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Muhammad: A Western Attempt to Understand Islam

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ISBN:0575050128 is the 1991 "Victor Gollancz Ltd." (London) paperback edition titled "Muhammad: A Western Attempt to Understand Islam" by Karen Anderson, 290 pages with notes and index. It is a reprint of ISBN:0062500147 (hardback)titled "Muhammad: a biography of the prophet", or ISBN: 0062508865 which is the 1993 "HarperSanFrancisco" (HarperCollins Publishers)paperback edition, of the same later title. Review: "Karen Armstrong's thought-provoking biography offers a picture of Muhammad which facilitates a profound understanding of Islam and the people who adhere to it so strongly. While discussing Muhammad's life and the fragile society of seventh-century Arabia, she takes particular events as a focus for exploring major tenets of the faith. In dealing with Muhammad's war against Mecca, she asks how far Islam should be considered a religion of the sword; in describing his relationships with his wives, daughters and female converts she considers the claims that Islam is a fiercely misogynistic religion; and while analysing his major political achievements in uniting the tribes of Arabia she explores the reasons why Muslims regard political activity as a religious duty. At the same time she asks why Muslims tend to see worldly success as a sign of God's blessing while Christians sanctify the notion of poverty and humility. Unlike other Western biographers of Muhammad, Karen Armstrong takes as her starting point the reality of his religious experience, thereby illuminating Islam's powerfully inspirational nature and offering challenging comparisons with the two religions most closely related to it - Judaism and Christianity."