The Caliph and the Imam: The Making of Sunnism and Shiism

by Toby Matthiesen

To understand world politics, it’s important to understand the Middle East, and to understand the Middle East, it’s worth understanding Sunnism and Shiism. The Caliph and the Imam by British historian/political scientist Toby Matthiesen looks at the history of these two branches of Islam from 632, when the Prophet Muhammad died and views differed on who should be his successor. Sunni stands for ‘The People of the Tradition and the Community,’ and supported four caliphs; Shia stands for ‘Party of Ali’, supporters of Ali as the sole successor. The book is above all a call for a less simplistic approach to sectarian differences as an explanation of problems in the Middle East. For, as Matthiesen writes, “sectarian identity is most salient when political powers instrumentalize it” and it’s the interaction of doctrinal and political tensions that leads to conflict.