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Memories of Muhammad: Why the Prophet Matters
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Review
A fresh investigation of Islam s Prophet that uncovers a complex personality. . . . [Safi s] depiction of a profoundly humane and compassionate visionary offers a much needed corrective to the darker perspective promulgated by some Islamic extremists. --Booklist (starred review)
Safi... brings the prophet into clearer focus with his book Memories of Muhammad. Safi provides a sweeping look at Muhammad's life and explores many of the controversial issues that color modern perceptions. --Washington Post Book World Blog
Safi... brings the prophet into clearer focus with his book Memories of Muhammad. Safi provides a sweeping look at Muhammad's life and explores many of the controversial issues that color modern perceptions. --Washington Post Book World Blog
Product Description
In Memories of Muhammad: Why the Prophet Matters, leading Islamic scholar Omid Safi presents a portrait of Muhammad that reveals his centrality in the devotions of modern Muslims around the world. This religious biography offers new insights into Islam, covering such hot button issues such as the spread of Islam, holy wars, the role of women, the significance of Jerusalem, tensions with Jews and Christians, wahabbi Islam, and the role of cyberspace in the evolution of the religion. Who was the historical Muhammad, and how do Muslims remember him as a holy prophet, a cultural revolutionary, a military leader, or a spiritual mystic? Unending media coverage of extremist fanatics, the controversy over offensive cartoon depictions of Muhammad, and fatwas against journalists and authors are all hard to ignore and have prejudiced our Western perceptions of Muslims and their founder. This definitive biography of the founder of Islam by a leading Muslim-American scholar will reveal invaluable new insights, finally providing a fully three-dimensional portrait of Muhammad and the one billion people who follow him today. Memories of Muhammad presents Muhammad as a lens through which to view both the genesis of Islamic religion and the grand sweep of Islamic history right up to the hot button issues of the day, such as the spread of Islam, holy wars, the status of women, the significance of Jerusalem, and current tensions with Jews, Hindus, and Christians. It also provides a rare glimpse into how Muslims spiritually connect to God through their Prophet, in the mosque, in the home, and even in cyberspace. This groundbreaking book offers the opportunity to move from telling Muhammad's story to talking about how different Muslims throughout Islamic history have both honored and contested Muhammad's legacy.
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8 reviews
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
A Helpful Milestone for non-Muslim Readers Seeking to Understand Islam's Central Prophet
3 Jan 2010
Format:Hardcover
In this second decade of the century, we have a chance to read some remarkably mature new books on Islam, the Prophet Muhammad's legacy and the whole host of issues that were raised so explosively on 9/11/2001. As a journalist covering these issues, I collected the scores of books produced in the years immediately following 9/11--some of them good, some of them politically biased and some of them absolutely dreadful. Beyond pure bias, the haste in which many books were produced led to tragic inaccuracies and limitations in authors' perspectives.
Unfortunately, the non-Muslim world still is desperately seeking information about Islam largely because of continuing violence linked to individuals and groups claiming to represent the faith.
Whatever factors led to HarperOne's decision to publish "Memories of Muhammad," the fact is that this book ranks as a milestone for non-Muslim readers. Dr. Safi is professor of Islamic studies at the University of North Carolina and he serves as the chair of the Study of Islam at the American Academy of Religion.
He's a Muslim scholar writing for general readers from the wealth of his authority as an academic. Looking over the stacks of books available about Islam, he correctly identified the Prophet Muhammad as a central point of confusion for non-Muslims and produced this book to help guide us in understanding the significance of this major religious figure.
When most of the other books in this era are forgotten, people will continue to read "Memories of Muhammad."
Unfortunately, the non-Muslim world still is desperately seeking information about Islam largely because of continuing violence linked to individuals and groups claiming to represent the faith.
Whatever factors led to HarperOne's decision to publish "Memories of Muhammad," the fact is that this book ranks as a milestone for non-Muslim readers. Dr. Safi is professor of Islamic studies at the University of North Carolina and he serves as the chair of the Study of Islam at the American Academy of Religion.
He's a Muslim scholar writing for general readers from the wealth of his authority as an academic. Looking over the stacks of books available about Islam, he correctly identified the Prophet Muhammad as a central point of confusion for non-Muslims and produced this book to help guide us in understanding the significance of this major religious figure.
When most of the other books in this era are forgotten, people will continue to read "Memories of Muhammad."
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Unique approach
15 July 2010
Format:Hardcover
I enjoyed readings this book a lot for a number of reasons:
[a] it is not a typical description of Muhammad's biography and important events in Muslim history. Omid Safi described/analyzed major events by contextualizing them. For example, it does not just talk about when one of the major events in Muslim history took place. He sheds light into why it happened, what were its precursors, as well as immediate and long term implications for Muslim and non-Muslim world;
[b] Omid Safi makes great attempt to associate/relate major events in Muslim history with other world religions, Judaism, Christianity and Buddhism;
[c] Though it is easy to grasp Shia-inclination, I liked how Omid Safi attempted to explain centuries-long tension between Sunni and Shia Muslims;
[d] The style and structure of the book is unprecedented. For example, one of the sub-titles reads "Muhammad, Eric Clapton, and the Tale of Layla and Majnun"...
Please don't be discouraged that Omid Safi's book includes some depictions of major events in Muslim history. One of the reviews refers to this fact and apparently that made him give 1 out of 5. But that's the problem Muslims have. We don't look at the substance and overrule something based on what someone said or what illustrations it includes... I am Sunni Muslim and yet enjoyed reading this book very much, AND would gladly read new pieces of scholarship by Omid Safi.
[a] it is not a typical description of Muhammad's biography and important events in Muslim history. Omid Safi described/analyzed major events by contextualizing them. For example, it does not just talk about when one of the major events in Muslim history took place. He sheds light into why it happened, what were its precursors, as well as immediate and long term implications for Muslim and non-Muslim world;
[b] Omid Safi makes great attempt to associate/relate major events in Muslim history with other world religions, Judaism, Christianity and Buddhism;
[c] Though it is easy to grasp Shia-inclination, I liked how Omid Safi attempted to explain centuries-long tension between Sunni and Shia Muslims;
[d] The style and structure of the book is unprecedented. For example, one of the sub-titles reads "Muhammad, Eric Clapton, and the Tale of Layla and Majnun"...
Please don't be discouraged that Omid Safi's book includes some depictions of major events in Muslim history. One of the reviews refers to this fact and apparently that made him give 1 out of 5. But that's the problem Muslims have. We don't look at the substance and overrule something based on what someone said or what illustrations it includes... I am Sunni Muslim and yet enjoyed reading this book very much, AND would gladly read new pieces of scholarship by Omid Safi.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Finally, the book we were waiting for!
19 Nov 2010
This is the book that was missing in the dialogue on Islam in the West: an authentic, accessible representation of what Islam is for, not just what it is against. It explains why a billion and a half Muslims look to their religious tradition for the same spiritual guidance in their daily lives as Christians, Jews, or Buddhists, with whom they have so much in common, and provides an invaluable resource for Muslims raising English-speaking children in the West.
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