In his celebrated treatise titled Kitab al-milal wal nihal...

In his celebrated treatise titled Kitab al-milal wal nihal (the book of religions and religious sects), al-Shahristani,[^4] a Muslim thinker who lived during the Medieval times, gives an account of the Muslim sects ( firaq , singular: firqa ) and their disagreements on four fundamental issues: Tawhid (Oneness of God and His Divine Attributes), Adl (justice), Iman (faith or conviction), and lastly Revelation, the Prophetic mission, and the right to be the leader (Imam) of the Muslim community.

A revealing picture that emerges from his work shows that, unlike the usual European concept of a religious sect, the Muslim firaq , with their different views on issues, allow a dialogue between scholars and followers of different theological persuasions.

This offers hope that in the new “information era,” with people coming closer to and eager to communicate with one another and ready to adapt to change, the Muslim world may achieve its homogeneous synthesis, notwithstanding the minor variants, in a not too distant future, Insha-Allah . Dr. Tijani's book, written in Arabic, is a voluminous work. We had to selectively though discreetly omit certain parts of it both to ensure economy and to make it more palatable to the English speaking readers.

The first two chapters have been rewritten by Br. Yasin T. al-Jibouri in order to incorporate full accounts of important events that took place just before the Prophet's death to provide the reader with the context of the author's comments. We are grateful to Br. Yasin T. al-Jibouri (P.O. Box 5132, Falls Church, VA 22044) for translating the original Arabic text of this book into English.

He, by the way, has translated, written, or edited as many as twenty-three books and is a great asset to our community. Without his help, the publication of this book may not have become possible. Our special thanks to Br. Nasir Shamsi who has so far edited fifteen of the books published by Pyam-e-Aman and persevered in reviewing and editing this book. May Allah Ta`ala reward them both on behalf of all those who will Insha-Allah benefit from this book, and on our own. Pyam-e-Aman P.O.

Box 390 Bloomfield, New Jersey 07003, U.S.A. Rabi` II 1, 1416 A.H./August 27, 1995 [^1]: Born in Berkshire on October 20, 1822 and died in Brighton, England, on March 22, 1896, Thomas Patrick Hughes was a jurist, reformer, and novelist. He attained fame following the publication in 1857 of his novel Tom Brown's School Days.