Balanced, well researched and brining in a new view point. Well worth the read, highly recommended ( )

Muhammad presents a fascinating portrait of the founder of a religion that continues to grow at a very fast speed in spite of all obstacles’ like the terrorists” western terminology” attached to anything which has been acted by minority of Muslim, and so on, I can forecast with full confidence that the hallow western world will returning to Islam not for the love of Islam but for refuge comfort purity contentedness and escape from there emptiness and shallowness materialistic existence
thing what have you done today, walk up have shower, breakfast and if you lucky and have a job then you will drive to work 8-9 hours at work, meat the lads for a pint, Home tired read to watch TV then time to bed all you have done is all materialist activity and physical activity BUT nothing for your important part of been on earth your sprit your soul did you remember God when you have your breakfast or at work or what you have done is just robotic cross yourself when passing by church )
Then Islam will be the Only Guiding way to the inhabitant of the universe
Just a note to say Mohamed speaks not, sees not only what has been revealed to him, if you can imagine he was a vehicle which received the divine order from Almighty God through the arc angel Gabriel ( )

Muhamad presents a fascinating portrait of the founder of a religion that continues to change the course of world history.

I found this a bit disappointing: there's a lot about Mohammed's life here, but not much about the man himself. This is all 'he went, he saw, he tried, he did', and I wanted 'he thought, he felt, he believed'. I wouldn't recommend it if you are interested in learning about Mohammed as a holy man. I guess it's a good introduction to the context in which the Qu'ran was received and written, though. ( )

This book is both an easily readable story of the life of Muhammad, told in generous and sympathetic terms, and also a layman's introduction to the core teachings of the Muslim religion, since both topics are in fact inseparable. The revelations to Muhammad, which are collected as the true and holy word of God in the Qur'an, came to Muhammad piecemeal during the course of his adult life and in specifically relevant contexts and circumstances that Ms. Armstrong vividly describes.

It was written by Karen Armstrong specifically to offset what she calls Western "bigotry" toward Islam, which she says has viewed the religion as warlike ever since the Crusades, and has vilified the Prophet himself in highly uncomplimentary terms. She is helped considerably in her purpose by the deliberately restricted focus of her attention. The scope of the book is limited to the life and times of the Prophet, and ends with his death. It is not a history of Islam. The further developments in history, such as Islam's military conquests and growth to empire after Muhammad's death, not to mention the violence and hostility which dominate our headlines today will have to be found elsewhere, in other conflicting books and discussions.

Instead, the endorsements on the back cover describe the book fairly and accurately as "respectful without being reverential, knowledgeable without being pedantic" and claim that it offers a "glimpse of how the vast majority of the world's Muslims understand their Prophet and their faith." The book is an excellent first introduction for the further in-depth study of Islam and its founder. ( )