Sources

The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate

Citation Formats

General Reference

Divinity Atlas. "The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://www.divinityatlas.com/sources/the-succession-to-muhammad-a-study-of-the-early-caliphate.

APA Style

Divinity Atlas. (n.d.). The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://www.divinityatlas.com/sources/the-succession-to-muhammad-a-study-of-the-early-caliphate

BibTeX

@misc{divinityatlas-the-succession-to-muhammad-a-study-of-th,
  author = {Divinity Atlas},
  title = {The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://www.divinityatlas.com/sources/the-succession-to-muhammad-a-study-of-the-early-caliphate},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Wilferd Madelung is a scholar of early Islamic history, and this academic book, published by Cambridge University Press, is one of the standard scholarly treatments of the succession crisis after Muhammad's death that led to the Sunni-Shia division, working from the earliest surviving Arabic historical and biographical sources. Its strength is that Madelung reconstructs the succession dispute by weighing early sources against each other rather than simply following the later Sunni historical tradition, which had previously been the default framework even in Western scholarship, giving real weight to material that supports the historical case for Ali's succession claim. Its limit is that this is one scholar's considered reconstruction of a deeply contested and religiously significant historical question, and it should be read as a serious scholarly argument rather than as settling the theological dispute itself.

Facts

Citation

Author

Wilferd Madelung

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Publication Year

1997

URL

https://archive.org/details/successiontomuam0000made

Source Type

academic monograph

Assessment

Reliability Tier

Wilferd Madelung's standard critical scholarly study of the succession crises of the Rashidun period, including the caliphate of Uthman and the grievances that led to his murder.

Notes

The standard critical study of the succession crises of the Rashidun period, including the caliphate of Uthman, his Umayyad appointments, and the grievances that led to his murder and the first fitna.

Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

Sunni

This source names Sunni directly: "after Muhammad's death that led to the Sunni-Shia division, working from the earliest surviving Arabic historical and biographical sources."

Source The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early CaliphateWilferd Madelung

Claims Backed By This Source (105 claims)

This source backs 105 claims across the atlas. As facts: 50 well-attested, 3 scholarly debate, 1 open question. As cited relationships: 22 holds, 4 connected, 2 rejected Here. Plus 23 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.

Disposition By Topic

Articles, 27 claims: 18 well-attested, 1 holds, 1 connected, 7 general references.
Councils and Synods, 25 claims: 11 well-attested, 2 scholarly debate, 8 holds, 2 connected, 2 general references.
Figures, 11 claims: 4 well-attested, 3 holds, 4 general references.
Schools of Religious Law, 10 claims: 4 holds, 1 rejected Here, 5 general references.
Sources, 9 claims: 8 well-attested, 1 holds.
Open Questions, 8 claims: 6 well-attested, 1 connected, 1 general references.
Religious Events, 7 claims: 3 well-attested, 1 open question, 2 holds, 1 general references.
Denominations, 4 claims: 1 holds, 1 rejected Here, 2 general references.
Empires & Polities, 4 claims: 1 scholarly debate, 2 holds, 1 general references.