Following Muhammad

Avoiding the traps of sensational political expos and specialized scholarly Orientalism, Carl W. Ernst introduces readers to the profound spiritual resources of Islam while clarifying diversity and debate within the tradition. Framing his argument in terms of religious studies, Ernst describes how Protestant definitions of religion and anti-Muslim prejudice have affected views of Islam in Europe and America. He also covers the contemporary importance of Islam in both its traditional settings and its new locations and provides a context for understanding extremist movements like fundamentalism. He concludes with an overview of critical debates on important contemporary issues such as gender and veiling, state politics, and science and religion.

Avoiding the traps of sensational political exposes and specialized scholarly Orientalism, Carl Ernst introduces readers to the profound spiritual resources of Islam while clarifying diversity and debate within the tradition. Framing his argument in terms of religious studies, Ernst describes how Protestant definitions of religion and anti-Muslim prejudice have affected views of Islam in Europe and America. He also covers the contemporary importance of Islam in both its traditional settings and its new locations and provides a context for understanding extremist movements like fundamentalism. He concludes with an overview of critical debates on important contemporary issues such as gender and veiling, state politics, and science and religion.

A major contribution that explains the faith practiced by the more than one billion Muslims throughout the world. Departing from the usual Arab-centric bias, Ernst addresses Euro-Americans and illuminates the diversity of Muslim societies and thought. He describes how Protestant definitions of religion and anti-Muslim prejudice have affected how Islam has come to be viewed in Europe and America. He also covers the contemporary importance of Islam in both its traditional locations and its new homes.

The author departs from the Middle Eastern-focused orientation of many guides to Islam, focusing on the religion as a worldwide phenomenon that is practiced by twenty percent of the world's population, covering the various movements within the religion that affect the modern world. (Religion--Islam)

An introduction to Islam, today the faith of more than a billion people, set in the context of world history and of religious studies.

- A special edition was produced for the Bosnian Minister of Education. - What everyone needs to know to understand the Muslim World and The Nature of the Prophet Mohammed as the role model of for the lives of all Muslims. - An authentic and accurate biography prepared for Muslim children, widely used in university religion courses. - Has been translated into Arabic, Bosnian and Spanish. - full color illustrations.

Adil writes of the Holy Prophet and how he prayed for mercy upon his enemies. Despite the fact that they did him such harm and caused him so much hurt, he would not curse them, for all prophets' curses instantly take effect.

Following on from the hugely successful 'Start-Up Religion', 'Step-Up Religion' is the next step up! Text is clear and divided into easily digestible paragraphs. A spread at the back of each book for teachers and parents provides more activity suggestions and advice on how to use the book with children.

This book is an interview of Elijah Muhammad explaining his initial encounter with his teacher, Master Fard Muhammad and how his messengership came about. The subjects discussed are Master Fard Muhammad's whereabouts, the races and what makes a devil and satan. He answers questions dealing the concept of divine and how ideas are perfected. More basic subjects include Malcolm X, Noble Drew Ali, C. Eric Lincoln, Udom, and a comprehensive range of information.

Drawing on traditional Muslim sources, Michael Cook describes Muhammad's life and teaching. He also attempts to stand back from this traditional picture to show how far it is historically justified.

This book situates the teachings of Elijah Muhammad in academia, creating a field of study that particularly extrapolates the jewels of Muhammad's teachings. This preview of the teachings of Muhammad, and its multifaceted, interdisciplinary scope, has the potential to change the philosophical and practical methods of education.

A collection of essays by some of the most accomplished scholars in the field exploring the life and legacy of the Prophet.

Ali Sina, a great expert of Islam, wrote about this book: "This is a great book. I read the first thirty pages and I could not stop. This book must be translated in all languages and become available to all ..." Narrating the story in the gripping way of a good novel, it tells about Muhammad, his believer and unbeliever tribal relatives, the Qur'an, and the Arabian society of the period as truthfully and originally as the oldest Arab records make it possible. It does not fail to shock and surprise when one finds that during his twenty-three years of "apostolate," Muhammad arranged for banditry raids, secret assassinations, ransom taking, kidnappings, slave trading, ethnic cleansing, inter-tribal wars, and murderous expeditions. Of these raids, the number of well recorded and documented, discussed by the Qur'an itself, is thirty-eight. Muhammad personally took part in twenty-seven raids and battles in nine of which he was directly engaged in killing. These were the battles of Badr, Uhud, Ahzaab, Hunayn, and Ta'if, the massacres of the Qurayza and the Khyber Jews, the surprise raid on the Mustalaq, and the occupation of Mecca. History tells us that many kings started as bandits and came to rule vast territories. If Muhammad had claimed that he was a king, one could place him amongst the greatest of kings but the surprise lies in his claim that he was God's most favourite and final prophet. If prophets were to kill and plunder, sell slaves, hold captives for ransom, allow rape of slave women, and develop systems of extortion, how does one differentiate between a Godly man and a king?

Muhammad and the People of Book by Sahaja Carimokam asks the question, what was the nature of Muhammad’s relationship to non-Muslims, particularly Jews and Christians, and how did it change over time? This work is based on a chronological reading of the chapters of the Qur’an supplemented with Muslim commentary literature and biographical materials on the life of Muhammad. Carimokam traces Muhammad’s evolving religious viewpoint based on his borrowings of primarily Jewish and some Christian traditional/apocryphal materials. He shows how Muhammad’s inaccurate and anachronistic rendition of Jewish traditional literature ensured that the Jews would reject him as a Prophet. This rejection lead to his ultimatum to the Jews early in the Medinan period of the Qur’an and culminated with his call to Jihad against all non-Muslims, including those Jews and Christians who refused to acknowledge his Prophethood. The origins of takfir, declaring Muslims to be non-Muslims, are considered. Comparisons are made of moderate and traditional interpreters of the Qur’an. Historical-critical issues regarding the background provided by Muslim historical propaganda is considered in one chapter. The book concludes with a controversial issue for the interpretation of Islamic law in the 21st century based on the actual canonical practices of Muhammad.

Islam presents an astonishing situation as it rejects all except those totally committing their will and mind to Allah, Muhammad, and the Qur'an, along with several other authority figures and traditions. The Bible accepts any and all who will come as humble sinners and seek the One God through the sacrifice of the Messiah of the Jews. This book is in total agreement with the Qur'an when the Qur'an says that most Jews and most Christians are evil, corrupt, and liars by the standards of right and wrong found in the Qur'an that is. The alternative is also true and again in agreement with the Qur'an. Muslims do not and may not adhere to the teachings of the Bible, which results in being lost by biblical teachings. The simple truth of the Qur'an is that Jews and Christians do not follow the Allah of the Qur'an, except a few who become Muslim. Also true is that the Muslims do not follow the God of the Bible, except a few who accept Jesus. God of the Bible is not Allah of the Qur'an, and Allah of the Qur'an is not God of the Bible, by name, by description, by personality, by judgment, or by love. The Qur'an has its greatest error when it says it is the completion and continuation of biblical revelation. This is fully accepted by Muslims because they have been taught that the Bible is corrupted, not the true one, and they do not read the Bible.

Heretic and impostor or reformer and statesman? The contradictory Western visions of Muhammad In European culture, Muhammad has been vilified as a heretic, an impostor, and a pagan idol. But these aren’t the only images of the Prophet of Islam that emerge from Western history. Commentators have also portrayed Muhammad as a visionary reformer and an inspirational leader, statesman, and lawgiver. In Faces of Muhammad, John Tolan provides a comprehensive history of these changing, complex, and contradictory visions. Starting from the earliest calls to the faithful to join the Crusades against the “Saracens,” he traces the evolution of Western conceptions of Muhammad through the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and up to the present day. Faces of Muhammad reveals a lengthy tradition of positive portrayals of Muhammad that many will find surprising. To Reformation polemicists, the spread of Islam attested to the corruption of the established Church, and prompted them to depict Muhammad as a champion of reform. In revolutionary England, writers on both sides of the conflict drew parallels between Muhammad and Oliver Cromwell, asking whether the prophet was a rebel against legitimate authority or the bringer of a new and just order. Voltaire first saw Muhammad as an archetypal religious fanatic but later claimed him as an enemy of superstition. To Napoleon, he was simply a role model: a brilliant general, orator, and leader. The book shows that Muhammad wears so many faces in the West because he has always acted as a mirror for its writers, their portrayals revealing more about their own concerns than the historical realities of the founder of Islam.

This writing will be an examination of Muhammad and the Koran as the foundational sources of Muhammadism and whether their commands are compatible with the 21st Century. We will be comparing modern day spiritual/scientific eclecticism using most religions, sciences, common knowledge and reason with Muhammaden source materials and practice while seeking a bridge from archaic practice and barbarism to acceptable modern day morality.

An accessible and fresh biography boldly arguing that Muhammad’s entrepreneurial mindset helped unleash the modern world “A beautifully written, immaculately researched meditation on the impact of the Prophet Muhammad on the modern world. I loved this book!” —Reza Aslan, author of No God but God and Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth A six-year-old cries in his mother’s arms as she draws her last breaths to urge him: “Muhammad, be a world-changer!” The boy, suddenly orphaned in a tribal society that fears any change, must overcome enormous obstacles to unleash his own potential and inspire others to do the same. Fusing details long known to Muslim scholars but inaccessible to popular audiences, Mohamad Jebara brings to life the gripping personal story of Islam’s founding prophet. From his dramatic birth to nearly being abducted into slavery to escaping assassination, Muhammad emerges as an unrelenting man on a mission. Surrounding the protagonist are dynamic women who nurture Muhammad; Jewish and Christian mentors who inspire him; and the enslaved individuals he helps liberate who propel his movement. Jebara places Muhammad’s life in a broader historical context, vividly evoking the Meccan society he was born into and arguing that his innovative vision helped shape our modern world.