The Prophet Muhammad: Faith Sensitive and Critical Approach Appraisals

Muhammad a prophet for our time is written by Karen Armstrong. This book is like a diary that tells the life of Muhammad and how he played a big role in the Islamic religion. Muhammad was born in the year 570 ce and died in 623 ce. Muhammad was a man who did not have much going for him, he couldn’t read and lived in a cave with his wife at the time. When Muhammad was reached down upon by Allah he did not know what was happening and why it was happening. “ he knew that some people expected the imminent arrival of an Arab prophet, but it never occurred to him that he would be the one entrusted with the mission.” (p.10). Muhammad was 40 years old when this happened and he lived in Mecca. Mecca at the time had many different civilizations and was a big trading center. Arabs at the time did not like this and kept moving from places to place to get something stable. Some of the Arabs even had settled in urban areas around Mecca. Society in Mecca was based on laws and traditions that even though Allah is the main god

Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus is a book written by Nabeel Qureshi, a devout Muslim who encountered Christianity after growing up in a Muslim home in America, which instilled Islamic practices, disciplines, and teachings in a non-Muslim culture. This book response identifies some of the significant challenges Muslims face as they attempt to preserve the traditions and teaching of their family in the Western world. It provides great insight into the life of Muslims and reveals why the journey from Islam to Christianity is so difficult. His purpose in writing this book is to give non-Muslim readers insight into the Muslim’s heart and mind, so that love will be shared to Muslims (Qureshi, 2014, p. 17).

The Honorable Messenger Elijah Muhammad, in his book the Theology of time stated, “This represents Ezekiel’s Wheel,” “They actually have it up there; the devil knows it’s up there, this is why he continues to go up there.” “Trying to locate it from the moon and watch for this plane, so he would be able to shoot a rocket at it.” The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said, “Allah taught me that and showed me the plane and that the beings that fly the plane look like us.” “The Government has the drawings of it on their blackboard at the FBI headquarters.” The Honorable Messenger Elijah Muhammad also stated that the planes were like unto our brother and Prophet Jesus-you could not catch him and they could tune in to you and at any time get away.

In summary, there are many benefits and drawback to the academic study of religion from the outsider’s point of view. Benefits can include factors such as gaining a new understanding of a religion or being able to gain an unbiased perspective. Drawbacks, however, include factors such as an ethnocentric point of view of an individual or simply missing minute details in a belief of religion. When everything has been said and done, I do believe that the outsider’s perspective on the study of religion is very important and something that should always be

Chraibi’s book Muhammad: A Novel is a fantastic, powerful read because it is just that: a novel. It is a fictional story, but written by an author who had an unusual, mystical calling himself to write the book. By using original aspects from the traditional biographies of Muhammad and then adding his own personal, esoteric twist on these characteristics, Chraibi creates a work of literature that is truly compelling and shows Muhammad’s journey to becoming a prophet in a mystical light. Two central distinctions, namely Muhammad’s relations with Khadija and Bahira, add the spice in this novel that really help the reader grasp what is mystical about both this literature and most importantly, Muhammad himself.

A desert peninsula in 6th century was the cross roads of the world, the bridge between Europe, Asia and Africa. Arabia was a vacant wasteland of desert, rarely seeing any life besides that of the trade caravans. City states dominated the political life and the only form of centralized government was in chaos. This was Arabia in the 6th century, this even though Christian was to become the staging ground for the growth of the 2nd largest religion that exists today. This is where the "Prophet" Muhammad was born in the city of Mecca.

On occasion, authors approach cultural subjects as historians. However, Huston Smith limits the historical facts to stay focus on the values of the religions (Smith 10,12). Having an history filled book can cause readers to lose interests in his discussion. To keep the numbers down, Smith picks the religions that most people acknowledge and would share the most common themes in their life (11). He is passionate about his studies, and he wants the audience to find their own appreciation for religion. To accomplish this, Smith simply states that,”This is a book about values”(12). Some books describe a certain faith’s good and bad qualities and can sometimes put more emphasis on the bad if the

Prior to reading an excerpt on Islamic theology and Islamic philosophy in the book Introduction to Islam by Carole Hillenbrand, I did not realized the tremendous effect and contributions Muslims had on the fields of theology and philosophy. According to Hillenbrand, “the term normally used for “theology” in Islam is kalam, which literally means “speech”” (Hillenbrand, 170). Similar to all religions, those following the Islamic faith would eventually be faced with opposition and questions about the teachings of Islam. Hillenbrand explained that Muhammad was not looked to as a theological figure because he merely gained his revelations from the all-knowing God, Allah; therefore, Islamic theologians would begin to emerge overtime. These Islamic theologians would engage in debates on core issues and topics that oppositioners had with the islamic faith, such as

In “Images of Jesus Christ in Islam,” Oddbjorn Leirvik warns the reader that one can easily read the Quran with a Christian bias, ignoring historical context (28). Examining the similarities and differences in the Christologies presented in the Bible and the Quran can easily garner such biases. Leirvik brings several issues forth that add perspective to examining the Muslim Jesus in comparison to the Christian Jesus. It is indisputable that each religious tradition is in support and full belief of its own message. Both Christianity and

The lives of Muhammad by Kecia Ali is a modern book that describes the way the life of the prophet has been told by past authors. It looks at the manner in which he lived his life and some of the decisions that he made. However, many other authors who have written about the life of Prophet Muhammad but Kecia Ali bring out the unspoken perspective that many people hardly notice. She shies away from describing the truth spoken by anti-Muslims and Muslims alike. On the contrary, she analyses both factions of the narrations and tells the story of Muhammad in a new light.

The two largest religions in the world, Christianity and Islam, were implemented by two of religions most powerful leaders, Jesus and Muhammad. Without question, both Jesus and Muhammad have affected humanity powerfully. As religious leaders both men laid down the principles upon which Christianity and Islam are founded yet today. However, while Jesus performed miracles and arose from the dead, thus proving to his followers he was God, Muhammad performed no such feats, and made no such claims. In fact, Muhammad’s only claim was that he was the last prophet sent from God.

“O Children of Israel! Surely, I am the messenger of Allah to you, verifying that which is before me of the Torah and giving the good news of a Messenger who will come after me whose name will be Ahmed” (Qur 'an, 61:6). This was the prophetic announcement of the coming of the Prophet Muhammad by Jesus Christ. Muhammad was able achieve this status as a prominent leader through his ability to unify the Arab nation while in political power and also as a religious leader, led the nation of Islam to the knowledge of the one true God. Muhammad sallallahu ^alayhi wa salam was one of the most prominent leaders in the Islamic nation, not only in a religious aspect but also on a secular one.

On the surface Muhammad is usually considered to be a prophet and messenger of God, but when looking closer we can see that He played many more roles in His life time including one of a Statesman.

In addition, he lived two centuries after the death of the prophet, and his compilation is based on word of mouth told by someone who quotes a chain of sources that lived many generations earlier, thus its accuracy is questionable and cannot pass a rigorous scholarly scrutiny based on the techniques of this age. But the main problem is that some of the narrations clearly conflict with the Qura’an. However, in many Muslim countries, such position is enough to arouse the wrath of the fundamentalist establishments and expose one to the risk of being branded an apostate.

“Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets. Indeed, Allah knows about all things.” (Quran 33:40)