Muhammad: Man of God [Paperback]

Seyyed Hossein Nasr (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 101 pages
• Publisher: Kazi Publications (August 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1567445012
• ISBN-13: 978-1567445015
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,065,522 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #21 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Islam > Muhammed

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good book to read, March 17, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Muhammad: Man of God (Paperback)

A short and clearly written book. I have read a few of Mr. Nasr's book and he is truly a great scholar of Islam. I did find the last portion of the book which dealt with the last trip of the holy prophet to Mecca and his speech regarding Ali, may God be please with him, rather surprising and, to be honest, troubling. If this story is true, then certainly holy prophet would have given a strong signal as his intention of making Ali as community's guide after his departure. I talked to the imam of our mosque and of course, like a good imam, he was of no help except saying that I should not bother reading books written by Shia authors since shaitan will get a hold of my mind. I told my dear imam, "look, is stupid written on our foreheads that you treat us like kids?" I have been in the US for 15 years and have a PhD in my field, do you really think this answer is going to satisfy me. When my wife, then a Christian, was considering Islam, she got the same non-sense from her family and friends, that Islam is a strong hold of "Satan", it is amazing how similar we are in our tactics towards each other. I must say that at the present I am neither a Sunni nor a Shia until I investigate this further. My commitment in to God and his holy Prophet and not to anybody else, and if Prophet wanted Ali as the guide then so be it, you will not get an argument against it from me. I really do hope that sincere scholars try to present what Prophet really wanted as "Islam" and not what tradition and history has apparently forced upon us.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Spiritual Outlook ....., May 9, 2001

By 

Ali Abbas "Ali Abbas Q" (Highland Park, NJ, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Muhammad: Man of God (Paperback)

While the book itself spans over about 60 or so odd pages, there are two aspects of Muhammad's life that are treated with meticilious care. The noctrunal journey, or his ascension, which he regards as "the example of spiritual ascent and the model for spiritual life", is treated in 8 pages. The horizontal ascent that took him from Mecca to Jerusalem and his eventual vertical ascent from Jerusalem to the heavens, is shared in detail with writings of both Shi'i and Sunni'i scholars, thus highlighting the importance attached to this event depicted in the Quran, vide XVII:1. He also upholds the metaphysical nature of this journey, criticising that modern science tends to study the "physical" reality, and not spiritual.

Perhaps the underlying tone of the book is the constant jihad (exertion) of Muhammad against the heathens of Mecca, against all odds that opens up various levels of meanings to the affairs that seem very mundane in the biographical accounts of his life. Striking symbolism with events are unfolded with the writings of Rumi and Sa'di.

The most striking piece is with reference to the last sermon of Muhammad, delivered at Ghadir Khumm, where he exemplifies the "universalityy" of Islam and her ordainment as a "chosen" religion by God, vide Quran V:3. He brings to reference a Shi'ite text of the sermon, that characterizes the nomination of 'Ali, as a point of departure between the Shi'ites and the Sunnis over the issue of succession after Muhammads death. He admits that while both Shi'i and Sunni'i attest to the truthfulness and the veracity of the sermon delivered at Ghadir Khumm, proclaiming 'Ali as the 'mawla', they differ on interpration over the word 'mawla'.

Lastly, he concludes the title with a section on the relevance of Muhammad's life, his treatment of the Youth and the normativeness of his life, i.e the sunnah, "a vast treasury of examples of behaving and acting in various circumstances".

Before I end it would be worthwhile to comment on his treatment of the Shi'i and Sunni split over the matter of the caliphate. Elsewhere in a book [Shi'a, 10-11, Tabatabai] in the Preface he states: "The Sunni-Shi'ite dispute over the successors to the Holy Ptophet could be resolved it it were recognized that in one case there is the question of administering a Divine Law and in the other of also revealing and interpreting its inner mysteries. The very life of Ali and his actions show that he accepted the previous caliphs as understood in the Sunni sense of khalifah (the ruler and the administrator of the Shari'ah) but confined the function of walayat after the Prophet to himself. That is why it is perfectly possible to respect him as a caliph in the Sunni sense and as an Imam in the Shi'ite sense, each in it's own perspective."

That title will some day will be a review in iself,

Thank you for reading. ...

21 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An appology offered to Prophet, June 30, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Muhammad: Man of God (Paperback)

Often my friends ask me why I chose to become a Shia. My answer is very simple, if Quran is a "Perfect" book, then we need a "Perfect" teacher, otherwise Quran by its virtue of being Perfect will become useless and of little practical significance for Moslems. The fact that so many contradictory philosophies had emerged in the history of Islam, all relying on Quran as their primary source, indicates that Quran by itself could not be of much guidance. The fact that Islamic world collapsed, as did Communism, indicates that Quran was not in charge of our mind and lives.

Quran is a book of "Light" of "Clear Guidance" and yet Islamic world is so confused and lost. Obviously something is very seriously wrong, and I don't believe it is Quran. Rather it is our approach to Quran is wrong and has been wrong for centuries. Yes, I was a Sunni and I got tired of not knowing what Quran is all about, what is its inner meaning, what is its "True" message. I got tired of hearing all kind of speculations about the True meaning of Quran and knowing all too well that we all just guess and not a single one of us can say for sure what Quran means. Even the most fundamental principles of Quran which Al-Tawhid is a subject of dispute between philosophers, Sufis, theologians, all pointing fingers at each other and blaming each other for having missed the "True" meaning of divine unity. Enough is enough. I thought all this is Prophet's fault. How can he expect us to figure out what Quran is all about? If he did expect us to figure it out, then obviously he was mistaken as centuries of history is a witness.

I always thought that Prophet was the only one who knew was Quran was all about, and after his death, Quran too died, or should have died and saved us from so much pain. As long as he was alive, his was the last word, there was no maybe, could be, "God knows best" answers to questions put to him about verses of Quran, there was no uncertainty, no confusion. Only if he could live forever among us. But later I came across some books written by Shia authors, such as Dr. Nasr, and I realized that Prophet did leave us a point of reference someone whose views of Quran wasn't a whole bunch of best guesses. I don't blame Prophet anymore for the mess we are in, or have been in for centuries, I blame us. We did what Jews did to Isa- Jesus- in spite of his greatness, and having been promised by previous Prophets, his people decided to push him aside or attempt to kill him. The fact that history repeats itself was no mystery to me, it was just that I was too arrogant or stupid to see the truth and blamed Prophet of Islam for our misery and confusion instead of blaming ourselves for it.

I no longer believe that the "as is" Islam is the Islam that Prophet had in mind. The Islam of Prophet would have brought us Light, Clarity, Guidance, Peace, instead of confusions, darkenss, misery, which finally resulted in a total collapse and to this day we moslems are trying to figure out a way out.