Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T06:58:04.020Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

4 - Sectarian Islam: Sunni, Shiʿite and Sufi martyrdom

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

David Cook
David Cook
Affiliation:
Rice University, Houston
Get access

Summary

A man of Banu Tamim said: I saw in this castle [Kufa] a marvel. I entered in upon ʿUbaydallah b. Ziyad as he was reclining upon an elevated seat, with two ranks of men, and upon his right was a shield with the head of Husayn b. ʿAli in it, and then I entered upon al-Mukhtar in this hall, also on this elevated seat, with the people in two ranks around him, on his right a shield with the head of ʿUbaydallah in it, then I entered in upon Musʿab in this hall and upon that elevated seat with the people in ranks around him, and to his right a shield with the head of al-Mukhtar upon it. Now I enter into ʿAbd al-Malik in this very hall, and upon that elevated seat, while the people are in ranks, and to his right a shield with the head of Musʿab.

After the early Islamic conquests and the trauma of the first caliphs the Muslim community split irrevocably into two categories: those groups who upheld the hypothetical election of a caliph and supported the dynasties of caliphs that took control after 661 (the Umayyads [661–747], the ʿAbbasids [747–1258] and the Ottomans [ca. 1517–1924]), and those who did not. Of those groups that did not accept the legitimacy of these caliphal dynasties the most important were the Shiʿites (the Sunnis did support the caliphs).

Type
Chapter
Information
Martyrdom in Islam , pp. 45 - 73
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×