The Crisis Of Muslim History (Religion And Politics In Early Islam)

Book Summary

This new study of the Islamic tradition's earliest years presents the key events, individuals, and socio-political conditions which defined the era of the first Four Caliphs (from the death of the Prophet to that of Ali, thirty years later), and which led to the Sunni/Shi'i schism. and the Crisis of Succession. In an objective and thoroughly researched book representing both Sunni and Shi'i perspectives, Mahmoud M. Ayoub has drawn on a wide range of primary materials from this period, which explain the various sources of the violent struggles and dissension characterizing this time. Covering everything from the first caliphate of Abu Bakr to the Battles of the Camel and Siffin, the result is a key outline of the manner in which religion and politics defined the earliest period of Islamic history, and the profound effect of the Crisis of Succession on Muslim legal and theological debates in the subsequent centuries. In addition to offering a comprehensive bibliography of primary and secondary sources, this sensitive study also features two Appendices of original translated materials, including an account of the Four Caliphs in their own words. Combining the scholarly rigor of a monograph with the accessibility of an introductory text, it is essential reading for all students and scholars of Islamic studies and of the formative years of the Muslim tradition. About Author: Mahmoud M. Ayoub is Professor of Islamic Studies and Comparative Religion at Temple University, Philadelphia, U.S.A. He has lectured around the world on Islamic history and related topics, and is the author of over ten books and numerous articles and papers.

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