World Affairs Discussion Group

Title	Author	Information	Submitted by
Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet	Karen Armstrong	List $15.00 paperback - Harper 1991, prefix updated 2004, 290pp	John Price THE SELECTED BOOK Received 22 votes compared to the second choice which received 14.
John Price writes " This biography, like others of Muhammad I have read, is a lauditory desription of the prophet, who was born in 570 AD into an anarchic impoverished Arabia. It is believed that Muhammad was illiterate: he received the Quran and transmitted it orally; it was written down, together with details of his life, more than 100 years later. The author excuses many actions of Muhammad as appropriate for the time, and I agree with this. Unfortunately some of his actions and decisions provide bad examples for the modern world. If the WADG selects this book I suggest strongly that the account be read critically, i. e. with a view toward the extent to which Muhammad's life is justification for some of the negative features of the Muslim world. At the same time all must agree he was an extraordinarily intelligent and virtuous man. /jcp/ "