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Title: Muhammad by Maxime Rodinson, Anne Carter, Maxime Robinson ISBN: 1-56584-752-0 Publisher: New Press Pub. Date: May, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.25 (4 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Critical view of the prophet and Islam
Comment: This is a book that a devout Muslim, if he bothered to read it, would rail against, because it treats the founder of Islam as nothing more than a mortal, although a very complicated one. I read it during the years I lived in Morocco and I found it an invaluable tool for understanding Islam from the inside, and also understanding how Muslims view people of other religions. I don't think it is the most balanced account of the prophet's life you'll find, but it's one of the best researched ones and it doesn't pull any punches.
Rating: 3
Summary: Reissued Biography
Comment: Rodinson's book is not a scholarly biographical based upon critical examination the early literature and sources, but it is nonetheless an educated and sophisticated look at the events, peoples, and places surrounding Islam's earliest origins and the personality which spawned it.
For such an accessible, non-technical perspective, Rodinson's book is perhaps the most user-friendly for anyone who may not consider themselves to be particularly religious. Rodinson is himself an atheist and a Marxist, and he, therefore, often frames the events of Muhammad's life within naturalistic explanations. For this reason, it is not generally regarded highly by Muslims and banned from libraries in the conservative countries. Reading the book, however, one finds little so scandalous as to merit such a melodramatic reaction,
The two rival books aimed at this market are those by K. Armstrong and M. Watt. The former is sympathetic in a vaguely religions sense, and the other is a severely abridged version of a larger, well-respected biography--peerless really. One would likely choose between the three if one had to based upon which the authors' background you found more appealing.
Rating: 5
Summary: essential essential reading
Comment: I've owned this book for more than 20 years. It has always been useful in understanding Muhammed and Islam from a scientfic Marxist view. For fun, I would recommend reading the book together with the passages on Muhammed in Rhushdie's Satanic verses.
I detest the condescension that some people have about Muhammed and this book. Unlike Christ or the Jewish Prophets and most other founds of religions, Muhammed was a person who lived in recorded history, left a mark by real records of his life, and had a recorded life and achievemensts even before he became a religious leader. We know little about him, but almost all of that is known from real history, not hagiagraphy.
Christians are only lucky that no such book exists about Christ, because Christ--if he existed--left much less of a real trace in records than Muhammed. Christians also benefit from the rigorous censorship and recrafting the Christian texts received when Christianity was transformed from being an underground religion of the oppressed and socially alienated, to the religion of the Roman state and ruling class.
Rodison is not a pro imperialist, but a Marxist who defends the Arab revolution against imperialism. He is an objective scholar. If you aren't ready for the theoritical complexity and terse theory of Islam and Capital, please investigate his Israel, A settler colonial state. Recent reader reviews here on Amazon have pointed out how this book written decades ago accurately predicts the present future of Zionist crimes and Palestinian resistance!
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Title: Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources by Martin Lings ISBN: 0892811706 Publisher: Inner Traditions Intl Ltd Pub. Date: September, 1987 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Why I Am Not a Muslim by Ibn Warraq ISBN: 0879759844 Publisher: Prometheus Books Pub. Date: August, 1995 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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Title: Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet by Karen Armstrong ISBN: 0062508865 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 10 September, 1993 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Mohammed : The Man and His Faith by Tor Andrae ISBN: 0486411362 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: 06 March, 2000 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman by William Montgomery Watt ISBN: 0198810784 Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: June, 1974 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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