Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time

I am a Muslim (so take my prejudice and also knowledge about my religion into account) whilst reading this review.

Why I think you should read it? -

The Number One Reason anybody should read this book is because it's written by a non-Muslim-WOMAN... Many misconceptions about the Islamic religion question the position of women, their status, their equality and freedom in Islam...

And having a non-Muslim woman explain how kind Islam (as a religion - and not as its follower's actions) is to women, along with the context, stories and necessities behind its rules - is sure to be more effective than a Muslim's attempts.

THE TRICKY TITLE -

Muhammad A Prophet Of Our Time - as a title is true to the book but not in the sense that the book's all about it. Rather the book is more-so a retelling of the prophet Muhammad's (may peace be upon him) life from an angle that when viewed in relation with the title - will make you consider how Muhammad's message and character - can actually have solutions for all our current day problems, and how he may actually be the prophet that we need in our current times.

At-least that's the message - that seems to be in it - for the non-muslim readers.

As for the Muslims who read this book - the title (even if it wasn't intended to be so) is more like a sweetener - seeing as Muslims believe the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to indeed be the last prophet and his teachings (unlike the other prophets that came before him) to be for the entire world and all of its remaining future.

This obviously helps Muslim reader to "positively-process" while reading the book, which makes it easily possible for him/her to then consider Armstrong's perspective on what and why the prophet did what he did - to be crystal.

Basically what I realized this book was about (after reading the book and then matching it with the preface/introduction/author's note) is that its basically -

1) A message to Non-Muslims saying "Oi! They're cool... so chill out!"

2) A message to the Muslims saying "Yo! yawl are supposed to be cool... so chill out!"

What I didn't like about the book -

I don't blame the author for this, seeing as i think this to be an unavoidable flaw (according to me) for the remaining goods (that I think the book had to offer) to exist perhaps. I guess sometimes you just need to be personally biased towards something or someone in order to try and understand it/them better...

At one point in the book - she makes mention of the Rushdie's Satanic Verses incident - and even-though its debated as to whether the incident actually took place or not in the prophet's life (while there is substantial evidence to prove that it most probably didn't) ... she deliberately claims that it did actually happen, that too only on the strength of just one critical scholar on the prophet's life (quite overly critical of the prophet - mind you) - who she commonly quotes - which makes one wonder why she wouldn't quote the accounts of any of the hundreds of the many other scholars/companions of the prophet, with contrary views.

Yet apart from that, I must say all in all as a muslim reader, Karen Armstrong's perspective on the prophet's life in the book - was a very very very very!!! - refreshing, different and important addition to my knowledge as a Muslim... and I think it a must-read by both Muslims and non-Muslims.

This is my first Karen Armstrong book and I surely look forward to reading more from her.

Being a person very familiar with the life of Muhammad, both through personal study, and from the interactions with learned Muslims, I was at first a little ambivalent as to whether there was much for me to learn in this study. I am happy to be proved wrong in this case, as Karen Armstrong's work provides a realistic and healthy rebuttal to the many detractions against Islam's Prophet.
Even the most stubborn skeptic of the supernatural would find it hard to disagree that Muhammad was a much better man than the times he lived in. He was, as Karen Armstrong demonstrates, a benevolent social reformer who tried to provide a better path forward than the eclectic paganism of his time, and the lawless, dog eat dog system of tribal honor.
Armstrong's study does not concern itself greatly with the supernatural aspects of the prophet's life. Revelations are mentioned, but only in passing, and the main bulk of the text concerns the intentions and deeds of the prophet's life.
Contrary to the claims of his detractors, Muhammad was a man who abhorred violence, and took to it only as a last resort, and even then did so with a system of rules, far more noble and lenient than the other tribes of his time.
Muhammad is presented as a man with a great degree of respect and reverance for the people of the book, and one struggles to imagine as to why the three holy faiths are at loggerheads today.
While this may offend some, Armstrong does not present Islam as the monolithic entity that the Wahabbists of today seek to return to, but as a benevolent social and religious system that was adaptable.
On the whole, a much needed study, and one that can be recommended to all, regardless of one's familiarity with the subject matter.

This was a very quick, very well-written biographical account of the prophet's life based on early historical accounts. Despite having an engaging and accessible narrative and a clearly sympathetic approach to the prophet and Islam, the book had a few drawbacks for me.

Firstly, it is obvious from the first chapter that the author sees Quran as not the divine word of God, and the prophet's quest as not having been guided and initiated by God. The subtext of the book is that Muhammed was deeply troubled by the social injustice in Mecca, so he invented a religion and professed to be a prophet in order to bring social reform. In several cases she speaks of the prophet drawing into himself to come up with 'inspired' verses like a poet would. In and of itself this would be quite understandable and tolerable considering it is coming from a non-believer of Islam, and should bear little impact on the reliability of the factual events narrated, but it has direct influence on the interpretation of important episodes of the prophet life that some Muslims may not agree with. For example, the wisdom behind many verses in Quran is explained as a rational, individually delivered concession to the social strains put on the prophet. I also at times found it troublesome and not to my taste when she portrayed the prophet as almost being.. too fragile. She argued at one point that he was too dependent emotionally on his wives due to having lost his mother at a young age. Having grown up with the narrative of the prophet as depending only on Allah for support and being resilient and strong, these suggestions obviously did not sit too well with me!

Secondly, there are a few dubious claims that careful readers should be wary of. For example, Armstrong argues that the ordering of the chapters is random, has no logic and have been decided upon after the prophet has died. None of the Islamic schools would agree with that. At another point, she chooses to largely ignore the intellectual dispute over the incident of Garanik (the devil verses) and take it as granted to strengthen her argument that Muhammed was making things up along the way. At another instances, she wrongfully argues that Muslims are advised in Quran that they should agree to almost any peace settlement offered by their enemies, however disadvantageous the conditions might seem. Yes, Quran commands that if the enemy's heart is no longer in fighting, Muslims should not pursue it, yet it doesn't command them to let an opportunity where they have the upper hand to completely slide and thus harm their own communities. Lastly, Armstrong seems to argue that where Judaism and Christianity is concerned, prophet Muhammad adopted a different version of religious pluralism observed by the Quraysh and almost granted the same epistemological validity to Islam and them. Although I am completely sympathetic to why she would offer this radical rewriting of Islam's message to eliminate hostility between non-muslims and muslims in the contemporary world, do we really need to resort to cultural relativism to peacefully and respectfully co-exist with our neighbours?

Despite these drawbacks, I strongly commend Armstrong in her sincere quest to understand the personality and life of the prophet, peace be upon him. It is possible to look at the same person and the same deeds and interpret them in entirely different ways. Some find comfort in the strength and resilience of the prophet and emphasise it; others in his compassion, and yet others in his resemblance to our fragility. I hope that this book continues to dispel prejudices against the prophet. However, for people interested in further studies, I would advise reading Martin Lings' biography of the prophet after this.

The title says it all: Armstrong argues forcefully that Muhammad, the figure behind Islam, is a prophet for our time. This, of course, makes him either a man out of time or a man ahead of his time. Armstrong's Muhammad is a soft pluralist, simultaneously committed to radical monotheism ("There is no God but Allah") and extremely tolerant of Christian, Judaism, even paganism. Her Muhammad is a man committed to nonviolence but driven to violence by the circumstances of his day. Her Muhammad is a man of social justice who nevertheless makes concessions to the social ills of Arabia.

Armstrong's clear storytelling skills are evident, and the reader learns the basic shape of Muhammad's life, but I constantly wondered while reading whether her agenda to depict Muhammad as a prophet with something to say to the present day gives readers a truly clear view of Islam's prophet. In fact, I wonder whether Armstrong's Muhammad is a Muslim Muhammad.

Armstrong is an Islamic outsider, which brings a unique perspective to be sure, but I'm convinced that religious practitioners - insiders - usually have a better grasp of their tradition and it's founder(s) than those outside. Would Muslims from Islam's major divisions - Sunni, Shia, Sufi, etc - write biographies similar to Armstrong's?

For basic narrative about Muhammad, it's a helpful book that clearly provides one perspective: a modern, western Liberal seeing to rescue Muhammad from Islamic fundamentalists and violent radicals. In assessing the man's legacy and truth value of his religion, however, the reader will need to keep reading.

New: I'm now done with this book. It was ok--again, some stuff in there that raised my eyebrows, that influenced this mediocre rating. I do commend Karen Armstrong though for writing this book and entitling it so appropriately.
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I'm halfway through this book. It's interesting reading a sirah book written by a non-Muslim, even if it's a sympathetic non-Muslim, because as Muslims, we are so inherently biased when reading about the Prophet (saw). She presents the Prophet (saw) in a positive light and really more so on a very human level, with human struggles that we can relate to. However, there is some sketchy stuff in there.

It's quite interesting, reading about Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) from a Mustashreq writer .. the only missing part in this book is the warm feelings we have towards our prophet that every muslim feels, but ofcourse i wouldn't expect such feelings here..the writer used her western logical way of thinking but it was quite enough to have this wonderful conclusion..

For those seeking an Islam 101 course, this isn't the book for you. This is a history of the man who planted the seeds, but it doesn't delve into the fruits of that labor and the many off-shoots of it.

Karen Armstrong is a foremost religious scholar. She's able to convey very complex and intricate histories and ideas in a digestible way. This book introduces the life and path of the Prophet Muhammad and his struggle to bring monotheism to Arabia; to usher out the old pagan, clan-based system and exalt Allah as the one and only deity. Armstrong portrays Muhammad as human, not divine - - He’s a man who struggles, has doubts and fails before ultimately (though not absolutely) triumphing and whose religious vision is inextricably tied to and influenced by the social, economic and political forces at work around him. Especially thought-provoking to me was the similarity between the experience of the Judeo-Christian tradition and that of Islam. In essence, Arabs had heard the stories of Abraham, Moses and Jesus, and many were hopefully waiting for the day when God (they regard Allah, Yahweh and the Christian God as one and the same) would send them their Prophet, one who spoke their language and understood the old ways that needed to be left behind. It’s a very conciliatory perspective that is often overlooked.

If you want an accessible and informative guide to Muhammad's life this is your book. Well written and highly enjoyable, it provides everything you need to know in order to meet the Prophet. Armstrong has done a great job!