After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split in Islam — Lesley Hazleton

Though I don’t consider myself as someone qualified enough to review the content of this book however I do feel that the sources used for this book are bias and one-sided.

Whatever happened after Holy Prophet’s (PBUH) death is something which till date Muslims have not been able to comprehend. Each of the sect have different versions of it and none can’t be denied because Arabic is a very strange language as every word have a different context, at times multiple meanings and understanding according to the situation.

If we look at it from the historical perspective, the people of Iraq at that point in time also played a role which was very shady because they never stood against the tyrants nor gave support to those who did. They pledged with Hazrat Ali (RA) yet disobeyed him, then pledged with Imam Hassan (RA) and turned on him. Wrote letters to Imam Hussain (RA) for his support and never showed up when their strength was required to fight.

The tragedy of Karbala was magnificent and no human can negate its significance and sacrifice. The split between Shia and Sunni as of today is more on political grounds than on practices and theology.