The Islamic State and the Rise of
Sectarianism
How Muslim History is
Written?
Stories about the Prophet are
transmitted, sometimes orally,
sometimes in rough written form, until
they are set down in books that
survive until today.
The stories about the life of the Prophet
come from Ibn Ishaq’s Sira
(biography), but they represent lots of
different stories told about the Prophet
and then gathered together by Ibn
Ishaq.
A Possible Hadith….
The Isnad
The report
W reported from X,
who reported from Y,
who heard from Z,
who heard the Prophet say:
“Don’t put your feet on the table!”
The Power of Context
Abbas: the Prophet’s uncle… he
never emigrates to Medina and
doesn’t “announce” his being
Muslim until the eve of the Muslim
conquest of Mecca.
Abbas: the ancestor of the Abbasid
dynasty and their tie to the family
of the Prophet
The Authority of the Prophet in
Medina
Religious: absolute authority
• Muhammad defines Islam – ‘No god but God,
Muhammad is the Prophet of God
– He defines Islam doctrinally and legally
– His person symbolizes the faith: slander= treason
Political: authority… but absolute?
• Muhammad is God’s only legitimate
representative
• Decisions are arrived at through council, but
Muhammad decides.
• Instances of Quran agreeing with Umar
How do we know any of this
is true?
Question: if early Islamic history is
written down in a time when
Muslims are fighting amongst
themselves and defining their
position in terms of other
religions… what is true? Maybe
the whole story is made up?
Answer
1. Who carried out this conspiracy?
2. Even Christian sources tell us about Islam
and Muhammad:
1. Doctrina Jacobi wr. 634: Arab prophet claims he
has the keys to Paradise
2. John of Phenak (wr. 687) says that Muhammad is
‘guide’ and ‘instructor’ who taught the Arabs to
“worship the One God in accordance with ancient
law.” “they kept to the tradition of Muhammad” to
the extent that they killed people who brazenly
broke with his law.
3. Inscription by Umayyad al-Walid on
Damascus mosque from 706 CE “Our lord is
One God, our religion is Islam and our
Prophet Muhammad”
Who Inherits the Prophet’s
Religious Authority?
1. The community does?… since the
Prophet said (example of a
hadith) that “My community will
never agree on an error.” 
Sunni Answer
2. The most pious?  Kharijite
answer.
3. The family of the Prophet? 
The Shiite answer
Who Inherits the Prophet’s
Political Authority?
1. The community does… whomever the
community accepts is acceptable  Sunni
Answer… pragmatic, unity, injustice is
better than chaos.
2. The most pious?  Kharijite answer…
great idea, but has auto-immune problem.
- Ibadis: modern Kharijites in Oman, Algeria
3. The family of the Prophet?  The Shiite
answer… repeated failures, then what?
Early Shiism and a Call for
the Just Rule of Islam
Umayyad Dynasty (r. 660-750): the old
Meccan elite return in Muslim clothes!
Rebellions led by pious Muslims (Ibn alZubayr and the 2nd Civil War) and then
by descendents of Muhammad: Husayn
(d. 680), Zayd b. Ali (d. 740),
Muhammad ‘The Pure Soul’ (d. 762)
The ‘Abbasid Revolution (750CE):
“return to the Sunna of the Prophet…
rule by the family of the Prophet.”
Reality: Sassanid Empire
Strikes Back
• Caliph as ‘Shadow of God’ on earth
– New imperial city of Baghdad, “The City
of Peace”, built near old Sassanid capital
of Ctesiphon… a round city with caliph’s
palace at center.
– Apocalyptic and Pious Caliphal Names:
• Al-Mahdi: the Messianic rightly-guided etc.
• Circle of Justice: ruler maintains
justice above all, Near Eastern political
advice literature translated into Arabic
The Sunni Compromise
• Caliph must be from Quraysh and able:
not necessarily the best, the most
pious, or selected by community
• The Caliph’s chief objective is to
maintain order and allow the scholars
(ulama) to apply Islamic legal system
(Shariah)
• Injustice is better than anarchy;
legitimizing order is better than
demanding confusion
back
Surviving vault of
the Sassanid
palace at
Ctesiphon – near
Baghdad
back
Surviving vestiges of Abbasid
Palace - Baghdad
back