Dimensions
141 x 219 x 37mm
On one level 'The Heirs Of The Prophet Muhammad' is a personal story of two rivals: Muhammad's wife Aisha and his son-in-law Ali. Aisha was an impetuous, political Bedouin woman. She was a true intimate of the Prophet and the direct source by which many traditions and sayings were passed on to mainstream Islam after he died. She eventually led an armed rebellion against Ali. Ali was a principled, devout man - the first ever to profess belief in Muhammad. In the eyes of Ali's followers he had been unjustly passed over for the succession to the Caliphate, and his eventual accession to authority led to great bloodshed, civil war and assassination.
On another level, the story of these two rivals continues the great story of Islam. Aisha is inextricably linked to Sunni orthodoxy; Ali is the hero of the Shiites. In the book Rogerson will also explain the changing role of women in Islam and show how the first teachings of the Prophet were continuously warped by the fallibility of men and the realities of urban-based power.
