem attacks of the "all logical, clear thinking people agree with me" variety).

Overall, this was somewhat helpful in understanding the Sunni vs. Shiite feud, but does not necessarily give an objective summary of Shia beliefs (or even Sunni beliefs since the author spends the entire book arguing against the Shia).

[Kelli · Rating 1 out of 5]

This does not demonstrate a balanced perspective on the differences in beliefs between Sunni and Shia. While the tone is not disrespectful, and I appreciate the author's opposition to mysogyny, the book still seems biased.
However, Salamah sticks to the facts and doesn't seem accusatory, so good try. This book seems like it may be a step above self-published. It was edited well, but I can't imagine a major publisher putting out something like this. I hope that explains it...