Customer Reviews

Jesus and Muhammad: The Parallel Sayings

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Whether one believes in all the prophets of God or not, the same message was brought to Humanity time and again. This book has superbly shown parallels in prophet Jesus teachings with that of prophet Muhammed which again goes in-sync with the teachings of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Lot, Isaac, Ishmail, etc. in oneness of God and other basic teachings. Many of the readers will be surprised to know that there is Chapter in The Quran dedicated on Mary(Maryam the mother of Jesus) and she is considered one of the holiest women in Islamic teachings. Also in The Quran you will find - Jesus's name been quoted more than Muhammed's name. And we all have to ponder on what those teachings to know who we are and why we were sent on the Earth.....

In a nutshell, this is an adequate book - three or two-and-a-half stars - which fairly accurately represents Islam or Christianity insofar as what it has divulged. It is a good, but not the best of books. Those really wishing to compare and contrast the two fully should read the entire Bible, the Koran, as well as some good, critical scholarship about each. What most progressives want is to have an inclusive religious view, and they tend to gloss over parts of the text and tradition that are inflammatory or disagreeable. This book is of the progressive bent, and is no exception. Progressive religion may be preferable to some conservative or exclusive views, however, part of whom make it their primary intent to exalt one religion at the expense of demeaning and misrepresenting another (Mark Gabriel's title also called "Jesus and Muhammad" is of this latter type - from what I know I would strongly recommend this title over Gabriel's). What is most needed is a piece of scholarship which points us to our common religious and moral values (for they do exist) while at the same time frankly, openly and honestly (and in depth!) stating those parts that are most controversial and explosive. Christians and Muslims can find reconciliation, but it is not an easy thing to do, and more depth will have to be explored than Joey Green gives it here (and certainly much more depth than Gabriel who has factually misrepresented Islam). At best, this is an adequate and very short introduction to common bases of Christianity and Islam for those who are of the progressive mind-frame.

The concept behind the book is good. However, the problem is the sayings are not parallel. They are not even contextually similar. The translation of the Injil (Bible) was dreadful. The Hadith and Koran require context. This reader was disappointed. A book such as this that is what it purports to be, would be of great value. In this day and age, we need to learn of the similarities between these two great world religions. This wasn't that book.

This book is full of errorneous information about Mohammad and it's clear the author has purposefully falsified events. For example, he alleges Mohammad of marrying simply for wealth and beauty. He narrates that Mohammad said that man marries for four things, which are wealth, beauty, family status and belief and does not write the second part of the hadith which says that best is among you who marries for belief. Instead he says that money, beauty and family status were only his sole objectives. Mohammad, unlike Jesus is more than religous leader. He like other biblical prophets such as Moses, David and Soloman was political and military leader and he married for political alliance. But wealth or worldly status were not his objectives. In fact, when he started preaching Islam, the Meccans were extremely angry with him for abandoning worshipping idols and offered him all the wealth and women. Instead he persisted intolerable sufferings for 13 years in Mecca and many years in Medinah. This book should be avoided for any fair look into Mohammad's life.

I strongly encourage you to read the excerpt pages before buying this book. If you look carefully, you will find many opinions snuck in as fact. These opinions are always slanted toward the Muslim side. For example, it calls the difference between the Koran's account of Jesus' birth and the Bible's, "inspired." That is an opinion. This is not an objective comparision of the two religion's viewpoints. It is more positive toward the Muslim religion than the Christian one. That may or may not have been the author's intention, but it is there. You may want to consider this in deciding if this book is for you or not.