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

I was being introduced to this book when I got my very first Kindle as a gift from my cousin and cousin in-law in Singapore. They were nice enough to ask me whether I'm open in reading books from other religions. Of course I'm open! Moreover, this book is about the history of Islam. Here's a little background about my whereabouts, I'm born and breed in a Muslim country all my life and I would really give anything to further understand the context of the history of Islam.

I do not despise the religion because most religion preaches good teachings and it's worth the time to get hold of these knowledge. Moreover, it's the epic story of the Shia & Sunni split. And it was after reading this, I came to realized that my country is practicing the Sunni Islam so this book might come a little of a bias toward the Shia's practice.

It all started with the ever famous Prophet Muhammad. It is set during his last days before his death, while every one is anticipating who is the next Khalif to be. Now, here's where all the controversies and political misunderstanding started. There were many versions of how this story is being conveyed. One might say that the Shia or Sunni is the true Islam Doctrine and one might argued that they are not.

Lesley is smart enough to bring us back to yesteryear on how it all got started. It was dramatically portrayed with opinions with basic facts from the Quran. There were certain parts where it might be a little gory during wars and political schemes. Well, even the Old Testament from the Bible has it's fair share of violence too. So, embrace it with an open mind.

Lesley points out some good arguments where one is truly faithful with the teachings of Islam and the other is greedy with power, favor and of course money. This is where many is able to define that Lesley is bias towards the Shia group and it looks really bad on the Sunni ones. In my opinion, vast majority are of the Sunni Muslim and this book is not in favor of how they came about and it might trigger many unsatisfied people among the group which causes disunity among the Shia-Sunni where it has already started since the 7th century til today.

Overall, I love how this book is able to open many of my understanding in the Islam context. In which it has started my curiosity even more and would really love to give myself chance to read more on the life of Prophet Muhammad.

Ratings: 4 out of 5 stars

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