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About Muhammad: The Other Western Perspective on the Prophet of Islam

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"About Muhammad" is a vital compilation of extracts, each by Western writers, which provides a well informed and beautiful insight into the mission, heritage and legacy of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. In recent years there have been many misunderstandings about the reactions of Muslims to public abuse and ridicule of Muhammad through the media. This book has arrived at an auspicious time and allows the reader to understand who Muhammad was, not just as a spiritual leader for Muslims, but as a diplomat and emissary for mankind in general. By understanding Muhammad, the reader can better understand the respect that Muslims have for him, and the Muslim mind in general. This book is essential reading for anyone in the media, education, politics, religious studies, history, and where they may interact with Muslims, contribute to Muslim projects, or work in Muslim countries or organisations. It will be equally beneficial to politicians, teachers, lecturers, historians, and the general reader.

144 pages, Hardcover

First published December 28, 2010

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About the author

AbdelWahab El-Affendi

16 books4 followers
Political Scientist, student of Islamic Thought, Writer on topics dealing with Islam and Modernity, Islam and Politics, Islam and Democracy, Multiculturalism, Islam in the West, Muslim Intellectuals and Sudanese and Middle Eastern Politics

Media Commentator, in both Arabic and English. Born in Sudan with dual British and Sudanese Citizenship, he has lived in the UK since 1982. Dr El-Affendi is Reader in Politics at the Centre for the Study of Democracy, University of Westminster and co-ordinator of the Centre's Democracy and Islam Programme. He is also currently an ESRC/AHRC Fellow in the Global Uncertainties Programme working on a project entitled: Narratives of Insecurity, Democratization and the Justification of (Mass) Violence.

His most recent book About Muhammad: The Other Western Perspective on the Prophet of Islam was published in London by Legacy Publishing in 2010.

Educated at the Universities of Khartoum, Wales, and Reading, Dr El-Affendi is also author of Turabi's Revolution: Islam and Power in Sudan (1991), Who Needs an Islamic State? (1991 - 2008 second edition) , Revolution and Political Reform in Sudan(1995), Rethinking Islam and Modernity (2001), For a State of Peace: Conflict and the Future of Democracy in Sudan(2002), The Conquest of Muslim Hearts and Minds: Perspectives on U.S. Reform and Public Diplomacy Strategies (2005) and About Muhammad: The Other Western Perspective on the Prophet of Islam (2010).

Dr El-Affendi was member of the core team of authors of the 2004 Arab Human Development Report: Towards Freedom in the Arab World and is member of the Advisory Board and a contributor to the 2005 report. He is also co-author of the report: Contextualising Islam in Britain: Exploratory Perspectives (2009).

Dr El-Affendi has also contributed to many leading journals, including The International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, African Affairs, Journal of International Affairs, Encounter, The Muslim World, Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, Harvard Middle Eastern and Islamic Review, and Contemporary Arab Affairs.

He is also contributor or co-author of works including: The Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (1998), Social Science and Conflict Analysis (1993), Islam and Justice (1997), Islam and Secularism in the Middle East (2000), Islamic Thought in the Twentieth Century (2003),Understanding Democratic Politics (2003), American Power in the 21st Century (2004), The Blackwell Companion to Contemporary Islamic Thought (2006), Islamic Democratic Discourse: theory, debates, and philosophical perspectives (2006), The Road Less Travelled: Reflections on the Literature of the Horn of Africa,(2008), Dying for Faith: Religiously Motivated Violence in the Contemporary World (2009), Debating the War of Ideas (2009), Citizenship, Security and Democracy: Muslim Engagement with the West (2009), Iraq, Democracy and the Future of the Muslim World (2010), and Democracy in the Arab World (2010).

He is also member of the Advisory Council of Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal Centre for Contemporary Islamic Studies, University of Edinburgh, member of the Board of Directors of Inter-Africa Group (Addis Ababa), and a trustee of the International Forum for Islamic Dialogue (UK).

Dr El-Affendi is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Islamic Studies at Cambridge University, and has previously been a Visiting Fellow/Professor at the Christian Michelsen Institute, Bergen, Norway (1995 and 2003), Northwestern University (2002), and the International Centre for Islamic Thought and Civilization, Kuala Lumpur (2008).

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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
Profile Image for Aizat Affendi.
429 reviews2 followers
November 25, 2023
An anthology of writings about Muhammad, as seen from the lenses of Orientalists. Whilst none of them were convinced by his teachings (a few alluded to the supposed fact that Muhammad was just a crafty Arab who amalgamated his thoughts with the teachings of the Torah, Psalms and the Gospels), it was evident that they were intrigued enough to read the Quran and the Hadiths to reason why there is such a big following and strong adherence to these two Islamic texts before trying their level best to provide a fair, objective view of the persona
Profile Image for Nayaz Riyazulla.
431 reviews94 followers
November 7, 2023
Goodreads ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಪರಿಚಯವಾದ ಈ ಪುಸ್ತಕ ನಿಜಕ್ಕೂ ಒಂದು pleasent surprise. Goodreads ಗೆಳೆಯ ಅಹ್ಮದ್ ರವರು ಈ ಪುಸ್ತಕದ ಮೇಲೆ ಅಭಿಪ್ರಾಯ ಬರಿಯದೇ ಹೋಗದಿದ್ದರೆ, ಒಂದು ಒಳ್ಳೆಯ ಪುಸ್ತಕ ಓದದೇ ಉಳಿದು ಹೋಗುತ್ತಿತ್ತು.

ಮುಹಮ್ಮದ್ದರ ಮೇಲಿನ ಪಾಶ್ಚಿಮಾತ್ಯ ಲೇಖಕರು Moral Criticism ಮಾಡಿರುವ ಲೇಖನಗಳ ಸಂಕಲನವಿದು. ಒಂದೊಳ್ಳೆ ಓದು
Profile Image for Mohammad Rafay.
56 reviews1 follower
January 27, 2021
My earliest introduction to the Prophet Muhammed (S) from another perspective is this. Loved it the way it has been created. Just have a sip of taste below:

An introduction to the Prophet be like -
"One hears of Mahomet's (Prophet) beauty: his fine sagacious honest face, brown florid complexion, beaming black eyes; - I somehow like too that vein on the brow, which swelled up black when he was in anger: like the 'horseshoe vein' in Scott's Redgauntlet. It was a kind of feature in the Hashem family, this black swelling vein in the brow; Mahomet had it prominent, as would appear. A spontaneous, passionate, yet just, true-meaning man! Full of wild faculty, fire and light; of wild worth, all uncultured; working out his life task in the depths of the Desert there...
Ah no: this deep-hearted Son of the Wilderness, with his beaming black eyes and open social deep soul, had other thoughts in him than ambition. A silent great soul; he was one of those who cannot but be in earnest; whom Nature herself has appointed to be sincere......."
-Thomas Carlyle
(On Heroes, Hero-Worship and the Heroic in History 1888)
Profile Image for Ahmad F H.
19 reviews21 followers
October 24, 2023
It is a collection of writings on Prophet Muhammad by western writers. From George Sale (d. 1736) to the contemporary Karen Armstrong, excerpts from eleven writers have been included in the book. The book not only provides a glimpse to orientalists' notion on Islam and it's Prophet but also a sense of genuine curiosity, undoing of deliberative misrepresentation and tries to hold an objective view on the Prophet.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews

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