As part of a trip to Iran a few years ago, I visited a friend south of Tehran, in Kashan, a city between mountains and desert with many beautiful old buildings and gardens. My friend showed us around over several days. On the way to his house one evening, I saw a turquoise conical roof a little way from the road. I asked him what it was and if we could look at it. My friend was a bit embarrassed but agreed; we drove up to the small building, and he explained that it was the shrine of Abu Lolo.
Abu Lolo (or Abu Luluah) was an assassin. He murdered the caliph Omar in 644 AD. He was a Persian and a slave, allegedly captured after the defeat of the Persians at the Battle of al-Qadisiyya in 636 AD. The story of that small shrine is one key to a better understanding of the Sunni-Shia schism in Islam, which has a powerful influence on tensions in the Middle East.
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This article appears in the 21 Feb 2018 issue of the New Statesman, Sunni vs Shia