Muhammad

No view of the modern world is complete without an understanding of Islam. To understand Islam, we must understand Muhammad — as a prophet and man.

British author Karen Armstrong explains Western misunderstandings of Muslims' prophet Muhammad and presents a clear and solid account of his biography. She clears up many Western fallacies about the Prophet, presenting credible justifications and extensive references. "We must approach his life in a balanced way, in order to appreciate his considerable achievements," she writes in the book's introduction and boldly states "The Prophet Muhammad was not a man of violence."

Karen Armstrong draws on abundant literature to support an impartial account of the Prophet’s life as an individual and a leader. She portrays him as a man who embraced distinguished human qualities that others can learn from. She affirms that Muhammad’s struggle was not driven by a desire to impose religious orthodoxy but to "change people's hearts and minds." He was entrusted to convey and disseminate Allah’s final religion and to extricate people from the darkness of ignorance and despotism.

"We have a long history of Islamophobia in Western culture that dates back to the time of the Crusades," Armstrong declares before reiterating that "Muhammad was not a man of violence." She calls on readers to approach his life in a balanced way to appreciate his considerable achievements. According to Armstrong, misconceptions about Muhammad and his religion cultivate inaccurate prejudice, which harms human values of tolerance, liberality, and compassion.