In Search of Muhammad

Rating:
Summary: By far one of the best...
Review: ...books regarding understanding Muhammad from a more Western (or Christian) point of view. Mr. Bennett is honest, sympathetic and drawn to Muhammad. The inclusion of his personal views actually adds depth to the book. He is not an 'orientalist' nor an 'apologeticist' nor is he a 'polemicist'. He is seeking an honest, objective view of who he was and who he is. His is one of the more honest and overly objective books I have encountered on the subject. He is drawn to Muhammad.

This can be used as both a criticism and a high compliment. The honesty with which he approaches the subject matter radiates and leaves the reader listening not to the intentions of the author but to the actual text and what is being said. Oftentimes books about Muhammad are so overly hostile that any objectivity flies out the window. On the flip side books on Muhammad often border on deifying him and objectivity is thus also lost.

Mr. Bennett's assessment of the sources reveals what can and can not be known and shows the diversity of how Muhammad is seen and understood. There is no monolithic Islam and there is no monolithic understanding of Muhammad. To an extent, Muhammad is almost (emphasis: almost) as mythic as the founders of other religions.

Reading this book will open the reader's eyes to a more educated approach to understanding the enduring appeal of Muhammad in the hearts of believers and the impact of Muhammad still felt on the world. The reader will come to know that what we so often hear about Muhammad is often either wrong, distorted or might even be rendered as mere folk tale (or, in today's jargon, an urban legend).

Rating:
Summary: By far one of the best...
Review: ...books regarding understanding Muhammad from a more Western (or Christian) point of view. Mr. Bennett is honest, sympathetic and drawn to Muhammad. The inclusion of his personal views actually adds depth to the book. He is not an 'orientalist' nor an 'apologeticist' nor is he a 'polemicist'. He is seeking an honest, objective view of who he was and who he is. His is one of the more honest and overly objective books I have encountered on the subject. He is drawn to Muhammad.

This can be used as both a criticism and a high compliment. The honesty with which he approaches the subject matter radiates and leaves the reader listening not to the intentions of the author but to the actual text and what is being said. Oftentimes books about Muhammad are so overly hostile that any objectivity flies out the window. On the flip side books on Muhammad often border on deifying him and objectivity is thus also lost.

Mr. Bennett's assessment of the sources reveals what can and can not be known and shows the diversity of how Muhammad is seen and understood. There is no monolithic Islam and there is no monolithic understanding of Muhammad. To an extent, Muhammad is almost (emphasis: almost) as mythic as the founders of other religions.

Reading this book will open the reader's eyes to a more educated approach to understanding the enduring appeal of Muhammad in the hearts of believers and the impact of Muhammad still felt on the world. The reader will come to know that what we so often hear about Muhammad is often either wrong, distorted or might even be rendered as mere folk tale (or, in today's jargon, an urban legend).

Rating:
Summary: Fair account of evidence for a biography of Muhammad
Review: In Search of Muhammad by Clinton Bennett (Cassell) a survey of evidence for a biography of Muhammad that also provides some recognition of the pious dimensions of the meaning of the Prophet in Islamic thought. As an academic inquiry into both the Mohammad of Faith and of history this work provides an introductory account principal documents and traditions from which to draw an historical account of Muhammad. Bennett offers an orientation to the evidence that is usually either assumed or not discussed in traditional and popular accounts of the life of the Prophet. As an introduction to the critical study of what is involved in the biography of Muhammad, this work offers both respect for faith and tradition as well as a critical and fair account of the many critical views about of Muhammad emerging from academic study of social and religious formation of Islam and creation of the Qur'an as a scripture. In Search of Muhammad is a better than average introduction to the field and is useful as a guide to current literature and major themes of study.