Thursday, April 19, 2007

Muhammad His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

By Martin Lings

If you want to read an account of the life of Muhammad as seen by a devout believer then this is the book for you. It is chock full of the kind of details that will make an Islamist's mouth water.
On the other hand if you want to know the truth about Muhammad, then look elsewhere. This book is just a retelling of all the old myths and is completely uncritical of the old stories and it treats all those stories as if they were Gospel. I found the book a chore to read but it did contain some interesting items. While I knew that Muhammad had a child bride who was nine years old, I didn't know he encouraged other men to do the same because, according to him, girls are fun to play with. I also didn't know that when his enemies surrendered to him after a battle, Muhammad had them executed.
The most interesting thing about this book is the author. This man was an Englishman who converted to Islam. Apparently the violence, intolerance and the cruelty to females that are the hallmarks of Arab culture was just what this guy was looking for in a religion. He even acquired an Arab name: Abu Bakr Siraj Ad-Din.
One thing I have learned, after reading this biography: Islam is certainly an accurate reflection of its founder.


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