Prophet's Dilemma: The Sunni Shia Split Part 2

Conflicted: A History Podcast

Zach Cornwell

Education, History, Society & Culture

4.8 • 610 Ratings

🗓️ 2 February 2021

⏱️ 78 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Prophet is dead. In 632 AD, the armies of Islam explode out of Arabia, led by a series of aggressive new Caliphs. The Prophet’s young widow Aisha struggles to understand her new role as “Mother of the Faithful”. Meanwhile, Ali, snubbed for the title of Caliph, grapples with his conflicting feelings of bitterness and commitment to the stability of the Muslim community. All the while, an ambitious new rival, Muawiya, schemes and cajoles his way to absolute control over the new Islamic Empire. THE CAST: Aisha – The Prophet’s widow. “Mother of the Faithful”. Brave, jealous, and calculating. Muawiya – Rising star. “Son of the Liver Eater." A master politician, ruthless and cunning. Ali – The Prophet’s son-in-law. “Lion of God”. The Fourth Caliph. Abu Bakr – Aisha’s father; The Prophet’s oldest friend. The First Caliph. Umar – Hothead, bruiser, warlord; The Second Caliph. Uthman – “He of the Two Lights”; Corrupt and controversial. The Third Caliph. Muhammed – The Prophet. A merchant-turned-messenger from God. Fatima – Wife of Ali. Daughter of Muhammed. Mother to Hussein. Hussein – Grandson of the Prophet. Murdered at Karbala. Martyr of the Shi’a faith. SOURCES: Humphreys, Steven. Mu’awiya ibn abi Sufyan: The Savior of the Caliphate. 2006. Madelung, Wilferd. The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate. 1996. Kennedy, Hugh. The Great Arab Conquests: How the Spread of Islam Changed the World We Live In. 2007. Shah-Kazemi, Reza. Imam ‘Ali: From Concise History to Timeless Mystery. 2019. Hazleton, Lesley. The First Muslim: The Story of Muhammed. 2013. Hazleton, Lesley. After The Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shi’a-Sunni Split in Islam. 2009. Louer, Laurence. Sunnis and Shi’a: A Political History. 2020. Hoyland, Robert G. In God’s Path: The Arab Conquests and the Creation of an Islamic Empire. 2014. Betts, Robert Brenton. The Sunni-Shi’a Divide. 2013. Charles Rivers Editors. The History of the Sunni and Shia Split: Understanding the Divisions Within Islam.2014. Armstrong, Karen Keishin. Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time. 2007. Cole, Juan. Muhammed: Prophet of Peace Amid the Clash of Empires. 2018. Safi, Omid. Memories of Muhammed. 2009. Holland, Tom. The Shadow of the Sword: The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab Empire. 2012. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to conflicted, the history podcast where we talk about the struggles that shaped us,
0:05.3	the tough questions that they pose, and why we should care about any of it. Conflicted is a member
0:10.3	of the Evergreen Podcast Network, and as always, I'm your host, Zach Cornwell. You are listening to
0:16.1	part two of a series on the origins of the Sunni Shia divide. If you haven't listened to Part 1,
0:21.9	it might be a good idea to go back and do that. But just a quick recap for those who need it,
0:26.6	when we last left off, it was the year 632 AD, and the prophet Muhammad had just died. Two years
0:33.2	earlier, he had unified virtually the entire Arabian Peninsula under his interpretation
0:38.1	of monotheism, which we now call Islam.
0:41.1	When the Prophet died, he left behind a huge community of believers, multiple wives, and family
0:46.3	members, and a legion of lethal warriors dedicated to his every command.
0:51.1	Last episode, we examined the story through the eyes of two very important figures
0:55.5	in Muhammad's life, Aisha, the Prophet's favorite wife, and Ali, his son-in-law. Unfortunately,
1:02.5	for him, Aisha and Ali had briefly clashed during the Prophet's lifetime, primarily over a false
1:08.9	rumor of infidelity, leveled at Aisha.
1:11.6	At the time, it was just family drama, but it would prove to be an important crack in a series of fault lines that would eventually result in a civil war, and the so-called Sunni-Shiya divide.
1:21.6	This episode, we're going to examine the aftermath of the Prophet's death and the rise of the Islamic Empire,
1:28.3	beginning with the critical issue of who would succeed him.
1:32.3	Muhammad had never explicitly designated a successor, and the community was divided on who it should be.
1:38.9	Many assumed it would be Ali, the so-called Lion of God, but there were others who had different ideas. And as promised,
1:46.2	our cast is expanding a bit. Aisha and Ali will still be the primary perspectives, but a new character
1:52.3	is making his debut, an ambitious young climber named Muawaiya, who had his own role to play
1:58.6	and schemes to unravel in this epic human drama.
	...

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