Les Schismes dans I’Islam: Introduction à une étude de la Religion Musulmane (Schisms in Islam: An Introduction to the Study of Islam) is a book by Henri Laoust, a French orientalist and a professor of sociology of Islam at the College of France. The book deals with the beginning of conflict and schism within Islam after the death of Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings from Allah be upon him. The book then presents, in a chronological order, the political and social events that led to the appearance of different religious schools beginning from the reign of the Rashidun Caliphs and passing by Islamic states and empires established until the twentieth century. Hence, the author thinks that defining Islam or the attempts to understand it should not start from one school whether it included the majority or not. Yet, disparity in Islam should be understood. Then the author explains the creed of each school, its founder and his belief, the causes of its emergence, its influence on the shape of the ruling state and the latter’s influence on it. The author further demonstrates the influence of each ruler on provoking sectarian conflicts or averting them.
The author’s main hypothesis in the book is that the variation of schools and creeds in Islam came because of social and political events related to time and place. Hence, the reader should study them in order to grasp the essence of such schools’ rise and the relations between different creeds, some of which still exist until now. Consequently, the author, in his study, follows the descriptive approach in a chronological order of social and political events in addition to the emerging Islamic creeds. Thus, the reader could be able to analyze and discover the linkage between them and understand the nature of cooperation and conflict between them.
The methodology of this book’s presentation is based on the demonstration of its most prominent contents and ideas owing to its importance in providing a necessary background for readers with a brief series of Muslims’ history: its states, sects and groups in addition to its scientific movement. Pursuant to our perusing of the book, we present a conclusion about the nature of schisms in Muslims’ history: their reasons and views through two perspectives; one of which is religious and the other is political. Finally, we briefly present the most prominent weak points of the author.
Leave A Comment