PESHAWAR NIGHTS (Shiah Islam in Sunni Traditions)

Translator's preface

Translators' Preface

Recently the non-Muslim world has forcibly learned that Islam is divided into two sects, Shia and Sunni,

but there is so little material in languages other than Arabic and Persian on the Shia side of the issue that

real understanding is all but impossible. This is the consequence of the historical accident that Western

contact with Islam was almost entirely with Sunni communities, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ottoman Turkey,

most of Muslim India, etc. The present work corrects this imbalance in a most extraordinary way, for the

case for Shi'ite Islam is argued and supported virtually entirely from orthodox Sunni sources. The

political, juridical, and spiritual legitimacy of the Shi'ite position has been argued and documented in the

English language, and from sources that the West has largely overlooked.

In fact, it is shown here that the most authoritative source for interpreting of the message of the Prophet

Muhammad was his cousin and son-in-law, Ali Ibn Abi Talib, and the eleven other designated

successors after him, who constitute the Imams of the Ithna Asheri (Twelve Imam) Shias. At various

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