Muhammad

During the almost one thousand years of European obsession withIslam, only a few authors have tried to rise above their contemporaries bypresenting a more balanced view of this religious ideology. Armstrong'smain aim is to encourage "this more tolerant, compassionate, and courageoustradition" (p. 15). From the very beginning, it is apparent that thisbook is written with an unsurpassed empathy and that it contains a degreeof dismay and resentment that the truth about the Prophet and Islam hasbeen compromised and hidden by ethnocentric European writers inspiredeither by the Christian church and its missionaries or modem secularism.The main strength of the book lies in the fact that the author is nota run-of-the-mill orientalist With experience as a free-lance writer, commentator,and television documentary producer, Armstrong does not avoidthe themes so dear to European critics of the Prophet, but deals with themdirectly. For instance, rather than rationalizing the Prophet's polygamy, ...