Book Review: “After the Prophet” by Lesley Hazleton

Growing up Muslim in Pakistan, the Islamic history we learnt in school was quite limited especially for events that happened after Prophet Mohammad (P.B.U.H)’s death. I was born in a Shia-Muslim household though and attended majalis regularly and got regular lessons in history (from the Shia perspective) through stories and lectures. Lesley Hazleton’s “After the Prophet: the Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split” presents the events that happened after the Prophet’s death written as an extremely engaging story (with historical references) and what lead to the eventual tragic events of Karbala.

This book is important for both Sunni Muslims: because it presents them with events they didn’t know about, and for Shia Muslims: because it stitches together many stories and references they grew up listening in a big picture. So does the book have a Shia tilt? No.

There is another reason why this book is important for all Muslims: you realize that yes there were differences amongst many beloved early muslims after the Prophet’s death but they all strived for Muslim unity and made their peace with each other eventually. Which is why this book is neither pleasing for Shias or Sunnis. The Shia might find the conciliatory tone un-agreeable and the Sunni will not like the version of history always considered the “Shia” version being told (with historical references) by a third party.

Whenever we read Muslim history, we always tend to check that is the author Shia or Sunni. Therefore, a book written by an author who is not Muslim, at least does not have that bias. Lesley Hazleton is a journalist and adds her references at the end of the book. However, it can be unsettling to see important personalities from Muslim history as characters in the story with their human flaws. Therefore, this book is not for everyone. Read it only if you can read a book with an open mind and are not easily offended. I do not form opinions based on any one book. For me, any book especially on history is a good starting point for my own research. Every author has their point-of-view and agenda, which does enter their writing, even if they try and present all sides of an argument (as is done in this book).

Which brings me to another important point about the book After the Prophet: the author. Lesley Hazleton was a British-American journalist born in an Orthodox Jewish family and lived in Britain, Jerusalem and the United States. She described herself as “a Jew who once seriously considered becoming a rabbi, a former convent schoolgirl who daydreamed about being a nun, an agnostic with a deep sense of religious mystery though no affinity for organized religion”. 

I have read Lesley Hazleton’s book “The First Muslim” also which is about the life of Prophet Muhammed (P.B.U.H) and while I loved that book and how it beautifully tells the dramatically brave life of our beloved Prophet (P.B.U.H) , as a practicing Muslim, I did not like a portion in the book. This is where she describes the divine word of God reaching the Prophet (P.B.U.H.) and implies that during the later part of the Prophet’s life, the divine words would “conveniently” benefit the Prophet. I felt the implication to be that the Prophet (God-forbid) was creating the divine words himself. Otherwise the book is great, but I did not like this implication. Therefore, every book should be taken with a pinch of salt and not the ultimate authority (except the Quran for a practicing Muslim). 

Similarly, in After The Prophet, I did not like Lesley Hazleton’s description of Hazrat Fatima as “weak” and of Imam Hasan’s truce with Muawiya implying he took the “easier route” which is more aligned with the Ummayad’s propaganda later on and does not describe the wisdom of the truce being similar to Prophet Muhammed (P.B.U.H)’s truce of Huddaybiya. Yes, that is definitely the Shia Muslim in me speaking and a Sunni Muslim might not agree.

I recommend anyone interesting in Muslim history to read this book, but with a pinch of salt. You will have many questions after you read this book and that can be a great starting point for more research.

One question this beautiful explains is how the events of Karbala happened? How did so much hatred enter the hearts of Muslims? How the hatred goes back to the history of Banu Ummayah Vs Banu Hashim and how the Banu Ummayah wanted to capture back power that was taken away from them after the rise of Islam and they did manage to achieve briefly through the Ummayad Empire. The role of Marwan Ibn Hakim as the chief mischief maker is also extremely intriguing.

I do hope you read the book, ask questions, but also realize the spirit of Islam in the early days and how the beloveds wanted to preserve the unity of the religion After the Prophet.

I am adding the amazon links for Canada and USA for the book below (I earn a small commission if you buy through my link).

You can also get the book from a library or borrow a digital version via the libby app