When Power and Piety Collide

BOOK ID

Author(s): Sayyid Moustafa Al-Qazwini

Category: Companions Early Islamic History

Topic Tags: early islamic history Miscellaneous information:Islamic Educational Center of Orange County

3194-B Airport Loop Drive

Costa Mesa, California 92626 U.S.A.

Telephone: (714) 432-0060

www.iecoc.org

info@iecoc.org

First U.S. Edition 2009

ISBN: 978-0-9711538-0-6

Book Layout and Design by the Islamic Publishing House [www.iph.ca]

Sponsored by Ahlul Bayt Society – www.12imams.org

Printed in Canada by Friesens Corporation - www.friesens.com

Featured Category: Resources for Further Research Responses to Misconceptions

Person Tags: Abu Bakr Uthman Umar Ibn al-Khattab

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A Critical Analysis of Early Caliphate in Islam, Understanding the Present by Knowing the PastAn in-depth study and analysis of the early Islamic history and caliphate and personalities of the first three caliphs based on Sunni sources in order to understand the difference between Shi’a and Sunni schools of thought.

Prologue

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِیمِ

وَإِذَا قِیلَ لَهُمُ ٱتَّبِعُوا مَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ قَالُواْ بَلْ نَتَّبِعُ مَآ أَلْفَیْنَا عَلَیْهِ آبَآءَنَآ أَوَلَوْ کَانَ آبَاؤُهُمْ لاَ یَعْقِلُونَ شَیْئاً وَلاَ یَهْتَدُونَ

When it is said to them: ‘Follow what Allah hath revealed,’ they say: ‘Nay! We shall follow the ways of our fathers.’ What! Even though their fathers were void of wisdom and guidance? (Holy Qur’an, 2:170)

In our present era, it is most disturbing for many Muslims and non-Muslims alike to witness the escalating rise in sectarian violence between the Shi’a and Sunni followers of Islam, particularly in places such as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Some people, including Muslims, ask why the Shi’a and Sunni are violently murdering each other; is there something in the history of the Muslims that

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