Muhammad (Paperback)

by Maxime Rodinson (Author), Anne Carter (Translator)
Key Phrases: community patriotism, Abu Bakr, South Arabia, Messenger of Allah (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
An absorbing biography...Rodinson sensitively portrays a more than plausible Muhammad. -- The New Yorker

[T]here can be no doubt that [Muhammad] is the major contemporary Occidental work on the Prophet, and is essential reading. -- Edward Said, author of Orientalism and Out of Place

Product Description
A definitive and fascinating introduction to the life, ideas, and impact of the founder of Islam. Maxime Robinson's Muhammad has long been regarded as one of the touchstones of scholarship on the founder of Islam. Thirty years after first being published in English, it remains the definitive introduction to the Prophet's life. Drawing on wide-ranging scholarship and imaginative insight into the Prophet's personality, family, background, and wider society, Rodinson's Muhammad offers a vivid account of how he spread the word of Islam, created a sect and state, and defeated his enemies, establishing the first great Muslim military power—a power which was soon to control territory stretching all the way from the Pyrenees to the borders of China. For anyone who wants to understand the historical roots of one of the world's great religions, Rodinson's Muhammad provides the ideal guide to a fascinating and timely subject.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: New Press (May 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565847520
• ISBN-13: 978-1565847521
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #826,426 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Critical view of the prophet and Islam, October 28, 2000

By	Orin Hargraves (Westminster, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Muhammad (Penguin religion) (Paperback)

This is a book that a devout Muslim, if he bothered to read it, would rail against, because it treats the founder of Islam as nothing more than a mortal, although a very complicated one. I read it during the years I lived in Morocco and I found it an invaluable tool for understanding Islam from the inside, and also understanding how Muslims view people of other religions. I don't think it is the most balanced account of the prophet's life you'll find, but it's one of the best researched ones and it doesn't pull any punches.

20 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Reissued Biography, October 23, 2003

By	Tron Honto - See all my reviews

Rodinson's book is not a scholarly biographical based upon critical examination the early literature and sources, but it is nonetheless an educated and sophisticated look at the events, peoples, and places surrounding Islam's earliest origins and the personality which spawned it.
For such an accessible, non-technical perspective, Rodinson's book is perhaps the most user-friendly for anyone who may not consider themselves to be particularly religious. Rodinson is himself an atheist and a Marxist, and he, therefore, often frames the events of Muhammad's life within naturalistic explanations. For this reason, it is not generally regarded highly by Muslims and banned from libraries in the conservative countries. Reading the book, however, one finds little so scandalous as to merit such a melodramatic reaction,
The two rival books aimed at this market are those by K. Armstrong and M. Watt. The former is sympathetic in a vaguely religions sense, and the other is a severely abridged version of a larger, well-respected biography--peerless really. One would likely choose between the three if one had to based upon which the authors' background you found more appealing.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a book!, January 21, 2007

By	Hussain Abdul-Hussain (Washington,DC USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Muhammad: Prophet of Islam (Paperback)

This is one of the two best books on Muhammad, the other one being Montgomery Watt's two-volume Muhammad in Mecca and Muhammad in Medina. The difference between Watt's and Rodinson's works is that while the first focuses on presenting a chronological history of the life of the prophet of Islam, the second offers a more detailed view of the character of Muhammad taking into account his psychological setting and putting the character into the context of its seventh century Arabian society. Rodinson's book was written after those of Watt and in some parts of his book, Rodinson offers critical discussion of what Watt had to say on the historicity of some aspects in the life of Muhammad.
Rodinson skillfully uses all the methodology that scholarship has to offer as he critically constructs the story of the prophet of Islam and often draws history parallels for instance when he compares Muhammad's inspiration with medieval accounts of Christian ascetics.
The book's two last chapters are its conclusion. In an objective manner, the French author frankly expresses his disbelief in the divinity of Muhammad saying that - unlike other Western scholars - he does not want to guise his opinion with vocal tricks so that to hide his true opinion or soften it.
Rodinson died a few years ago and his absence has been a serious loss for this discipline in humanities studies. His book will certainly stand for a longtime as a reference work after his death. On a last note, it is seriously sad to see Westerners more at liberty when studying and writing on the history of Islam and Muhammad while Muslim scholars being repressed when doing a similar job for the fear of being declared anathema and probably risking their lives.