Understanding Muhammad: A Psychobiography of Allah's prophet [Paperback]

Ali Sina (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2008

What causes Muslims to be violent? What spurs them to riot and murder over the silliest things? 

To understand Muslims, one must understand their prophet. This psychobiography seeks to unveil the mystery of Muhammad. 

Historians tell us he used to withdraw to a cave, spending days wrapped in his thoughts. He heard bells ringing and had ghostly visions. He thought he had become demon possessed, but his wife reassured him he had become a prophet. 

Convinced of his superior status, Muhammad was intolerant of those who rejected him, assassinated those who criticized him, raided, looted, and massacred entire populations. He reduced thousands to slavery, raped, and allowed his men to rape female captives. All of this, he did with a clear conscience and a sense of entitlement. 

He was magnanimous to those who admired him, but vengeful to those who did not. Not only he believed he was the most perfect human creation, but the universe's raison d'être. 

Muhammad was no ordinary man. This book ventures beyond the stories. Focusing on the why rather than the what, it unravels the mystique of the most influential and yet most enigmatic man in history. 

Islam is Muhammadanism. Muslims worship Muhammad. Allah is Muhammad’s alter ego. Only by understanding him can one know what makes them tick.  Understanding Muhammad, will end Islam.

Product Details

• Paperback: 316 pages
• Publisher: Felibri.com; 2nd edition (May 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0980994802
• ISBN-13: 978-0980994803
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,227,018 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #11 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Islam > Muhammed

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

92 of 111 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Prophetic Analysis June 21, 2008

By Ed

Format:Paperback

Prophetic Analysis from staringattheview.blogspot.com

Imagine that three individuals were each commissioned to prepare the psychological profile of a self-appointed religious prophet who founded a tightly-knit community in Arizona in the mid-1800's.

The prophet, soon after the death of his wife of 25 years, began having dreams about the six-year-old daughter of his best friend and persuaded the friend that God had told him to marry her. He later used the same God-told-me-so line to convince his adopted son to divorce his attractive wife so he could marry her as well. The community was polygamous, but the prophet was the only man who could have as many women as he wanted.

The community had few financial resources, so the prophet developed the idea of robbing stagecoaches and trains that passed through the area. Slavery was legal within the community, and the people who were not killed on these raids were used and sold as slaves. Male members of the community had full sexual access to the female slaves.

The prophet's ambitions were much larger than the few hundred converts he garnered his first few years. He fully expected all the people of the area to accept his prophethood and join the community. When some refused, he turned viciously against them. Eight hundred men were killed in one day, and the rest were driven to outlying regions. When he realized that his people did not have the agricultural and industrial resources to provide for the needs of the community, he came up with a new strategy. He again attacked the people he had recently driven away, this time allowing them to live in exchange for giving him fifty percent of their produce.... Shortly before his death, he stated a new ruling that they were to be driven completely from Arizona and never allowed to return.

As often happens with religious and political leaders who see themselves as chosen vessels, the prophet became more intolerant to criticism as he grew older and more powerful. Stories of the murder and assassination of his critics became increasingly common. One of his disciples bragged that he had come across a one-eyed sheep rancher who said he would never join the prophet's group. The disciple waited until the rancher fell asleep, and then thrust a sharpened stick into the rancher's good eye so hard it came out the back of his neck. The disciple next captured an associate of the rancher, tied his thumbs together, and led him to the prophet. The prophet laughed so hard at the sight, according to the disciple, that, "You could see his back teeth". The prophet blessed the disciple when he heard how he had killed the one-eyed rancher.

About the same time a 100-year old poet wrote lines critical of the prophet and his followers. In reference to the many regulations the prophet had established for the community, the poet noted, "You follow someone who divides everything into `This is allowed' and `That is forbidden'." As soon as the prophet heard this, he sent someone to assassinate the old poet.

A second poet, the mother of five children, was courageous enough to criticize the murder of the old man. She wrote, "I despise you people....you who obey a stranger and expect good things from him after he killed all your leaders." The prophet, realizing he was the "stranger" she was writing about, sent one of his followers to kill her. She was murdered in her bed that night with her nursing child lying by her side. Her murderer, perhaps touched with remorse by the heinousness of his crime, asked the prophet if anything bad would happen to him. The prophet replied that her death was of no more significance than two goats butting their heads together in the back yard.

Some time after the prophet's death, it was discovered that the Arizona desert underneath his followers' feet contained the world's largest diamond resources. Community members became wealthy beyond their wildest dreams, and began to use their new-found riches to extend the prophet's vision that the entire world come under the influence of his teachings and principles.

Now back to the first sentence, where "three individuals" are each commissioned to write a profile of the prophet. The first is a university professor who is an expert in the teachings of the prophet even though he has not joined the prophet's community. He was recently given 25 million dollars by that community to establish a university department where the teachings of the prophet are examined. He is careful to only teach a version of community history appoved by his sponsors. His students rarely learn incidents such as the deaths of the poets and the role of the community in the slave trade as noted above. They know nothing about the world-wide political aspirations of the group.

The second individual is a fully-committed member of the community. She has been taught since her birth that the life of the prophet is the perfect model for all humankind to follow. She doesn't even know many of the details of that life, such as his treatment of the exiles who did not accept his message. She only knows what she was taught, one side of the story, and is not interested in learning more.

The third person is an ex-member of the community. He was born and raised within it, similar to individual number two, but at a certain stage began to question the things he had always been ordered to simply believe. His questioning led to doubt, and the doubt resulted in his leaving the community. He now sees himself as free, but his former associates, including individual number two above, view him as a traitor. Even the university professor, individual number one, despises him because he is not sufficiently "academically trained", according to the professor, to critically examine the community of which he was once a part.

Which of these three individuals might give the most objective profile of the prophet's life? If your answer is individual number three, I recommend this book by Ali Sina. Read more ›

63 of 75 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good information but poorly written June 17, 2008

By J. Kingan

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Ali Sina is a brave man, and he make some interesting observations about the various mental illnesses and pathologies Muhammed exhibited. Unfortunately he isn't a very good writer and the book is a bit repetitive. Having said that, I do think this is a very important book and should be read by anyone who wants to understand the danger we face from this cult masquerading as a "Religion of Peace".

If people weren't so afraid of Islamic bullies in academia, we would see more analysis of Islam's fairly sordid origins.

It's pretty clear from the Mohammedans who wrote reviews here, they didn't read the book, nor will they, because they aren't allowed to.

75 of 91 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant psychobiography of Muhammad.. July 25, 2008

By Infidel

Format:Paperback

I have read many, many books about Muhammad and Islam trying to understand why the followers of this "religion" are so hateful, intolerant and perpetually angry. Why was Muhammad so cruel, manipulative, domineering and apathetic? How did he amass so many followers completely willing to stop thinking rationally and allow themselves to commit horrible atrocities? How is it that after 1400 years the attitudes haven't changed? This is by far the best information available.

Dr. Ali Sina is a former Iranian Muslim who operates a website called faithfreedom.org to educate both Muslims and non-Muslims about the dangers of following this cult. His book explains in depth the very likely psychological and physical problems suffered by Muhammad. The most obvious being Narcissitic Personality Disorder or NPD. Defined by DSM as a pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and sense of entitlement. Often individuals feel overly important and will exaggerate achievements and will accept, and often demand, praise and admiration despite worthy achievements. Other criteria such as being obsessed with fantasies of unlimited success, fame, fearsome power or omnipotence; interpersonally exploitative; devoid of empathy; arrogant;constantly envious are all descriptors of Muhammed. What is worse is that this personality disorder seems to have been bequeathed to his followers througout it's existance and we are seeing it in abundance today....
Other issues like Obsessive Compulsive Disorder help explain why Muhammed was obsessed with illogical rituals such as abulution before prayer for example:washing of nostrils by sniffing water into them three times, wipe whole head with wet hand once, wipe inner sides of ears with forefingers and the outer sides with thumbs, wash two feet up to the ankles three times beginning with the right. Other rituals include:how to make yourself pure after having sex, touching a dog, how and with what to wipe after defecating etc..and how these rituals are mandated and still performed by todays Muslims.

Sina also details the physical aliments most likely suffered by Muhammed like Temporal Lobe Epilepsy that perfectly explains why Muhammed believed he was being visited by Gabriel and numerous other characteristics and behaviors. I cannot possibly list them all.

Also of importance is the comparison of Islam with other cults and their leaders especially Jim Jones of the infamous Jonestown. This is particularly helpful in proving Muhammad as nothing more than a dangerous cult leader.

The information in this book is endlessly reasearched, factually accurate and from the Islamic sources themselves. Disregard all the negative reviews of this book and books like it from people who claim it is false, taken out of context, or misleading. When pressed, they never, ever are able to list one example of how the information is misleading. It is a clever attempt to keep the non-believers in the dark and is even in the Quran. Do not fall for it any longer. I encourage the reader to pass along the information gained from reading this book and continue to educate yourselves to the truth about Islam. Read more ›

41 of 49 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Unique biography of Muhammad June 26, 2008

By Jarek Novotny

Format:Paperback

There are many biographies of Muhammad and they all look the same. Even if we compare Muhammad's biography from his first biographer Ibn Ishaq, with, say, the one from Robert Spencer (The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the World's Most Intolerant Religion), we will not find many differencies. Basically Ishaq views Muhammad's murders, genocides and debaucheries as holy acts of Allah's Apostle worthy of emulation, while Spencer sees them as contemptible, but the content of both books is basically the same.

Ali Sina writes about Muhammad from different and so far largely unexplored point of view. After recapitulation of Muhammad's life written by critical pen of ex-muslim he examines Muhammad from point of view of modern psychology, psychiatry and psychopathology. He discovers Muhammad as a cult leader of the same kind as Adolf Hitler, Josif Stalin or Jim Jones. He is quoting from psychiatric textbooks and descriptions of different cults and compares described psychopathology with Muhammad's behaviour in different situations and shows that his personality fits the profile of mentally disturbed person and cult leader like a hand in a glove.

Classical martial wisdom says: know your enemy. For a practicing muslim Muhammad is a perfect model of conduct worthy od emulation in every aspect. Therefore his personality is the key to understanding of thinking of Muslims and of danger that those who really follow their prophet are posing to us - and also of unstable situation of those muslims who are living with idyllic fantasies of him. Ali Sina's book is unique and propably the best available tool which allows us to get such understanding.