The Life of Muhammad: Propaganda and Truth
Author | : Ahmad Shameem |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : 382 |
Release | : 2013-12-28 |
Genre | : |
ISBN | : |
The Qur'an, with it verses about Muhammad's personal life, quarrels with his wives, love affair and marriage with the wife of his foster son, cursing his uncle Abu Lahab and other tribal relatives, and banditry raids for booty and slaves, would have seemed more like a Bedouin warlord's story than a "holy book" if Muhammad had not added to it large pieces of Biblical scriptures. Mostly orally transmitted to the Arabs, these scriptures in written form too were held by Jews and Christians in pre-Islamic multi-faith Arabia. From age twenty-five to forty, while living off Khadijah's wealth, Muhammad had spent fifteen years learning these. Then he retold them after distorting them; see the Qur'anic verses about Mary (Maryam), Joseph (Youssef), Jonah (Younas), Abraham (Ibrahim), the Israelites (Bani Israel), Lot and Noah (Nuh). Pilfering from Judaism and Christianity, he made his religion and the Qur'an to look like a part of the Judeo-Christian history and tradition. Obsessed with being obeyed as the ultimate in the series of Jewish "prophets" including Jesus, Muhammad resorted to the use of brute force, secret assassinations, kidnappings, ransom taking, banditry raids, slave trading, ethnic cleansing and inter-tribal wars to install himself as God's most favorite apostle. He was so jealously obsessed with being as "elevated" as Abraham and the Jews, albeit in his mind, that, on his orders, even now, Muslims beseech God five times a day to grant him and his progeny the same higher divine status as Abraham and his Jewish progeny had. He prayed with the aboriginal Jews of Medina facing Jerusalem for sixteen months and used the Torah for guidance but, having failed to convince them that he was their last prophet, he lost all restraint, massacred their men, took over their houses and farmlands, and sold their women and children as slaves. Based on extensive research, this book tells all about Muhammad, his believer and unbeliever allies, the making of the Qur'an, the social and economic conditions and Arab society of that period as truthfully as the oldest original Arab records make it possible. Ali Sina, a great expert of Islam, wrote about this book: "This is a great book. I read the first thirty pages and I could not stop. This book must be translated in all languages and become available to all." The first edition of this book was published under the title, "The Fascinating Story of Muhammad." It was well received and reviewed on Amazon with forty-nine percent of the readers giving it five stars and fifty-one percent giving three stars. There were no adverse reviews. Two reviewers stated the following: A most detailed and authenticated account of Prophet Muhammad's life: A most detailed and authenticated account of Prophet Muhammad's life with supportive verses from the Koran. Very interesting to read. I started reading it and could not put it down. It also includes the history of the four caliphs and a short summary of the Umayyad and Abbasid rule and the impact of the Arab Islamic Empire on the world. (Andy) Fascinating: Very interesting detail of the life of Muhammad with good references. The book could have been split into different chapters. This book will give the reader a view of what really happened during the time. Discussion in the appendix is very interesting. Would look forward to read more books of the writer. (Abdul Alam) This edition of the book takes into account the suggestions provided by the above reviewer.