Well-cited, clearly written, and with reverence, this biography is a pleasure to read and understand who Muhammad pbuh was. It is relatively short but I had to read in stints so I could fully appreciate the book. Only one error is that Aisha was not 8 when she was married, she was at least 16 or 17.

For those desiring a better understanding of the Prophet Muhammad (please excuse my not using the phrase Peace Be Upon Him, and know I mean no disrespect), Karen Armstrong provides an accessible, enjoyable, and inspiring biography of his life.

I was able to interact with Ms. Armstrong at the Parliament of the World's Religions in 2015. She is no nonsense but incredibly kind and her intellect and expertise of the Qur'an and the Prophet of Islam is non-threatening, and on the contrary, incredibly inviting.

I found so many patterns in the life of Muhammed that felt like parallels to the Mormon prophet, Joseph Smith:

* Both Joseph Smith and Muhammed emerged out of a climate of religious confusion. Arabs during Muhammed's time were seeking to get back to pure Abrahamic worship.

* Both Joseph Smith and Muhammed had try little education, yet both produced scriptural books filled with sophisticated complexities.

*Both Joseph Smith and Muhammed were chastened for fearing man more than God. Muhammed, to bring tribal leaders to Islam, encouraged their worship of daughters of God, to which the Angel Gabriel chided him, "You have recited to those people something I did not bring you from God." Joseph, after being told no several times, allowed Martin Harris to take portions of the Book of Mormon manuscript, which then fell into the hands of his enemies. Both men humbled themselves for their misgivings and repented.

Unlike the New Testament Greek, Muslims believe the language of the Qur'an is directly from the mouth of God just as the Hebrew is in Jewish scripture. Thus, the repetitive nature of the Qur'an is divinely poetic, like music from God, and, through the recitation, the listener is transported. The divine voice of Allah at times shifted from "we" to "he" and "I" and even to the feminine: al-Rahman (Compassionate), al-Rahim (Merciful). "This strong female presence was remarkable in the aggressive patriarchy of Mecca and may explain why women were among the first to respond to the message of the Qur'an (p. 48)."

What most westerners don't appreciate is that Muhammed was a proponent of peace and nonviolent policy. Westerners in general are still ignorant of the qualities of Islam and the message of their Prophet. Ms. Armstrong states beautifully, "If we are to avoid catastrophe, the Muslim and Western worlds must learn not merely to tolerate but to appreciate one another (p. 202)."

Through Karen Armstrong's work, we can more easily learn to appreciate this great man.

As the author acknowledges at the beginning of this biography she rewrote this edition after Islamophobia reached new heights at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Thus, this biography is very different to another one I've just read: [b:The First Muslim: The Story of Muhammad|15815359|The First Muslim The Story of Muhammad|Lesley Hazleton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1350922573l/15815359._SX50_.jpg|21541855]. Instead of being just a narration of Muhammad's life the author focuses mostly on the things the prophet advocated (forgiveness, peace, justice, compassion, etc.) which contradict the actions of Islamic extremists. I particularly liked that the author mentioned the context in which Muhammad asked that his wives be veiled which did not mean that all women should be. I found it a rather good narration and interpretation, and advise everyone to read it.

An interesting and balanced biography that sheds some light on contemporary issues.

I would not recommend this book for those first time readers and those who want to know the characteristic of the prophet. Instead, this book explain pretty detail on the social situation in Arabian Peninsula in the 6-7th century.

Excellent book. My full review/reflection is here: http://seriouslyplanning.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/on-reading-muhammad-a-prophet-for-our-time-by-karen-armstrong/

This is an, *interesting* work of fiction. Bearing only the vaguest resemblance to an accurate biography, Karen Armstrong masterfully weaves a fanciful tale of the life of Muhammad the way she wished he really was. She does this through three separate but not unrelated strategies:

First, she does an excellent job of cherry picking her sources. I have read at least one of her primary sources (Ibn Ishaq) and the picture he paints of the prophet is vastly different from what Armstrong would have you believe with her expertly selected quotes. (I have also read the Quran multiple times and again, it is not nearly the book of peace, equality, and justice she would lead you to believe).

Armstrong's second strategy is an abundant use of such phrases as "could have", "might have", "could possibly be", and even the occasional "one can imagine". Some of her fanciful paintings of what really happened or her rationalizations for what someone's motives were are about as likely as winning the lottery. It isn't gonna happen but, hey, you never know.

The third strategy is to gloss over or completely ignore some of the less savory aspects of Muhammad's life. Those that are less commonly known are not even brought up. The ones that cannot be ignored, like the fact this fifty year old man married a six year old, are given a sum total of two sentences. From that point forward Karen Armstrong speaks of the child as though she were an adult even though she was still only eighteen when he died in her arms more than a decade after their "marriage".

In all, this is a horrible biography. Just horrible. If you want to read a decent one from a Muslim perspective, I would suggest you go back to the source. Get a translation of Muhammad Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah. It presents a much more realistic (while still biased) view of Muhammad's life without having to suffer through Karen Armstrong's shallow attempt to impute onto the man modern western sensibilities.

Loved this book, thought it was informational, interesting and would recommend this to anyone wanting to learn about Muhammad.