-RRH-

Any recommended reading if I want to get a summary of the life and times of Muhammad?

hezekiah jones

<a href="http://shop.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=1BP7UZ0S3T&mscssid=4A1GAU88 TH5A8JTKD5BJDJEFNSUTF89B&isbn=0791046419" target="_blank">The Life & Times of Muhammed</a>.

RyanS2

Depends, are you talking about the Orthodox account? Montgomery Watt's account was the best book on that, and another Orientalist, Philip Hitti, wrote a bit of a shorter book on the life of Muhammad, which I believe was entitled plainly "Muhammad". Ibn Warraq thought that Watt was being patronizing, since he was an ordained priest in the Christian clergy, it was odd that he would write a work that would be used by Islamic apologists for decades. Robert Price summarizes his thoughts of Watt, (and other Orientalists of the day) as, "In retrospect, one wonders why they didn't proclaim the Qur'an the inspired word of God." (Paraphrased).

For more "anti-orthodox" accounts, read Patricia Crone's works, and most recently, Ibn Warraq's book, "The historical quest for Muhammad".

DMB

That should be The Quest for the Historical Muhammad

RyanS2

I stand corrected. Also check out Klimovich, "Did Muhammad Exist".

jojo-sa

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