The Saqifa

Hard to put down as the author meticulously connects the dots to reach a rather disturbing conclusion - Saqifa was the beginning of a conspiracy, hatched to permanently deny Banu Hashim (the Prophet's clan within the Quraysh tribe; specifically Ali ibn Abi Talib) the Caliphate. Saqifa officially ended with the third Caliph being murdered in his own home and a reluctant Ali ibn Abi Talib becoming the fourth caliph - an office he had been intentionally obstructed from occupying for 23 years. By that time, after years of nepotism, cronyism, plundering of the public treasury, and a return to pre-Islamic tribalism, the genie was out of the bottle. A gripping, shocking, and saddening read. Requires emotional maturity to be able to absorb the full impact of what this book details.