This is a book that a devout Muslim, if he bothered to read it, would rail against, because it treats the founder of Islam as nothing more than a mortal, although a very complicated one. I read it during the years I lived in Morocco and I found it an invaluable tool for understanding Islam from the inside, and also understanding how Muslims view people of other religions. I don't think it is the most balanced account of the prophet's life you'll find, but it's one of the best researched ones and it doesn't pull any punches.

I've owned this book for more than 20 years. It has always been useful in understanding Muhammed and Islam from a scientfic Marxist view. For fun, I would recommend reading the book together with the passages on Muhammed in Rhushdie's Satanic verses.

I detest the condescension that some people have about Muhammed and this book. Unlike Christ or the Jewish Prophets and most other founds of religions, Muhammed was a person who lived in recorded history, left a mark by real records of his life, and had a recorded life and achievemensts even before he became a religious leader. We know little about him, but almost all of that is known from real history, not hagiagraphy.

Christians are only lucky that no such book exists about Christ, because Christ--if he existed--left much less of a real trace in records than Muhammed. Christians also benefit from the rigorous censorship and recrafting the Christian texts received when Christianity was transformed from being an underground religion of the oppressed and socially alienated, to the religion of the Roman state and ruling class.

Rodison is not a pro imperialist, but a Marxist who defends the Arab revolution against imperialism. He is an objective scholar. If you aren't ready for the theoritical complexity and terse theory of Islam and Capital, please investigate his Israel, A settler colonial state. Recent reader reviews here on Amazon have pointed out how this book written decades ago accurately predicts the present future of Zionist crimes and Palestinian resistance!

I've actually read the italian version of this book (edited by Einaudi). I found it incredibly interesting to help to understand how a religion and culture is born. The author is atheist, and I think that it is a good precondition for the book's objectivity.

The book I read was awsome. I would reccomend this book to anybody boxing and boxers. This book tells you all about his life. To when he was a kid to a boxer.

I strongly believe that this book is a wonderful description of the life of one of the greatest boxers of all time. Starting with his early childhood, Robert Lipsyte describes Muhammad Ali's life in complete detail. He describes the events that Muhammad had to go through and the obstacles he had to overcome on his way to achieving the title "The World's Greatest!" After reading this book, you will understand the life and times of the man who could float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.

Nagel, professor of Islamic theology at Göttingen, writes from outside Islam and in the rationalist-historical tradition to explicate what Muslims have believed, using a style often found in western theological studies of Christianity that are based in history rather than faith. He has intentionally refrained "from rashly pointing out parallels or similarities between Islam and Christianity, because this tends to be misleading.... It is more important and helpful to recognize-and accept-the different nature of the other faith." He methodically examines the nature and meaning of the Qur'an; the nature of faith; concepts of salvation; the literary traditions of hadith and kalam; the role of rationalism in the major schools of Islamic thought; revelation, philosophy, gnosis, orthodoxy and, as he moves from the classical to the modern era, ideology. The book concludes with a relatively brief annotated list of further readings. Useful for the serious non-specialist reader.

The History Of Islamic Theology: From Muhammad To The Present is a thoughtful, informative, careflly presented and scholarly tracing of the evolution of Islamic doctrine from its origins down to the present day. Written by Islamic theology and history expert Tilman Nagel (University of Gottingen, Germany), The History Of Islamic Theology has been superbly translated from the original German into English by Thomas Thornton. While the primary focus is on the early development of Islam in the ninth through twelfth centuries, Nagel also reveals the many ways in which Muslims from around the world have carried the precepts and doctrines of Islam into contemporary times. A strongly recommended addition to Islamic Studies supplemental reading lists and academic reference collections, The History Of Islamic Theology is also available in a hard cover edition (1558762027,).

I was told by a reliable source, that this text may not be an actual rendering of Ibn Ata'ullah. Either way, it is a fine book to go through if you would like to know how to read a sufi book. I was fortunate enough to go over this text with a leading Sufi Scholar, and Shaykh. My sincere advice is this: The book is definatly worth purchasing, as well as the price is right!

But really, really use the wisdoms that are in this book! It is imperative to your life that you actually have this fine work translated into English, only USE IT! Ex: Having presence of Allah during prayer! This texts gives stories, andedotes, and medicine to actually get your prayer going in the right direction. But remember my friends, You can't be a sufi by reading a book, you need a qualified Shaykh, Sharia, and spiritual aspiration (himma) May Allah be with you!

This book is actually a true rendering of the great Shadhali Master! The Key to Salvation was the "iffy" book as to if it was really the work of Ibn Ata'ullah.

If you do not know who this great Muslim Scholar is, get this book. Apply it, read it, use it , share it, learn it!

I highly recommend you to go over this text with a Shaykh who has ijaza to interpet it, and teach it, since the great gift of ijaza (permission) is a long lost Islamic tradition. Because the sayings are so deep, and profound you want to get the whole being of every word, syllable, and wisdom!

This is not for those who mearly want it in their ever so great Islamic book collection! This is for those who love to perfect their state to those of the great masters! If you can read one hikam, and apply it to your life, you will have much success God Willing!

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.

...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).

Only 4 stars since it's from 1983... But in calculating the position of the sun and other relevant parameters in estimating solar radiation, it's still unmached...

Best Regards ...

I am doing research using solar radiation models to correlate vegetation to slope aspect. This is one of the best books I have found to use. It is very logically ordered and relatively easy to follow -- a basic understanding of geometry and trig is all you need. Iqbal first defines and describes the variables, then has step-by-step examples to illustrate the equations and concepts. This is an excellent reference to any equation needed to mathmatically determine any aspect of solar energy. I would recommend this book to anyone: those just getting started and those who already know how it works.

I cannot promote this book more. Rodinson explores the prophet's life from birth to death, in an un-biased, open-minded manner. Translation: she explores everything, the unsavory moments, to the acts of ultimate courage and commitment.

If you are looking for an opinionated but fair-minded sketch of the prophet Mohammed in the context of his times, by a historian who is not out to portray his subject as the devil incarnate, but is still gamely willing to relate events and interpret them in a straightforward way that might lose him his head in some countries -- this could be the book for you. This book is lively, surprisingly balanced for a work by a Marxist, keeps the tangents short and sweet, and strikes me as generally judicious history. I don't share the author's materialism, and sometimes his attitude strikes me as a bit patronizing and cynical. But the story is well-told and insightful. And even when the author may be (in my view) wrong, his error usually consists of useful insights that are spread too thin.

Politicians, the media, and academics have been diligently trying to persuade us, of late, that Islam is a religion of peace. The terrorists are "traitors to their faith," which is "good and peaceful."

Mr. Rodinson does not set out specifically to tear down this viewpoint. He does warn, in his straightforward way, that "Muslims have every right not to read the book or to aquaint themselves with the ideas of a non-Muslim, but if they do so, they must expect to find things put forward there which are blasphemous to them." But later he notes disapprovingly of Christian critics that "the accounts given of (Mohammed) by his disciples were taken and twisted to make a hideous portrait of a cruel and lascivious individual, steeped in every kind of viciousness and crime. . . " This comment comes towards the end of the book. He seemed not to have noticed that in the previous 200 pages, he had painted a very similar portrait. It appears, strangely enough, that the facts themselves may have something to do with the "image." But read the book for yourself, and tell me if Mohammed was a good man or bad.

author, Jesus and the Religions of Man

This photograph journal traced Muhammad Ali's 30 years journey thru life. It started with introductory notes written by the Man himself & his wife (Lonnie Ali), Bill Cosby, Nelson Mandela, Henry Cooper (just to name a few), mainly discussing the bond between the photographer & the man himself, how they percepted the great boxer on & off the limelight. Muhammad Ali wasn't simply the loud mouth, the lover, the Islam, the winner, the loser, but truth to be told, he's also a devoted son to his parents, a loving father to his children, a dedicated husband to his wives, the charitable one to the downtrodden, the funny bone, the generosity one towards humankind, a courageous fighter who's fighting the greatest battle of his life against the Parkinson Disease, but mostly, he's like one of us, a mortal who needs a friend during his most fragile hour and that friend he found in Howard Bingham. Thru his lens, & without censorship from the Man, we caught a glimpse of Muhammad Ali that we rarely saw from other footage & only then, we realised he's not that icon that we grew up with but he's simply one of our kind. This journal is compiled with much thoughts & sensibility & it's such a joy & heart warming to browse thru. A complementary journal that goes well with the book, King of the World written by David Remnick. Highly recommended.

Howard Bingham's wonderfully intimate photographs tell a fine story not only of the life of Muhammad Ali, but also of the tightly-woven texture of his friendship with "The Greatest". The photos capture fresh visual perspectives on events already familiar to many Ali fans, and provide welcome peekaboos into other, perhaps lesser-known occurrences (such as Ali in a leg cast looking none-too-pleased after an ill-fated match with a Japanese wrestler). One of my personal favorites is a photo of the champion standing together with three women, each of whom would be his wife. This book is a treasure which could and should be enjoyed by anyone who appreciates photo essays. As for Ali fans, it is essential! Mr. Bingham will no doubt find himself with many new admirers -- count me as one of them

Dr. Vidyarthi must have done ages of research and hard work to have written this part of the book. Basically dealing with divine revelations about the coming of a Prophet in earlier scriptures, this book only deals with Bible and the Torah. Second Volume is desperately needed which should deal with Vedas and Puranas of Hinduism. His original work in Urdu has dealt with it.

All in all, a good read, which might be warded away as wishful interpretation by Dr. Vidyarthi, by those who have no sound arguments to discredit or disprove his interpretations.

Reading this very work of A.H. Vidyarthi is really an exciting experiance. The title itself is enough to catch the reader and their mind to go futher and futher in the reading. The message is crystal clear. The writer firmly upholding the idea that the Prophet Muhammad have been mentioned in the earliest sacred scriptures of the world religions. Actually, that is what the Quran states. From the approach taken, the writer strongly agrees that all of the world's major religions derive from the same source of the religion brought by the Prophet Muhammad. If not, how can his coming have been mentioned in those scriptures.

Touching about Muhammad in the Old and New Testament is not a suprising discussion, for the Quran itself talks about these two Holy Books a lot via its content. The Quran also tells and narates almost quarter of its content about Moses and Jesus. Nevertheless if we put the traditions and sayings of the Prophet himself in account. The relationship of historical banckground of these trio monotheism religions is well known. But to talk about Muhammad in Hinduism and Buddhism scriptures (for example), is very an extra intresting topic.

Via this volume, the writer covers the topic regarding the prophecies of the coming Muhammad in the Torah and Bible. The discussion is so good and details, supported by very sound research methods. However, no matter how good this work is, we should clear in our mind, all the discussions and opinions in this book is merely the personal opinions of the writer. Eventhough I enjoy the book, but in some points, I'm disagree with the intrepetations of some Quranic verses.

Basically, this work is amazing. I do suggest this book for anybody especially those who love the subject of comparative religions.

This straight forward, to-the-point novel/collection of confirmations is a must read. Tiy-e doesn't necessarily reveal secrets, but instead confirms what women knew all along. He was bold and confident enough to let others overstand the meaning of being a man in touch with himself and his entire manhood. Good job Tiy-e!

This book definetly has a little bit of everything that a reader would want. It is a serious yet entertaining book that addresses many of the issues that so many of us have today. In addressing the typical problems some men are reluctant to discuss, it helps both men and women deal with the issues. The book is definetly unique in that it starts every chapter with a very inspirational poem that is followed by a discussion of the issue at hand. The best part is the funny yet serious short stories. After reading the first chapter, I could not put the book down. Great Job Tiy-E. You are definetly a Shining Star!