A Concise History of Sunnis and Shi‘is

by John McHugo

In this richly layered and engrossing account, John McHugo reveals how the great divide in Islam occurred. Charting the story of Islam from the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad to the present day, he 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 empires of the Sunni Ottomans and Shi‘i Safavids contrived to ensure that the split would continue into modern times. Now its full, destructive force has been brought out by the struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran for the soul of the Muslim world.

Definitive and insightful, A Concise History of Sunnis and Shi‘is is an essential guide to understanding the genesis, development and manipulation of the greatest schism that has come to define Islam and the Muslim world.

Genres: History, Islam, Religion, Nonfiction, Middle East, World History

347 pages, Hardcover

Published September 18, 2017

About the author

After 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.

Reviews

[Stefania · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

[Nilufa · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book: A Concise History of Sunnis and Shi‘is
Author: John McHugo
Publisher: ‎ Speaking Tiger Publishing Pvt Ltd (10 November 2018)
Language: ‎ English
Paperback: ‎ 352 pages
Item Weight: ‎ 340 g
Dimensions: ‎ 20.3 x 25.4 x 4.7 cm
Country of Origin: ‎ India
Price: 370/-

“The Shi‘is, being the marginal among Muslims, have often been the loser and marginalised. As long ago as the 8th century, they even developed a doctrine called taqiyya, which allowed them to obscure their true beliefs from other Muslims so as to avoid harassment. Throughout the history of the caliphate from the death of the Prophet in 632 to the sack of Baghdad in 1258, the Muslims we now call Sunnis were the rulers of the Muslim empire that the Arab conquests built in the 7th and 8th centuries. The only ruling caliph during this period whom the Shi‘is recognise is Ali. In 661, after less than five years of a reign characterised by civil war, he was murdered (his murderer was not a Sunni, by the way)…”

Just like virtually all other religions, Islam is not amalgamated and has branches, deducing Quran and matters related to political events in the history of Islam in a dissimilar technique. The two focal denominations of Islam are Sunnism and Shiism with Sunnis making up 85-90% of the Muslim population.

But how did the divide in the Muslim world happen?

This book talks of the rupture in Islam, surfacing of Sunni and Shia Islam and the consequences it had on the Caliphate and beyond.

The story unfurls with Ali ibn Abi Talib, one of the most central persons in the history of Islam. Ali was born in Mecca in the dominant Hashimi clan and was a cousin of Prophet Muhammad. They had a sturdy bond, as Ali’s father had raised Muhammad when he became orphaned and later Ali would live in Muhammad’s household.

When in 610 AD Muhammad proclaimed his prophethood, Ali was one of the primary persons to accept Islam and identify Muhammad as the prophet. But Muhammad’s proselytizing was not originally admired among the polytheistic Meccans and he and the early Muslims had to face a world of trouble.

The gossips of an intrigue against Muhammad being floated in the air, he was compelled to leave Mecca for Medina with a majority of his followers in 622, which was called Hijra - the exodus – an affair so historic that the new Islamic calendar starts with that day. Originally Ali stayed behind to return people the possessions they had entrusted upon the Prophet for custody, but very soon he joined other Muslims in Medina and in 623 married Muhammad’s daughter Fatimah Zahra, becoming one of the most steadfast cohorts of Muhammad.

Known in the Muslim community for perception and evenhandedness, Ali earned the nickname Asad Allah - the Lion of God - for his military exploits and audacity on the battlefield.

By 631 the Islamic community - the Ummah - had been able to affirm control over Mecca and large sheathes of the Arabian Peninsula and was already a redoubtable force.

But who was going to succeed the aging Muhammad?

And this is the foundation of the divide in Islam. As one would expect Sunni and Shia sources proffer dissimilar construals.

On the way back from his last pilgrimage Muhammad made a sermon at the Ghadir Khumm oasis. He took Ali by his hand and announced that "Anyone who has me as his Mawla, has Ali as his Mawla".

Shia theology considers that in Ghadir Khumm the Prophet selected Ali as his heir by calling him Mawla - a polysemous Arabic word with quite a few connotations, one of which is ‘leader’ or ‘master’.

Sunnis believe that the Ghadir Khumm chapter was simply a public statement of kinship of the Prophet to his dedicated friend and son-in-law and read the word Mawla using its second characterization – ‘a friend’.

Another significant occurrence in the succession disagreement between the Sunni and Shia theologies is connected to the so-called ‘Pen and Paper episode’.

What is considered a genuine hadith? Both Sunni and Shia theologians acknowledge it, but construe it in their own way.

In Islam, a hadith is a narrative on the life of Muhammad with religious and legal memorandums for the Muslim community. Consistent with the Hadith, a few days before his death, Muhammad asked his attendants to bring him pen and paper so that he could inscribe a statement with the intention of thwarting the Ummah from going off course after his demise.

But one of Muhammad’s closest companions Umar said: “The Prophet is gravely ill, and we have got Allah’s Book with us and that is adequate for us”. This led to a strident quarrel in the room in the presence of Muhammad, who got despondent and called everyone to leave.

It is still uncertain what the prophet wanted to write.

Shias argue that he intended to designate Ali as his heir, but there is no way to settle on this. In keeping with the Sunni view, the Prophet did not unambiguously delegate a descendant and left it for the Islamic population to decide.

There are other events which Sunnis and Shia base their claims on regarding the succession, but in a word following Muhammad’s death in 632, the Ummah did not have an accord on a new leader.

While Ali took charge of the arrangements of the funeral, a meeting to settle on the successor took place in Medina.

Ali and two other high-flying cohorts of the Prophet, namely Abu Bakr and Umar were not present and considerations took place without them. Actually, majority of those present were the Muslims residing in Medina, who welcomed Muhammad or were converted later, while very few of those who went on a Hijra from Mecca to Medina with Muhammad were there.

Abu Bakr and Umar hurried to the meeting and took charge of the procedure in Ali’s absence. The latter was one of the first converts to Islam, Muhammad’s father-in-law through his daughter Aisha. Profoundly esteemed by modern Sunnis, he was very prosperous and donated aplenty to the cause of Islam, and possibly one of the chief contenders to leadership.

Umar was also a close companion of Muhammad, also his father-in-law through his daughter Hafsa, known for his zealous protection of the Prophet.

He is known as a just, gifted and judicious person in the Sunni custom.

After a frenzied dispute, Umar was able to convince those present to pick Abu Bakr as the heir - the Caliph, a ruler of the Muslim Ummah. Ali was later presented with the fact of succession and in conjunction with a number of other companions originally refused to accept the decision, as it was taken without him, while he was one of the strongest candidates.

Umar embarked on the process of persuading or forcing the companions to offer fealty to Abu Bakr. He personally came to Ali’s house to plead with him.

The events which followed have been the subject of much dispute, as the Sunnis believe that Umar was able to calmly convince Ali to accept Abu Bakr’s Caliphate. In keeping with Shia sources, Umar forced Ali to compromise by breaking into the house, slamming the door, which broke Ali’s wife Fatimah Zahrah ribs, ultimately leading to miscarriage of their child.

Ali himself was tied with a rope to compel his adherence.

It is not viable to validate what actually happened, but in time Ali accepted Abu Bakr and his successor Umar as caliphs and retired from public life. Though he was often consulted in matters of state he lost his erstwhile ascendancy.

Ali accepted the selection of Umar as caliph and even gave one of his daughters, Umm Kulthūm, to him in marriage. After the bereavement of Umar in 644, Ali was considered for the position, but ultimately another companion of Muhammad, Uthman of the Banu Umayyah clan, became the new caliph.

Again, Ali recognized the new caliph, but very soon disgruntlement in the Caliphate grew.

Again the sources do not concur on the raison d'être, but many claimed that Uthman’s bias and clemency towards tribal rivalries was the cause of the resistance against him.

Rebels offered to support Ali as a substitute to Uthman, but Ali refused and even sent his sons Hassan and Husain to protect Uthman’s house, where in time regardless of all the fortification Uthman was assassinated by rebels from Egypt in 656.

Finally Ali’s turn to become a caliph came and he became the fourth and the final of the Rashidun Caliphs.

But his election was not smooth and he became a Caliph amidst very turbulent times. The Prophet’s wife Aisha and Uthman’s relatives from the Banu Umayyah clan, including the governor of Syria Muawiya demanded Ali to punish the conspirators of Uthman’s death, but given that some of them were Ali’s supporters, the new caliph declined and almost immediately the First Muslim Civil War, called ‘Fitna’ commenced.

In December 656, Ali’s army overpowered the rebels at the Battle of Camel near Basra, but Muawiya still repudiated to recognize Ali as a new caliph and the anti-Ali resistance gathered around him.

Ali was keen to not repeat Uthman’s blunders. He carried out measures to consolidate the caliphate and diminish the supremacy of governors.
The two men assembled their armies and confronted each other at Siffin, on the Euphrates, in 657.

Neither side was enthusiastic to commit to a major battle, but after three months of infrequent combates, when grim fighting lastly broke out, Muawiya’s followers called for adjudication. Rumor has it that after riding out with copies of the Quran on their lances Muawiya’s followers brought the conflict to a stop.

Ali was forced to concur, but some of his followers objected and deserted him. They became known as ‘kharijis’, from the Arabic verb ‘kharaja’ (to leave) for the reason that they left Ali’s army.

According to the mediation, which took place at Adhruh either in 658 or 659, it was ruled that both Ali and Muawiya should renounce their claims and the Muslim Ummah should have an opportunity to select their own ruler. Ali rejected this ruling and the impasse continued as Muawiya’s supporters decreed him a Caliph in Damascus in 660.

The following year Ali was assassinated by the Kharijis while praying in the mosque at Kufa. Ali’s son Hasan was proclaimed a new caliph in Kufa, which became the capital during Ali’s petite time in power.

But Muawiya had a far stronger military. Eventually Hasan stepped down as a caliph in order to steer clear of further bloodshed. An accord between the sides was signed.

According to the accord the following things were decided upon:

1) Hasan would accept Muawiya as a caliph under the condition that he would act in keeping Islam
2) Muawiya should not appoint a successor and a new caliph should be elected by the electoral council - Shura –
3) Muawiya should abandon cursing Ali and persecuting Ali’s family and supporters.

But Muawiya would not stay true to his undertakings and towards the end of his reign he delegated his son Yazid as an heir.

This was akin to breaking off the tradition of the Islamic Caliphate as a state, which elected its leader through consultation or election, to a monarchy.

Muawiya summoned the Shura in Damascus, the new capital of the Caliphate and through wiles and enticement was able to secure support for Yazid. This development caused momentous resistance in different quarters and this antagonism started gathering around Muhammad’s grandson and Ali’s son, Husain, who replaced Hasan, who was assassinated in 670, as the leader.

Notwithstanding the hostility, Muawiya was able to secure the support of Mecca and Medina for Yazid.

Ali’s capital Kufa was the prospective throttlehold of the opposition and the death of Muawiya in 680 put the events, which would further partition the Islamic World, into action.

Following Muawiya’s death Yazid became a new caliph and straight away demanded the loyalty of Husain. Yazid’s representative could not convince Husain to do this and was afraid of killing him, since Husain was the Prophet’s grandson.

Around the same time, the people of the city of Kufa started sending letters to Husain informing him about their resistance to the Umayyad rule, their support for him and intent to remove Yazid from power and establish him instead. The Kufans sided with Ali during the first Fitna, continued to support his family by backing Hasan and were dejected when he abdicated on the side of Muawiya.

Husain accepted this call and sent his cousin Muslim ibn Aqil to Kufa to evaluate the situation and gather support. At the start, Muslim ibn Aqil was incredibly triumphant and he informed Hussain of the progress. Yazid was forced to change the governor of Kufa to overcome the opposition in the city and the new governor succeeded in doing just that.

With the support dwindling, Muslim ibn Aqil decided to carry out a rebellion before Husain’s arrival, but it was defeated. Muslim ibn Aqil was killed.

Husain did not know about any of this and in September 680 started his expedition towards Kufa with approximately fifty men and his family members. On the way Husain received information about the fatality of Muslim ibn Aqil and the trounce of the revolt in Kufa.

He called on those who joined him on the way to depart, understanding the pointlessness of his effort to confront Yazid. Very soon Yazid’s forces met head-on with Husain. An emissary of the Kufa’s new governor told Husain to come with him or turn back and go anywhere, but Medina.

Husain refused and continued on his path with the herald’s forces accompanying him.

On the 2nd of October Husain reached Karbala and set camp there. On the subsequent day Yazid sent additional four thousand men to confront Husain. The Umayyad army had orders to thwart Husain’s men from accessing the Euphrates River, with the aim of forcing them to give in due to lack of water.

But three days later Husain’s group was able to access water, creating a deadlock. For over a week Yazid’s officials had tried to convince Husain to accept his fate and pledge loyalty to Yazid, since they understood the effects of attacking the Prophet’s grandson.

Eventually, Husain refused the offers of Yazid and on the 10th of October the Umayyad armed forces approached Husain’s camp and both sides took their battle positions.

Husain’s companions fought gallantly, but the forces were tremendously uneven. Hussain and his men were slaughtered. The massacre included the seven sons of Ali, including Husain himself, two of Husain’s son’s, three sons of his brother Hasan and other grandchildren of Ali.
Many from the prophet’s family were killed.

This was a ultimate straw completing the rupture in the Islamic world and dividing into Sunni and Shia.

The process, which began with the disagreement over succession to Muhammad and continued with killing of Ali and Husain caused the tear of Islam with ‘Shiat Ali’ - Ali’s Party - first becoming a political movement within Islam and later transforming into a branch of Islam offering alternative interpretation of Quran and Hadiths, its own view on Islamic jurisprudence, on state and some religious practices, venerating the People of the House (Ahl al-Bayt) Muhammad’s straight descendants as his moral succesors.

The Sunni, also known as ‘The People of the Sunnah’ and the Community - Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-jamaah, remained the preponderant in Islam and although obviously there have been some alteration in the Sunni Islam vis-à-vis early Islam coming with new times and different interpretations of texts by the Sunni scholars, the foremost differences between the two largest branches of Islam go back to the events described above.

And while the Sunni theology respects the Ahl al-Bayt as well, it rejects the premise that the Islamic Ummah should be ruled by Ahl al-Bayt.

The killing of Ali, carnage of Husain, his family members and companions strengthened the sense of unfairness against the Prophet’s family among the Shia Muslims and turned martyrdom into one of Islam’s central columns.

Ali’s martyrdom during the prayer, Husain’s martyrdom during the struggle against the perceived oppressor, turned into a commanding representation of the Shia Islam.

The Shia defeat in the Battle of Karbala did not prevent the supporters of the Ahl al-Bayt from opposing the existing state of affairs in the Islamic World. Dissidents to the existing state of affairs in Islam would take up the flag of the ‘Party of Ali’ and confront the rule of the Caliphate.
Abundant powerful states and dynasties such as the Fatimids, Buyids, Nizaris, Safavids and others emerged all through the Islamic world armed with the influential idea of Shia Islam.

This book explains the grand divide in Islam throughout the whole of its history. And yupp, it is indeed, as the blurb says, ‘richly layered and engrossing’!!

[Sajith Kumar · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[E Saikali · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Val Lukanoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A decent overview.

[Sajjad · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Bhagya · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Mark Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

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!

[Thomas Kus · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Faizan Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a concise history, could have been edited in many parts where the author digresses for no apparent reason.

[Zain Bin Amjad · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Thomas Funke · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Farhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Yanty Chen · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

[Romeo · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG ALI DIES!1!1!1!!11!

[Read.Dream.Repeat.Blogger · Rating 4 out of 5]

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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[Mr Peter W Treasaden · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Ty Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.