Examines the enduring legacy of the nawasib, early Muslims who were hostile to Islam's fourth caliph, Ali, and his descendants.

The Sunni-Shi'a schism is often framed as a dispute over the identity of the successor to Muhammad. In reality, however, this fracture only materialized a century later in the important southern Iraqi city of Kufa (present-day Najaf). This book explores the birth and development of Shi'i identity. Through a critical analysis of legal texts, whose provenance has only recently been confirmed, the study shows how the early Shi'a carved out independent religious and social identities through specific ritual practices and within separate sacred spaces. In this way, the book addresses two seminal controversies in the study of early Islam, namely the dating of Kufan Shi'i identity and the means by which the Shi'a differentiated themselves from mainstream Kufan society. This is an important, original and path-breaking book that marks a significant development in the study of early Islamic society.

Drawing on case studies from Islamic history, Haider challenges assumptions about the nature of the sources shaping understandings of the early Muslim world.

The life and legacy of one of Mohammad’s closest confidants and Islam’s patron saint: Ali ibn Abi Talib Ali ibn Abi Talib is arguably the single most important spiritual and intellectual authority in Islam after prophet Mohammad. Through his teachings and leadership as fourth caliph, Ali nourished Islam. But Muslims are divided on whether he was supposed to be Mohammad’s political successor—and he continues to be a polarizing figure in Islamic history. Hassan Abbas provides a nuanced, compelling portrait of this towering yet divisive figure and the origins of sectarian division within Islam. Abbas reveals how, after Mohammad, Ali assumed the spiritual mantle of Islam to spearhead the movement that the prophet had led. While Ali’s teachings about wisdom, justice, and selflessness continue to be cherished by both Shia and Sunni Muslims, his pluralist ideas have been buried under sectarian agendas and power politics. Today, Abbas argues, Ali’s legacy and message stands against that of ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and Taliban.

Translation of the Arabic book al-Manhaj al-Qawim Fi Ikhtisar Iqtida al-Sirat al-Mustaqim Fi Mukhalafat Ashab al-Jahim

The present book is an English translation of Sautu'l Adalati'l Insaniyah, the biography of the Imam Ali, written in Arabic by George Jordac, a renowned Christian author of Lebanon. It has gained much popularity in the Arab and the Muslim world. Many Muslim and non-Muslim scholars have paid it glowing tributes.