The Heirs of Prophet Muhammad review: there is so much we don’t know, O (Shia, Sunni) brothers…
The Heirs of Prophet Muhammad
By “Barnaby Rogerson”
On one hand, this book is a swaggering saga of ambition, self-sacrificing nobility and blood rivalry, while on the other it allows us to understand some of the complexities of our modern world. For within this fifty-years span of conquest and empire-building, Rogerson also identifies the seeds of discord that destroyed the unity of Islam, and traces the roots of the schism between Sunni and Shia Muslims to the rivalry of the two individuals who best knew and loved the Prophet: his cousin and son-in-law Ali, and his wife Aisha.
It was a privilege reading this book, especially in this month of Muharram where the line between Shia and Sunni Muslims gets darker. But it should be quite the opposite, as I have come to know after reading this book. And that is the repeating realization throughout this book that I came across with: it has to be quite the opposite between us Muslims brothers, than how we think and practice it to be.
It is such a terrifying scene when hundreds of listeners just leap onto the words of the tablighee (preacher) in the majalis. From the worshipping responses of the audience, it is clearly visible how easily the nation of Islam could be manipulated at the hands of their own preachers. Now if one of those preachers is himself a manipulated one, then he can, being of our own, easily manipulate the hundreds sitting under him.
The rescue lies in the habit of reading and researching about things on our own, and in turn, forge our own ideologies, safe from manipulations of others. And while we may have this habit of not accepting things readily at other parts of our lives, we badly lack this intuition to double check the preaching of mullahs and actually do our own reading to see what the whole picture is. Because let me tell you, Islam or any of its teaching cannot be taught in one or two hours; there is always more to the story.
This book might have been the first of purely Islamic books that I started and finished. I recently had started to read After Prophet’ by Lesley Hazleton about this very topic of schism, but I couldn’t continue. This one, however, I finished and I now realize the mistake I made in not continuing Hazleton’s book. Because we need to study these books in order to have a more complete and generalized perspective on these two, historically different, sects of Islam.
The Heirs of Prophet is both an historic and unbiased book on the accounts of this schism. Being an historic book, it therefore tells the fact-based accounts of not only where the Shia-Sunni split began, but also where Islam did. This is so very essential. We as young Muslims are only made aware of the differences between us brothers, but we are never told, nor did we study ourselves, about the era where we came before; the era where we were one.
It first explores the pre-Islamic era and then moves on to the beginnings of Islam. Having the Prophet Muhammad as the main protagonist throughout the book, we can see where actually do we coincide and come from. Rogerson not only tells us about the end of this tale where we spread into branches, but most importantly, he tells us about the starting of this tale, Islam, from where we emerged, and where we now strife to reach. The historic events of Islam work as a binding force throughout this book that would keep both the Shia and Sunni reader intact with the, sometimes uncomfortable facts that are being unveiled.
The question which then arises is that, how can this book be unbiased? Well, it isn’t. Although I, being a Shia Muslim, didn’t feel uninterested while reading the chapters about the first three caliphs, rather I felt very intrigued knowing about the great Muslim leaders which I will talk about later, I did however feel the hearty joy when I read about Ali, the fourth Caliph or about his Sons. And that is okay. We will of course feel honored by the heroic acts of the leaders we follow, but we must also study, realize and appreciate the heroism of the other leaders of Islam as well; without the devoted works of whom, Islam would have been incomplete and not as widely spread.
I am so glad by the fact that now I now, actually, know the first three caliphs and their great services to our religion, Islam. As I just mentioned, without them, the impact of Islam wouldn’t be as close to what it is today. Where Abu Bakr was one of the earliest men who accepted Islam, he was also an old and close friend to our Prophet. And when the Prophet got sick before he died, it was Abu Bakr who were to lead the prayers. Omar was the administrative one amongst the three. Brave, political and keen to serve the religion of Prophet and Allah as best as he could. And with ‘Uthman (Usman), I felt a personal connection because in his personality, I saw glimpses of mine too: soft-hearted, kind and always polite in his ways of preaching and spreading Islam.
When I came to read about Ali, the fourth Caliph, I felt even more honored because I now knew about the first three caliphs. Islam and Muslims owe a great deal to Ali’s sacrifices, and when he is murdered on the 21st of Ramadan after living a role-model life for all Muslims, Rogerson writes, “…but the rest of the Islamic world soon realized that they had succeeded in murdering the perfect Muslim man.” Now you have to read the book to first know about the murder of Ali, and then also to know how perfect, indeed, Ali was – so much so that his perfection was his only flaw.
There is no doubt that the leaders of Shiites led very innocent, tortured and betrayed lives, and to this mourns every Muslim. For the sacrifices that Ali and his family presented to Islam were one of the building and sustaining aspects of Islam, a religion we practice so openly in today’s world. On the other hand, the Sunni leaders have also done an enormous justice to the spreading of Islam and in making Islam one of the most widespread religions in the whole world. Alas, we have become so naïve in preaching the differences amongst us that we miserably fail to recognize what we all need: from Him we all came, and towards Him we are all marching.
The Appendixes available at the end of the book are equally as important as the chapters because these appendixes further the Islam that aged after the Karbala and states what exactly the visible differences between these two sects are. Anyone who has read the book, must read the appendixes as well, for it shows how far, or not so far, we have strayed apart from each other and where does our differences lie; so that we could, not eliminate or overpower each other’s differences, but embrace and accept them and with the power of this shared knowledge lead a more peaceful life and present an even more peaceful image of Islam to the world.
An Excerpt:
‘God is our Lord and your Lord. We have our words and you have yours. There is no argument between us and you. God will bring us together, for the journey is to him.'
If one looks to find a true Heir to the Prophet Muhammad, look not for thrones, or through the dynastic lists of kings, look not to the triumphant progress of a great conqueror or at the beaming smiles and promises of a popular politician. Look out for one who journeys towards God.
This book is recommended at its most urgency to every Muslim, even to those who are not so biased when it comes to the split between the Sunnis and Shiites. Because with the share knowledge and power that you would have after reading this book, we can, not only, embrace and accept our differences and respect all the leaders of Islam, but also work together to portray a more peaceful, approachable and embracing image of Islam to the whole world, which due for us.
My praise for the novel:
Profoundly and factually unbiased;
A book for Shiites, a book for Sunnis, a book for every Muslim.
Ratings: 4.5/5 ****
A review by: Ejaz Hussain
September 15, 2019