The Succession to Muhammad (book)
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| Author | Wilferd Madelung |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Succession to Muhammad |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Published | 1997, Cambridge University Press |
| Media type | Print, e-book |
| Pages | 432 pages |
| ISBN | |
The Succession to Muhammad is a book by Wilferd Madelung published by the Cambridge University Press in 1997. Madelung investigates the events after the death of Muhammad, where there was a battle to see who would control the Muslim community. This struggle resulted in the difference between Sunnite and Shi'ite Islam over authority (spiritual and temporal).
Professor Wilfred Madelung was born on December 26, 1930 in Stuttgart, Germany. He went to Cairo University since passing elementary school and high school and in 1953 he graduated from the field of the Islamic history and literature. Then he continued his education in his country. Finally in 1957 he got doctoral degree from the Hamburg University in Islamic Studies. Madelung completed his doctoral treatise under the supervision of famous German Islamologists. He became Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Chicago in 1969. Professor Madelung is at present Senior Research Fellow with The Institute of Ismaili Studies. Up until his retirement, Wilfred Madelung held the prestigious academic position of Laudian Professor of Arabic at the University of Oxford from 1978 to 1998. He waited until his retirement to release this tour de force to concentrate his years of scholarship in this, his magnum opus. Indeed, this is a personal work for he devotes this to his mother, who taught him to read history.
This is a comprehensive study of early Islamic history. Wilferd Madelung systematically analyses the conflict which developed after Muhammad's death for the leadership of the nascent Muslim community. He pursues the history of this conflict through the reign of the four 'Rightly Guided' caliphs to its climax in the first inter-Muslim war. The outcome of the war, which marked the demise of the reign of the Early Companions, resulted in the lasting schism between Sunnite and Shi'ite Islam. Contrary to recent scholarly trends, the author brings out Ali's early claim to legitimate succession, which gained support from the Shi'a, and offers a convincing reinterpretation of early Islamic history. This book has made a profound contribution to the debate over succession.
In memory of my mother...who opened my eyes to history as it really is..
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