If we, as followers of Ahlul Bait (AS), engage in some sincere reflection, most of us would be probably have to admit that we often have the same attitude that we lambast our beloved Wahabbi brothers for having i.e. we see the world in only black and white (Imam Ali’s supporter =good, Not Imam Ali’s friend = evil). We wallow in our self righteous indignation at how some historical figures could have acted in the manner which they did. The reality however, as always, is much more complex, human beings are inconsistent creatures and our continuously conflicting behaviour may indeed seem irrational in hindsight.

Wilfred Madelung’s  “The Succession to Muhammad: A study of early caliphate” is an attempted narrative of the period which followed the Prophet (SAWA)’s demise and goes some way towards giving an insight into the behaviour and complex relationships which led to the pitiful situation the followers of Muhammad (SAWA) found themselves in just 30 years after he left them.

It is important to point out that the author (in my opinion at least) does his best to avoid being pulled into sectarian debates and focuses on the sources to ascertain the most realistic account of history from an objective point of view. The comprehensiveness of his research is evident from his analyses and methodology; he also uses some common sense and logical reasoning to refute, support or differentiate between contradicting narratives. At this point it should be pointed out that it is worth following his footnotes, they provide a secondary story which is concurrent to the main plot and provide interesting snippets of information which may alter your opinion of certain historical characters, adding greatly to the experience of reading the book.

Maduleng begins his book by looking at the obligations of kinship and the position of families of the Prophets in the Quran. This is essential as it provides as a basis for conclusions and a criteria for later arguments and judgements which are made. While it may not be comprehensive (it deals mostly with verses where the role and position of family is explicitly expressed), the analysis deals with the issue effectively, concluding, “The Quran advises the faithful to settle some matters by consultation, but not the succession to prophets. That, according to the Quran, is settled by divine election, and God usually chooses their successors, whether they become prophets or not, from their own kin.”

The narrative then begins with a contrast between the differing versions of what happened in the Holy Prophet’s final moments and thereafter. Two narrators in question are Aisha and Abdallah bin Abbas and the differences in their narratives are compared with timelines and other evidence in order to be corroborated. The details are too many to mention here, but this chapter sets the tone for the rest of the book, differing stories and views of the same events with the author methodologically tries to reconstruct with other evidence in order to give a story which is as close to reality as possible from an objective point of view.

The events of Saqifa and their subsequent justification by the next  2 caliphates is repeatedly exposed as a blatant attempt to prise political power away from those that the Prophet and the Quran intended it for. Madelung’s attitude to this new movement is enlightening as he is essentially a neutral, yet he can see the obvious paradox and tries to find reasoning behind their thinking by extensively going through their letters, sermons and reported interaction s with others. He also points out actions which may not have drawn much criticism at the time but panned out to have serious implications for future rulerships in Islamic history.

The major part of the book is devoted to the last period of the third Caliphate and Imam Ali’s era in as caliph. The reason for this is to establish the exact events and role players surrounding the death of the third caliph as this was used as an excuse in Imam Ali’s caliphate to cause many divisions and 2 civil wars. He is also clearly shows his disgust at many characters and their hypocrisy, which is strange considering the authors position. There are numerous accounts of the brutality with which the followers of Imam Ali were dealt with, Madelung makes it clear in the light of his opening discussion  Madelung dedicates a lot of time and space to the battles of Jamal and Siffin and the fallout, also portraying the complex tribal relationships which played out in different ways in both battles. The author generally pays a lot of attention to tribal relationships and marriages in order to look for reasons behind some characters behaviour and regularly cites some relationships which could have been affected decisions or influential in certain circumstances, particularly in these battles.

The author battles to understand the persona of Imam Ali, wavering in between admiration of his principled stance and frustration with the supposed naivety in engaging in political games. Yet as his final tribute to the Imam, Madelung writes, “His du’aba. . .in refusing to engage in the new game of political treachery, unscrupulous manoeuvring and clever opportunism that was then taking root in the government of Islam, deprived him of success in his life, but also raised him in the eyes of his admirers into a paragon of virtues of a pristine uncorrupted Islam as well as of pre-Islamic Arab chivalry.”

Yet we know, as Imam Ali himself has stated, that Imam Ali was did not lack in any shrewdness or political subtlety. Rather, his world view was a different one altogether and he abhorred any injustice, even if it may have given him political power.

The book concludes with a short review of the aftermath of Imam Ali’s martyrdom and how the Ummayad dynasty came to power, once again exposing their cut throat behaviour, even to each other.  He also unfortunately portrays Imam Hassan as someone who did not have the stomach to finish off the battle his father started and as someone who was generally more docile and easily cowed into submission. Once again, he failed to understand long term view that Imam Hassan was taking. He does defend and refute some of the more ridiculous accusations against Imam Hassan, but the overarching view he has is someone who simply could not fill his father’s shoes.

Despite these misunderstandings, the book is a intriguing read, and one which will give the reader a more in depth understanding of not only the stories in question, but also a glimpse of the society functioned at the time.

Bibliography

Madelung, W. (2004). The succession to Muahmmed: A study of the earrly caliphate. New York: Cambridge University Press.