Customer Reviews

Muhammad

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The illustrations in this book are amazing -- gold gilt and beautiful details. The text is easy to read and fluid and is the standard accepted scholarly biography of Muhammad's life. (This is not a revisionist religious studies discussion, after all, and she's not pushing any envelopes.)

Demi's tone is not reverent, but respectful and considerate. The review from School Library Journal above reveals more about the author's prejudices than this book's biases: she says that Muslims weren't supposed to be friends with Jews and Christians, but the Jews and Christians to whom the Qur'an refers were the ones persecuting the early Muslims in 7th century Arabia. The reviewer neglects to mention that the Qur'an also says that Muslims can MARRY Jews and Christians because of their elevated status in Islam (Jews and Christians are called "People of an Earlier Revelation").

Demi, on the other hand, has adopted a very appropriate tone for this book. In a children's book about Jesus or Moses or Krishna, I would want to see a respectful narrative tone, as well.

Highly recommended for both children and adults -- a lovely way to get to know something about the 2nd largest religion in the world.

Firstly, I hope nobody is reading the School Library Journal's shockingly bigoted and unprofessional "review of this book". I am writing directly to the SLJ to let them know how I feel about the "review" above which is not a review at all but a horribly ignorant and bigoted diatribe against Islam, rather than an actual review of this book. It appears that the author of the review simply didn't like the book because she has a lot of preconceived prejudices against Islam and Muslims and she is just upset that this book doesn't reflect her ideas. Very disappointing and unprofessional coming from a such a widely-regarded publication.

This book is an outstanding summary of the life of the Prophet Muhammad which is beautiful and informative for both children and adults. As a Muslim I find it deeply respectful and accurate. One minor issue for Muslims is that, while care is taken to obscure the face of the Prophet Muhammad as is the custom, there are faces on the picture that shows other Prophets (such as Moses and Jesus) and it appears that the author was not aware that the prohibition on depicting the faces is for all Prophets not just for Muhammad. Some Muslims I know have simply used gold-toned pens to cover them.

I use this book both for my children and for interfaith dialogue groups due to its brevity, accesibility, and sheer beauty.

Written and illustrated by award-winning children's book author Demi, Muhammad is a unique and superbly crafted picture book presentation of the religious and historical figure of Muhammad, the man who brought the scripture and faith of Islam to the world. In keeping with Islamic tradition, the Prophet Muhammad and his family are not pictured directly; instead, a solid gold silhouette represents Muhammad in the various simple, expressive color illustrations. The text succinctly records Muhammad's life, faith, and his efforts to spread the word of God. Muhammad is highly recommended for all ages and would make an excellent acquisition choice for school and community libraries wanting reliable materials to explain Islam to young American readers.

This is a gorgeous book, with really beautiful illustrations and a respectful narrative that's been checked and proofread by academic historians on the subject. It's informative without being either for or against the subject matter. (In fact, the tone is a bit like a college classroom professor's, but of course much easier to understand!) Highly recommended. She's done books on other religous personages, too.

Demi writes a children's book of Muhammad and it is wonderful. She gets around the fact that human images are not acceptable in Islam by having a gold figure pose as Muhammad. The book covers all of Muhammad's life, especially his religious conversion. I highly recommend this book. It is glorious to look at and wonderful to read.

This is a beautiful, brief biography of the life of Muhammad. Demi's illustrations are lovely and are a perfect complement to his life. Of course it does not cover every aspect of Muhammad's life, but it is respectful and Demi's selection of episodes in his life are accurate and not misleading at all. I highly recommend this book as an introduction to Muhammad and Islam.

Sensitive prose and detailed, beautiful illustrations in the style of Persian miniatures make this one of the best books for readers young (and old) seeking an introductory biographical sketch of the Prophet Muhammad and the story of the origins of Islam. What is most remarkable is that the author presents this story as it is widely understood within Islam-her sources and bookjacket endorsements are all Muslims-yet in a way that illuminates that understanding for non-Muslims. DD

My son's father is a Muslim from Senegal, Africa and my mother purchased this book when my son was born. It is just stunning, beautiful and perfect in it's description of the Prophet (peace be unto him) for my boy to learn about who his father is as a muslim man. I am a methodist (and show respect to all religions) and want my boy to learn for himself which religion in life to be. This book is a beautiful tool to begin learning.

This book is a classic and an absolutely beautiful book to own whether you have children or not. The quality of the artwork, gilded pages, style of writing, is excellent. I have personally purchased 3 additional copies that I gave as presents to friends who were so impressed as well. A bargain price for a great quality book!

Muslim readers may have a problem with the visual deciption of the Prophet Muhammed's horse, followers, angels.

(But then, in my experience, most muslim readers have problems with many things.

Simplest is to overlook them. Esp since most muslims do not write books worth reading).

In any case, whatever your experience/expectations, set them aside and buy this book.

The book "Muhammed" by Demi is outstanding.

But then, most Demi books are.

:)