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موجز تاريخ السنة والشيعة
في هذا الكتابِ ذي السّردِ الفاتنِ والمتعدّدِ الطّبقاتِ، يكشفُ لنا "جون ماكيوجو" كيف حدثَ الانقسامُ الكبيرُ في الإسلام؛ يقدّمُ لنا قصّةَ الإسلامِ منذُ حياةِ النّبي محمّد إلى يومنا الحاضر، ويصفُ الصّراعاتِ الّتي استعرتْ حولَ خلافةِ النّبي، وكيف تطوّرَ المذهبان السّني والشّيعي كمذهبين مختلفين خلالَ الخلافةِ العباسيّة؟ وكيف أدى التّنافسُ بين الإمبراطوريتين: العثمانيّةِ السُنيّةِ والصّفويّةِ الشّيعيّةِ إلى تأكيدِ استمرارِ الانشقاقِ حتّى العصورِ الحديثة؟ وكيف صاغتِ الأحداثُ المختلفةُ في القرن العشرين وبدايات هذا القرن واقعَ الصّراع الآن؟.
507 pages, Unknown Binding
About the author
John McHugo
9 books17 followersAfter studying Arabic and Islamic studies at Oxford University and the American University in Cairo in the early 1970s, John McHugo’s career as an international lawyer took him to a number of Arab countries including Egypt, Oman and Bahrain over a period of more than a quarter of a century. He is an honorary Senior Fellow at the Centre for Syrian Studies at St. Andrews, and a board member of the Council for Arab-British Understanding and the British Egyptian Society. He has also written on legal aspects of the Arab-Israeli dispute. His publications include A Concise History of Sunnis and Shi‘is, A Concise History of the Arabs and Syria: A Recent History.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
January 22, 2022
Ένα άκρως αποκαλυπτικό βιβλίο. Καταγράφει το θρησκευτικό πλαίσιο και τον πολιτισμό που δημιούργησε η συγκεκριμένη θρησκεία που είναι απαραίτητο να τα γνωρίζεις για να καταλάβεις ότι έχει εξελιχθεί στην γειτονική ήπειρο τον τελευταίο αιώνα. Αν βάλεις τώρα στο σκηνικό και την πανσπερμία των φυλών, τη μη κατανόηση από τους αποικιοκράτες των ιδιαιτεροτήτων της περιοχής, και τα απολυταρχικά τοπικά καθεστώτα που είχαν τη στήριξη της Δύσης, έχεις μια πλήρη εικόνα της κατάστασης που επικρατούσε και επικρατεί και των συνεπειών αυτής, άλλωστε η θρησκεία ήταν ιστορικά πάντα η εύκολη λύση για να εξυπηρετεί τα κατά καιρούς συμφέροντα και το καταφύγιο για τους αμόρφωτους και κατατρεγμένους
February 12, 2019
In an ever-growing time of both local and global confusion and sometimes plain ignorance, we as a race are fixated with labelling ourselves and those around us. This even happens within groups we perceive to be unshakeable. John McHugo takes an incredibly close look at the Sunni/Shi’i divide and how that came to be after the Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) untimely demise.
This book condenses 1400 years’ worth of history, battles, relationships and numerous power struggles with ease and clarity. It’s written in a way that though the layers are deep and heavy, it’s very much comprehensible – a no mean feat. But be warned: your to-research list grows rapidly with every page you turn.
McHugo tackles this book with relevant information that is succinctly packed to educate and inform so as to better understand the wider issue at hand. He surmises the complexities the four caliphs, Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali, encountered when tasked with leading the Muslim population in both a spiritual and political fashion. These four very different periods and narratives led me to feel like I was reading one huge epic! McHugo’s concise and careful research really shows in his style of writing; he summarises large chunks of time and character descriptions into wordy albeit accessible paragraphs.
The detail with which McHugo explores the spread of Islam across the world, numerous rebellions over time, and the vested interests respective parties harboured during this period for worldly gain over spiritual freedom is told with a real breadth of knowledge. It’s impressive yet overwhelming at the same time. All the while, the presence of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) can distinctly be felt throughout the pages. His teachings and principles are covertly stitched into the atmosphere in the early parts of this book.
McHugo explores the Ottoman Empire, the Two World Wars, how the Iranian Revolution changed the Middle East irrevocably, all the way up to the Invasion of Iraq. This book is more than just that; it’s an absolute masterpiece told in a way that is factual, informative and truly educational. This is an eye opener for students of history and life in general.
This book condenses 1400 years’ worth of history, battles, relationships and numerous power struggles with ease and clarity. It’s written in a way that though the layers are deep and heavy, it’s very much comprehensible – a no mean feat. But be warned: your to-research list grows rapidly with every page you turn.
McHugo tackles this book with relevant information that is succinctly packed to educate and inform so as to better understand the wider issue at hand. He surmises the complexities the four caliphs, Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali, encountered when tasked with leading the Muslim population in both a spiritual and political fashion. These four very different periods and narratives led me to feel like I was reading one huge epic! McHugo’s concise and careful research really shows in his style of writing; he summarises large chunks of time and character descriptions into wordy albeit accessible paragraphs.
The detail with which McHugo explores the spread of Islam across the world, numerous rebellions over time, and the vested interests respective parties harboured during this period for worldly gain over spiritual freedom is told with a real breadth of knowledge. It’s impressive yet overwhelming at the same time. All the while, the presence of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) can distinctly be felt throughout the pages. His teachings and principles are covertly stitched into the atmosphere in the early parts of this book.
McHugo explores the Ottoman Empire, the Two World Wars, how the Iranian Revolution changed the Middle East irrevocably, all the way up to the Invasion of Iraq. This book is more than just that; it’s an absolute masterpiece told in a way that is factual, informative and truly educational. This is an eye opener for students of history and life in general.
February 23, 2019
Islam appears deceptively homogeneous to non-Muslims. The many sects and doctrinesthriving in it are not easily discernible to outsiders, yet for their proponents they constitute all that's worth in life. Newspapers trumpet about the Shia-Sunni divide and how it rends the fabric of entire societies in Yemen, Syria and Iraq. Both are followers of Prophet Muhammad and essentially believe in the unity of God. How they separated and what drives them to diverge ideologically is a profound question which this book answers to a substantial amount. A simplistic narrative is taking hold in the West which envisages the Sunnis and Shias as engaged in a perpetual state of religious war that has lasted across centuries. Nothing can be further from the truth. The recent spurt in sectarian violence is in fact caused more by political problems that need a contemporary political solution rather than from ideology or dogma. An analysis of the strife clearly shows that violence has grown only since the year 1979 and shifted to top gear after 2003. Both these dates are significant for the impact it made in Middle Eastern politics, and hence to the world as a whole. The first is the establishment of a theocratic state in Iran dominated by the Shia clergy while the second is the American occupation of Iraq in which a Sunni autocrat was unseated and power handed over to Shia politicians who represented their sect which is numerically superior in Iraq. This Shiarevival in the political sphere ruffled the feathers of the Sunni Wahhabi hardliners in Saudi Arabia. The conflicts in the Middle East are spawned by this political tussle between two entrenched conservative ideologies. John McHugo is an international lawyer with a solid background in Arabic and Islamic Studies from Oxford and the American University in Cairo. He is an expert on Syria and the Middle East and has written another book on a similar topic.
The sectarian violence in Islam began immediately after the death of the Prophet. His family and his tribe took opposing positions in the power struggle. While the family was represented by Ali ibn Abi Talib, the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law, the other was led by Abu Bakr, the Prophet’s father-in-law and leader of the Quraysh tribe to which all of them belonged. A lack of political judgement and decisiveness was a character flaw in Ali, who reluctantly acquiesced to the elevation of Abu Bakr,Umar and Uthmanas caliphs to follow the path of the Prophet. The first serious violence among Muslims was the killing of caliphUthman by a mob who besieged his home. It was a time when the old rivalries between Mecca and Medina; the Muhajiroun(the people who accompanied the Prophet in his exodus to Medina) and the Ansar(the supporters of the Prophet who were natives of Medina); the early converts to Islam and the newcomers and that between Qurayshis and non-Qurayshis were boiling over. Ali finally succeeded Uthman, but his assassination had eroded the legitimacy of his reign. He was always on a collision course with Mu’awiyabin AbiSufyan, the governor of Greater Syria who stepped into the caliph’s shoes upon the assassination of Ali. Ali's wife Fatimah was the only child of the Prophet who had progeny and bore him two sons - Hasan and Hussein. They entered into a deal with Mu’awiya that the latter would resume the caliphate to the sons of Ali after his death. However, Hasan died before Mu’awiyadid and Hussein was brutally murdered at the end of an unequal battle at Karbala upon the orders of Yazid, the son of Mu’awiya. This event marked the rise of Shiism which literally means the ‘Party of Ali’. The other main group, Sunnis, recognise the legitimacy of the first threecaliphs and forms about 85 per cent of the total Muslim population. The Shias are known for their gruesome accts of self-mortification in the commemorative processions of Hussein's martyrdom.
After setting out the birth and original sources of Shiism, McHugo proceeds to describe how the division consolidated itself and became a scar on the body of Islamic society. Two divergent approaches emerged during the first two centuries of Abbasid rule. A hierarchy of the teachings of the religion became established, in which the sequence followed was the Prophet's companions, then their followers and finally, the followers of the followers. The people of these first three generations of Muslims were called ‘Righteous Ancestors’ (al-Salaf al-Salih). After the text of the Quran, the recollections attributed to them constituted the tradition, or Sunna. The people who followed it are called Sunnis. Shias looked to the other members of the Prophet’s family as the source of guidance to his teachings. They ascribed special knowledge of the true meaning of the religion to them. The Shias themselves split into separate sub sects such as Twelvers, Ismailis, Zaydis and Druzes. The sharp crystallization of the two sects came about in the Buyid period starting from 945 CE when the Abbasid caliphs came to be mere puppets at the hands of the Buyids. The authority of the caliphs to interpret Sharia law declined. It came about that true Islam could be practiced wherever a Muslim ruler kept a court with a staff of religious scholars. There was – and still is – no central teaching authority in Sunni Islam. Shias meanwhile put faith in an imam who is a divinely inspired descendant of the Prophet. Scholars take a lesser position in Shiism.
The book then turns to the nineteenth century in which a Shia-Sunni synthesis was attempted by religious scholars. By this time, the leading Muslim empires of the Ottomans and Safavid/Iranians had run out of steam in the face of shocking defeats at the hands of European powers. The rest of Islamic history hinges on the duel between Western political ideas and Islamism as a way to administer a country. Adherents of the Western system demanded democracy, elections, personal liberty, freedom of expression and rule of law as the fundamentals without which a country cannot stand on its legs. The worshippers of Islamism view Islam not only as a religion but a political philosophy as well, which controls all aspects of a person's life and demands absolute submission from him or her. The organisations are many such as the Jama’at Islami, Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah, al-Qaeda or ISIS, but the ultimate goal of all of them are the same – absolute power over the society in which no opposition is tolerated and people of other religions are firmly kept down as second class citizens. The author quotes a social commentator who argues that Islamism has already lost the fight and 9/11 was a desperate act by a side who knew that they have lost the game. The uprising in 2011, called Arab Spring, disseminated its appeal across all sects and we saw the people demanding Western-style rights from their dictatorial overlords.
The Islamic world is now boiling over with violence, but this book lays the blame squarely at the doors of the Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979. The unexpected rise of the Shia crescent in Iran, post-2003 Iraq, Syria and Yemen stung the Wahhabi hardliners in Saudi Arabia to take action. If we follow this logic, it must be assumed that the last word is yet to be pronounced. The current sanctions imposed on Iran by the US are just another move on the chequered board. The book makes a special note on ibn Abd al-Wahhab who founded the theological creed Wahhabism and comments on the eerie similarity of his teachings with that of Luther and Calvin, who were the reformist leaders of catholic Christianity. He then warns that in light of the fierce wars fought in Europe in the stride of the reformers, those who wants reformation in Islam should be careful what they wish for.
The book is impressive to read, but two huge factual errors seen in it discount its credibility to a great extent. It seems that the author is unacquainted with Indian history, but it does not hold him back from putting up grand schemes of Shia-Sunni interactions in the subcontinent. He claims that the Delhi sultanate was overthrown by Babur in 1398 (p.171). This is wrong. It was Timur who invaded in that year and the Delhi sultanate could weather over the storm. Babur came to India precisely 128 years later. Then again, the author states that Jahangir constructed Taj Mahal as the mausoleum for his beloved Shia wife Nur Jahan (p.173). Nur Jahan was a Shia, but isn't it common knowledge that it was Shah Jahan who built the Taj in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal who died in childbirth? What accuracy can you hope to observe from a scholar of Islamic history who can't even get the story of the Taj right?
The book is recommended.
The sectarian violence in Islam began immediately after the death of the Prophet. His family and his tribe took opposing positions in the power struggle. While the family was represented by Ali ibn Abi Talib, the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law, the other was led by Abu Bakr, the Prophet’s father-in-law and leader of the Quraysh tribe to which all of them belonged. A lack of political judgement and decisiveness was a character flaw in Ali, who reluctantly acquiesced to the elevation of Abu Bakr,Umar and Uthmanas caliphs to follow the path of the Prophet. The first serious violence among Muslims was the killing of caliphUthman by a mob who besieged his home. It was a time when the old rivalries between Mecca and Medina; the Muhajiroun(the people who accompanied the Prophet in his exodus to Medina) and the Ansar(the supporters of the Prophet who were natives of Medina); the early converts to Islam and the newcomers and that between Qurayshis and non-Qurayshis were boiling over. Ali finally succeeded Uthman, but his assassination had eroded the legitimacy of his reign. He was always on a collision course with Mu’awiyabin AbiSufyan, the governor of Greater Syria who stepped into the caliph’s shoes upon the assassination of Ali. Ali's wife Fatimah was the only child of the Prophet who had progeny and bore him two sons - Hasan and Hussein. They entered into a deal with Mu’awiya that the latter would resume the caliphate to the sons of Ali after his death. However, Hasan died before Mu’awiyadid and Hussein was brutally murdered at the end of an unequal battle at Karbala upon the orders of Yazid, the son of Mu’awiya. This event marked the rise of Shiism which literally means the ‘Party of Ali’. The other main group, Sunnis, recognise the legitimacy of the first threecaliphs and forms about 85 per cent of the total Muslim population. The Shias are known for their gruesome accts of self-mortification in the commemorative processions of Hussein's martyrdom.
After setting out the birth and original sources of Shiism, McHugo proceeds to describe how the division consolidated itself and became a scar on the body of Islamic society. Two divergent approaches emerged during the first two centuries of Abbasid rule. A hierarchy of the teachings of the religion became established, in which the sequence followed was the Prophet's companions, then their followers and finally, the followers of the followers. The people of these first three generations of Muslims were called ‘Righteous Ancestors’ (al-Salaf al-Salih). After the text of the Quran, the recollections attributed to them constituted the tradition, or Sunna. The people who followed it are called Sunnis. Shias looked to the other members of the Prophet’s family as the source of guidance to his teachings. They ascribed special knowledge of the true meaning of the religion to them. The Shias themselves split into separate sub sects such as Twelvers, Ismailis, Zaydis and Druzes. The sharp crystallization of the two sects came about in the Buyid period starting from 945 CE when the Abbasid caliphs came to be mere puppets at the hands of the Buyids. The authority of the caliphs to interpret Sharia law declined. It came about that true Islam could be practiced wherever a Muslim ruler kept a court with a staff of religious scholars. There was – and still is – no central teaching authority in Sunni Islam. Shias meanwhile put faith in an imam who is a divinely inspired descendant of the Prophet. Scholars take a lesser position in Shiism.
The book then turns to the nineteenth century in which a Shia-Sunni synthesis was attempted by religious scholars. By this time, the leading Muslim empires of the Ottomans and Safavid/Iranians had run out of steam in the face of shocking defeats at the hands of European powers. The rest of Islamic history hinges on the duel between Western political ideas and Islamism as a way to administer a country. Adherents of the Western system demanded democracy, elections, personal liberty, freedom of expression and rule of law as the fundamentals without which a country cannot stand on its legs. The worshippers of Islamism view Islam not only as a religion but a political philosophy as well, which controls all aspects of a person's life and demands absolute submission from him or her. The organisations are many such as the Jama’at Islami, Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah, al-Qaeda or ISIS, but the ultimate goal of all of them are the same – absolute power over the society in which no opposition is tolerated and people of other religions are firmly kept down as second class citizens. The author quotes a social commentator who argues that Islamism has already lost the fight and 9/11 was a desperate act by a side who knew that they have lost the game. The uprising in 2011, called Arab Spring, disseminated its appeal across all sects and we saw the people demanding Western-style rights from their dictatorial overlords.
The Islamic world is now boiling over with violence, but this book lays the blame squarely at the doors of the Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979. The unexpected rise of the Shia crescent in Iran, post-2003 Iraq, Syria and Yemen stung the Wahhabi hardliners in Saudi Arabia to take action. If we follow this logic, it must be assumed that the last word is yet to be pronounced. The current sanctions imposed on Iran by the US are just another move on the chequered board. The book makes a special note on ibn Abd al-Wahhab who founded the theological creed Wahhabism and comments on the eerie similarity of his teachings with that of Luther and Calvin, who were the reformist leaders of catholic Christianity. He then warns that in light of the fierce wars fought in Europe in the stride of the reformers, those who wants reformation in Islam should be careful what they wish for.
The book is impressive to read, but two huge factual errors seen in it discount its credibility to a great extent. It seems that the author is unacquainted with Indian history, but it does not hold him back from putting up grand schemes of Shia-Sunni interactions in the subcontinent. He claims that the Delhi sultanate was overthrown by Babur in 1398 (p.171). This is wrong. It was Timur who invaded in that year and the Delhi sultanate could weather over the storm. Babur came to India precisely 128 years later. Then again, the author states that Jahangir constructed Taj Mahal as the mausoleum for his beloved Shia wife Nur Jahan (p.173). Nur Jahan was a Shia, but isn't it common knowledge that it was Shah Jahan who built the Taj in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal who died in childbirth? What accuracy can you hope to observe from a scholar of Islamic history who can't even get the story of the Taj right?
The book is recommended.
September 9, 2024
Extremely disappointed with the book. While the title and the opening of this book looked so so promising...soon I was appalled to find glaring inaccuracies in the section dedicated to Mughals in India.
According to the author, Taj Mahal was constructed by Jahangir for his wife Nur Jahan. To get this basic and popular fact wrong makes me wonder what kind of fact checking the author has engaged in.
Again, in the same section, Babur is supposed to have overthrown the Delhi sultanate in 1398, more than 100 years before his actual arrival in India. This is sheer laziness of the researchers and editors.
This makes me doubt the accuracy of the remaining narrative that I actually don't know much about. So please pick up this book with caution. It may distort your understanding of a significant and important part of history. A part that is still not well past us, in this part of the world.
According to the author, Taj Mahal was constructed by Jahangir for his wife Nur Jahan. To get this basic and popular fact wrong makes me wonder what kind of fact checking the author has engaged in.
Again, in the same section, Babur is supposed to have overthrown the Delhi sultanate in 1398, more than 100 years before his actual arrival in India. This is sheer laziness of the researchers and editors.
This makes me doubt the accuracy of the remaining narrative that I actually don't know much about. So please pick up this book with caution. It may distort your understanding of a significant and important part of history. A part that is still not well past us, in this part of the world.
June 12, 2026
The title of this book is somewhat misleading. While it promises a history of Sunnis and Shi'is, it offers much more than a chronological account of events. The book provides a detailed exploration of the theological concepts, intellectual traditions, and historical development of both sects, while presenting political history in a concise yet critically analyzed manner rather than as a mere dump of dates and events. Although the book covers nearly fourteen centuries of Islamic history in just 300 pages, it remains remarkably accessible.
The first half of the book focuses primarily on the evolution of religious thought within Islam and the emergence of different interpretations and doctrines among Muslims. These discussions are presented alongside the political history of major Muslim states, allowing readers to understand how theology and politics influenced one another throughout the centuries.
One of the book's most compelling themes is how sectarian tensions often receded into the background when Muslims faced larger external challenges, particularly Western imperialism and colonialism.
The second half shifts its attention to power politics, exploring how sectarian identities were frequently manipulated by states, nationalist movements, and political leaders to strengthen their own authority. The focus is especially relevant to the modern Middle East, where sectarianism has often been intertwined with geopolitical rivalries and struggles for power.
Perhaps the book's most important conclusion is that Sunni-Shi'i conflict is not an inevitable feature of Islamic history. While theological differences certainly exist, they have often been less significant than political interests. History offers numerous examples of Sunnis and Shi'is cooperating in the face of common challenges, reminding us that political circumstances, rather than religious differences alone, have often shaped relations between the two communities. Time and again, sectarian divisions have been exploited by ambitious rulers, states, and movements pursuing their own interests.
The first half of the book focuses primarily on the evolution of religious thought within Islam and the emergence of different interpretations and doctrines among Muslims. These discussions are presented alongside the political history of major Muslim states, allowing readers to understand how theology and politics influenced one another throughout the centuries.
One of the book's most compelling themes is how sectarian tensions often receded into the background when Muslims faced larger external challenges, particularly Western imperialism and colonialism.
The second half shifts its attention to power politics, exploring how sectarian identities were frequently manipulated by states, nationalist movements, and political leaders to strengthen their own authority. The focus is especially relevant to the modern Middle East, where sectarianism has often been intertwined with geopolitical rivalries and struggles for power.
Perhaps the book's most important conclusion is that Sunni-Shi'i conflict is not an inevitable feature of Islamic history. While theological differences certainly exist, they have often been less significant than political interests. History offers numerous examples of Sunnis and Shi'is cooperating in the face of common challenges, reminding us that political circumstances, rather than religious differences alone, have often shaped relations between the two communities. Time and again, sectarian divisions have been exploited by ambitious rulers, states, and movements pursuing their own interests.
August 12, 2023
The first half of this book can be quite daunting and dense. Don’t be surprised if you cannot keep track of every name/event that gets mentioned - because there is a LOT of history packed into this book. However, this was an extremely thorough and well-written account of the Sunni/Shi’a political divide from the time immediately following the Prophet’s (SAW) death until the present day.
December 11, 2025
توجد بعض المغالطات التاريخية
June 4, 2025
A decent overview.
June 21, 2020
If you want to read a sweeping history of Islam, Sunnis and Shias, and the conflict between these two sects, then do Read this great book by John McHugo. The author has started to tell us the story of Sunnis and Shias from prophet Muhammad’s era. He goes on to tell us about how this rift came in Islam, what were the main reasons, who were the main actors, and how it passed on to different generations. In between the history, the author has also explained the beliefs of Sunnis and Shias and the major differences between them are explained in a simple way for non experts on Islam and the region.
By reading this book, one also gets the idea regarding the four Madhabs or kind of interpretation of Sharia. Moreover the different branches or sub-sects of Shias are also explained such as Islamialis, Zaidis, twelvers and others. Apart from these, Sufis and their teachings are also touched just for contextual understanding.
The role of Iran and Saudia Arabia in the current conflict is documented and explained in detail. The readers are told about how Iran became Shia in the 1st place then how and why after the 1979 revolution Iran started to import its revolution to other countries. Similarly, you will get to know what is Wahabism and Wahabi ideology? How it started in the deserts of Arabia and how Saudi Arabia is sponsoring the network of seminaries which is promoting Wahibism around the world. Regarding the conflict, the author has explained that it’s not inevitable to resolve this conflict and he has showed us that in the previous centuries there were attempts for unity in Islam.
I would highly recommend this book.
By reading this book, one also gets the idea regarding the four Madhabs or kind of interpretation of Sharia. Moreover the different branches or sub-sects of Shias are also explained such as Islamialis, Zaidis, twelvers and others. Apart from these, Sufis and their teachings are also touched just for contextual understanding.
The role of Iran and Saudia Arabia in the current conflict is documented and explained in detail. The readers are told about how Iran became Shia in the 1st place then how and why after the 1979 revolution Iran started to import its revolution to other countries. Similarly, you will get to know what is Wahabism and Wahabi ideology? How it started in the deserts of Arabia and how Saudi Arabia is sponsoring the network of seminaries which is promoting Wahibism around the world. Regarding the conflict, the author has explained that it’s not inevitable to resolve this conflict and he has showed us that in the previous centuries there were attempts for unity in Islam.
I would highly recommend this book.
March 4, 2020
This has its moments but overall is a bit disappointing.
It's less of a history than a political history. It didn't really help me understand the contrasting emotional or intellectual appeals of Sunnism and Shia'ism.
It also gets a bit too much into the weeds of early Islamic history for an introductory text. In particular, it relies on you keeping track of a lot of previously unfamiliar historical figures at once, which becomes confusing!
It's less of a history than a political history. It didn't really help me understand the contrasting emotional or intellectual appeals of Sunnism and Shia'ism.
It also gets a bit too much into the weeds of early Islamic history for an introductory text. In particular, it relies on you keeping track of a lot of previously unfamiliar historical figures at once, which becomes confusing!
March 14, 2021
A thorough history but quite dry in places and thus a hard one to keep going with until the end. The 20th century chapters were the most insightful in terms of understanding current developments in the Middle East whereas some of the chapters on early history could have perhaps done either with shortening or with a few more individual anectodotes to make them come to life more.
April 27, 2022
Not a concise history, could have been edited in many parts where the author digresses for no apparent reason.
October 25, 2024
I have mixed thoughts on this book. It does contain an essential summary of how the Islamic movement came about and what factors and leaders led to the subsequent developments within it. What the author does get right is the early history of the Islamic movement. The players and the factors which were broadly involved in the development of various schools are also outlined.
However, the analysis on the events after the 17th century are wide off the mark in my opinion. The author points out that the big stumbling block in the formation of a relatively sustainable democracy in the middle east was the fault of the ruling monarchies and dictators. They didn't want democracy because they were the inherent beneficiaries of the lopsided systems they had presided over. What should've been highlighted was the absolute support of the 'democratic' superpower which was responsible for putting these regimes in place in the Cold War ( USA ).
All the crushing of the Left-wing momentum in these countries was not only done by these despotic monarchies and dictators but were aided and supported by the Western democratic governments which were never going to let them ( left wing governments ) prosper because of their own imperial interests. The drawing up the borders of all the former colonies of the European powers was not only a travesty but also laid the bedrock for future conflicts.
And these decisions came back to haunt the world as in the case of the Soviet 'Jihad' being then turned on the US and European powers themselves. And the cherry on top of it all was the decision to invade Iraq and Afghanistan which already made bad things worse.
All in all it does contain essential information regarding these very complex conflicts but lacks at times the nuance analysis needed to disentangle them.
However, the analysis on the events after the 17th century are wide off the mark in my opinion. The author points out that the big stumbling block in the formation of a relatively sustainable democracy in the middle east was the fault of the ruling monarchies and dictators. They didn't want democracy because they were the inherent beneficiaries of the lopsided systems they had presided over. What should've been highlighted was the absolute support of the 'democratic' superpower which was responsible for putting these regimes in place in the Cold War ( USA ).
All the crushing of the Left-wing momentum in these countries was not only done by these despotic monarchies and dictators but were aided and supported by the Western democratic governments which were never going to let them ( left wing governments ) prosper because of their own imperial interests. The drawing up the borders of all the former colonies of the European powers was not only a travesty but also laid the bedrock for future conflicts.
And these decisions came back to haunt the world as in the case of the Soviet 'Jihad' being then turned on the US and European powers themselves. And the cherry on top of it all was the decision to invade Iraq and Afghanistan which already made bad things worse.
All in all it does contain essential information regarding these very complex conflicts but lacks at times the nuance analysis needed to disentangle them.
October 2, 2022
I think this book may be in my top five (definitely top 10) of "books you need to read if you are moving to the Middle East". I wish I read this book before I moved here, it tied up some loose ends on why particular events happened.
My favorite passage:
"Like Many of the Americans brought in to work under him, Paul Brenner, the man chosen by Washington to govern Iraq for the immediate future, had no background knowledge of the Middle East. Even more crucially, he had no understanding of Muslim or Arab society".
Back in the day, I would scream at the tele "READ A FREAKING BOOK" at these bureacrats that had no freaking clue what the history of the region was.
This book would have certainly helped.
My favorite passage:
"Like Many of the Americans brought in to work under him, Paul Brenner, the man chosen by Washington to govern Iraq for the immediate future, had no background knowledge of the Middle East. Even more crucially, he had no understanding of Muslim or Arab society".
Back in the day, I would scream at the tele "READ A FREAKING BOOK" at these bureacrats that had no freaking clue what the history of the region was.
This book would have certainly helped.
February 26, 2026
"من الخطأ تماماً أن نرى الصراع الطائفي كمرض متوطن في الإسلام أو الشرق الأوسط. لقد لعبت أياد مؤذية كثيرة دوراً في هذا، لكن هناك أيضاً قوى هامة تعمل ضده، لذا لا يوجد داع لليأس، على الأقل، ليس الآن."
(تاريخي، توثيقي، حيادي) كتاب كاشف للغاية ومليء بالمعلومات التاريخية. يتناول الإطار الديني والثقافة التي شكّلها الإسلام، ويقدّم خلفية معرفية أساسية لفهم ما جرى خلال القرن الماضي وما يزال مستمرًا حتى يومنا هذا، دينيًا وسياسيًا. كما يستعرض كيف تأثرت المنطقة بشكل عميق بنقص فهم المستعمرين لخصوصياتها وحتى افتقارهم إلى أي نوع من التعاطف. ولا يزال الكتاب على قدر كبير من الراهنية، إذ إن العديد من نتائجه ما زالت تنكشف أمام أعيننا.
(تاريخي، توثيقي، حيادي) كتاب كاشف للغاية ومليء بالمعلومات التاريخية. يتناول الإطار الديني والثقافة التي شكّلها الإسلام، ويقدّم خلفية معرفية أساسية لفهم ما جرى خلال القرن الماضي وما يزال مستمرًا حتى يومنا هذا، دينيًا وسياسيًا. كما يستعرض كيف تأثرت المنطقة بشكل عميق بنقص فهم المستعمرين لخصوصياتها وحتى افتقارهم إلى أي نوع من التعاطف. ولا يزال الكتاب على قدر كبير من الراهنية، إذ إن العديد من نتائجه ما زالت تنكشف أمام أعيننا.
July 23, 2020
Wow. So much information and history cramped into a relatively few number of pages! The work of a master.. someone who has complete grip on the subject. I learnt a lot about the history of Sunnis and Shi'ias and the causes of their conflict. Highly recommended.
June 1, 2022
So uh,it was a hard rrading,pribably my first dive into political history book. Sunni-Shiism is always tense after Muhammad's death but I never imagine it is tangled with sense of sectarians,ideoligies and various school if thought that define nowadays Middle East conflict
June 2, 2026
Excellent work. Thorough analysis.
March 28, 2025
OMG ALI DIES!1!1!1!!11!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 26, 2018
A Concise History of Sunnis and Shi’is
John McHugo
Speaking Tiger
2018. Pp – 347.
The book explores and expands around the ‘1400-year-old schism’ between Sunnis and Shi’is.
First of its kind, the text makes an attempt to bring forward a clearer picture of the history shared by and between the two communities and throws light on the journey that has been.
John McHugo traces the past from the beginning, and speaks of how this divide has layered throughout time and space, among its people in this ‘richly layered and engrossing account’.
We can find evident traces of this divide in the modern Muslim world, through instances of rivalry, big or small.
Since I’m an outsider to the community, my thoughts were a little scattered, and it took me time to recollect them in one direction. I’m sure somebody else would have related and gathered more from the book than I did. A little too overwhelming for me.
It is an important read, nonetheless.
4 on 5, for its preciseness, clarity and structure.
About the Author-
John McHugo is an honorary Senior Fellow at the Centre for Syrian Studies at St Andrews, and a board member of the Council for Arab-British Understanding and the British Egyptian Society. His other publications include the critically acclaimed A Concise History of the Arabs and Syria: A Recent History.
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January 29, 2021
Informative and well written
A must read book by anyone who wants to achieve even a modicum of understanding about the perils and concerns the world is and will face unless we collectively address the issues of Islam as a force of evil.
A must read book by anyone who wants to achieve even a modicum of understanding about the perils and concerns the world is and will face unless we collectively address the issues of Islam as a force of evil.
August 30, 2022
John McHugo is one of my favorite writers on the region and is essential for anyone new to the subject (in this case Sunnis and Shi'is) who want to learn.
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