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Understanding Muhammad: A Psychobiography of Allah's prophet
Understanding Muhammad is a psychobiography of Allah’s Prophet. It seeks to unveil the mystery of that man. Historians tell us Muhammad used to withdraw to a cave, spending days wrapped in his thoughts. He heard bells ringing and had ghostly visions. He thought he was demon possessed, until his wife reassured him he had become a prophet. Convinced of his status, he was intolerant of those who rejected him, assassinated those who criticized him, raided, looted, and massacred entire populations. He reduced thousands to slavery, raped, and allowed his men to rape female captives. All of this, he did with a clear conscience and a sense of entitlement.
He was magnanimous toward those who admired him, but vengeful toward those who did not. He believed he was the most perfect human creation and the universe's raison d'être. Muhammad was no ordinary man. He was a narcissist.
Understanding Muhammad, ventures beyond the stories. Focusing on the "why" rather than the "what," it unravels the mystique of one of the most enigmatic and influential men in history.
He was magnanimous toward those who admired him, but vengeful toward those who did not. He believed he was the most perfect human creation and the universe's raison d'être. Muhammad was no ordinary man. He was a narcissist.
Understanding Muhammad, ventures beyond the stories. Focusing on the "why" rather than the "what," it unravels the mystique of one of the most enigmatic and influential men in history.
270 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2008
66 people are currently reading
811 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
August 24, 2015
This is a must read for all muslims and non muslims as it helps to understand muslims and their behavior .This is one book that you can't miss at all.It is a gem.From Muhammad's birth,his childhood,his many marriages,revelations,battles and till his death it explains each event with various references.It also explains what is wrong with Islamic world and why.
For example it tells about Adult breast suckling over which a fatwa was issued by Dr. Izzat Atiya of Egypt's al-Azhar University. Such practice would be obnoxious and unacceptable in civilzed world but 1400 years ago it was prescribed by prophet himself.Muslims tell about good things of Islam but hide such shameful practices found in Hadith.
This book has many such things in it that Muslims don't want you to know.Really a bold and daring Masterpiece!
For example it tells about Adult breast suckling over which a fatwa was issued by Dr. Izzat Atiya of Egypt's al-Azhar University. Such practice would be obnoxious and unacceptable in civilzed world but 1400 years ago it was prescribed by prophet himself.Muslims tell about good things of Islam but hide such shameful practices found in Hadith.
This book has many such things in it that Muslims don't want you to know.Really a bold and daring Masterpiece!
December 31, 2010
In order to understand where Islam and the Muslim are coming from EVERYONE must read this book.
May 29, 2015
I bought this book because after reading the Qur'an, I decided Muhammad was a narcissistic, vindictive, horny old man, not a holy prophet. The whole appeal behind Islam seemed to be "if you join us, then we promise not to attack you, steal your stuff, and rape your women. But you have to help us do that to people who are NOT part of Islam, and we will share around the spoils and the plunder." In a part of the world where the main way to get ahead was to steal other people's stuff, this was probably really appealing.
I wanted to learn more about a guy who could come up with this plan, wantonly murder and plunder, have as many wives as he wanted, and get all kinds of people to follow him for millenia.
Unfortunately, this book lost all credibility after the first 10 grammar mistakes, and sentence fragments. I understand the author is probably not a native speaker. So get yourself an editor/proofreader.
The writing style is disorganized. Paragraphs consist of a bunch of sentences thrown together willy-nilly. The "present some facts then ask a question then write as though the answer is obvious" writing style just does not do it for me.
I wanted to learn more about a guy who could come up with this plan, wantonly murder and plunder, have as many wives as he wanted, and get all kinds of people to follow him for millenia.
Unfortunately, this book lost all credibility after the first 10 grammar mistakes, and sentence fragments. I understand the author is probably not a native speaker. So get yourself an editor/proofreader.
The writing style is disorganized. Paragraphs consist of a bunch of sentences thrown together willy-nilly. The "present some facts then ask a question then write as though the answer is obvious" writing style just does not do it for me.
April 6, 2024
For those who are familiar with the extremist Islamophobic website called “Faithfreedom International”, the name of its founder “Ali Sina” (a pseudonym) is synonymous with the bigotry and vile rhetoric often displayed against Muslims and Islam. This was a person who openly advocated for the atomic bomb to be used on Muslim populations and have many times declared that he will “wipe out” Islam within 30 years. Now this relatively unknown figure within academic circles — apart from becoming the self-appointed hero for the cause of Islamophobia, bigotry and the new emerging school of lay-people and pseudo-scholars — has moved beyond the world that he is more accustomed with on the internet. In summarizing, this tiresome work is not a biography at all, much less a “psychobiography”, of the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) but a pathetic attempt at character assassination and the rehashing of age-old polemics dating as far as the earliest days of Orientalism. In fact, the author’s methodology is consistent with what that is found on his website and other atheist websites online. It is simply bad history and even worse psychology by a man who can claim to be neither a historian nor a psychologist. He simply repeats the lying polemics of Serge Trikovic, Robert Spencer, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and other atheists who have an axe to grind against Islam. When bigots and extremists approach any text, be it the Turner Diaries, the Bible, the Qur’an, Nietzsche or the Sirah literature, they cannot be divorced from contextual hermeneutics. The reason why Ali Sina views the Prophet Muhammd (SAWS) in such light is simply a case of trying to find a demon through the nitpicking of isolated incidents. Indeed, if one were to play with such rhetoric, one could find justification for the Holocaust, even within the New Testament as Hitler did.
November 24, 2020
I well written book. Where the Author has explained the lies of islam and muhammad. A book that proves why islam is threat to Humanity.
March 3, 2023
This is an excellent introduction to Islam. Had read this year ago, when I wanted to get a better understanding of this faith and it's believers. Today, after having read the quran & the hadith, as well as many tafsirs, I can say that the brilliance of this book still stands.
For the casual reader it gives enough insight into the mindset of a believer and the whys of it, while still delving deep enough to unravel scriptural nuances. Of which there are many. If you want to veer away from the sensational Youtube videos & get an actual understanding of Islam, this is the book you should read.
For the casual reader it gives enough insight into the mindset of a believer and the whys of it, while still delving deep enough to unravel scriptural nuances. Of which there are many. If you want to veer away from the sensational Youtube videos & get an actual understanding of Islam, this is the book you should read.
January 19, 2021
If I had not read the koran and hadis.. I would never have believed this.
But I fear the ex-Muslims are just too much on the opposite sides of thoughts.
They can never have the concept that religion could be a way not a sect. It's their understanding of the world being bought up in Abrahamic religions.
Its a threat.
But I fear the ex-Muslims are just too much on the opposite sides of thoughts.
They can never have the concept that religion could be a way not a sect. It's their understanding of the world being bought up in Abrahamic religions.
Its a threat.
May 23, 2020
This is the best way to understand Muslim and Muhammad. Ali Sina takes us to the root cause of terrorism. I really don't have enough adjective to glorify this book. Thank you Ali Sina
March 15, 2021
I have gone through the book .I am not muslim . But I always used to think why all the terrorists are muhammadns . Now I have understood .
January 22, 2017
A Good Introduction To Theological Foundations Of Radical Islam
This book draws very specifically on Islam's founding litterature to explain Islamic terrorism. It is simple reading, nicely ordered and cites and footnotes very well. I also recommend "In the Shadow of the Sword" by Tom Holland which is among the best of the many books I have read on early Islamic history.
This book draws very specifically on Islam's founding litterature to explain Islamic terrorism. It is simple reading, nicely ordered and cites and footnotes very well. I also recommend "In the Shadow of the Sword" by Tom Holland which is among the best of the many books I have read on early Islamic history.
December 31, 2021
Accurate, well organized and clear.
with a psychological background but the core inhumane aspect is historical and well stated and referenced.
the closure was a little subjective than the rest of the book.
i think it would serve it's purpose well and shed the light on the inhumanity of Islam provided the psychology concepts and historical undeniable facts.
well cited and well done.
with a psychological background but the core inhumane aspect is historical and well stated and referenced.
the closure was a little subjective than the rest of the book.
i think it would serve it's purpose well and shed the light on the inhumanity of Islam provided the psychology concepts and historical undeniable facts.
well cited and well done.
March 16, 2021
For those who are familiar with the extremist Islamophobic website called “Faithfreedom International”, the name of its founder Ali Sina (a pseudonym) is synonymous with the bigotry and vile rhetoric often displayed against Muslims and Islam. This was a person who openly advocated for the atomic bomb to be used on Muslim populations and have many times declared that he will “wipe out” Islam within 30 years.
Now this relatively unknown figure within academic circles — apart from becoming the self-appointed hero for the cause of Islamophobia, bigotry and the new emerging school of lay-people and pseudo-scholars — has moved beyond the world that he is more accustomed to on the internet.
Like his predecessors, such as the infamous Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch, “Ali Sina” is now attempting to make his name within the world of published authors with the publication of his book Understanding Muhammad: A Psychobiography. Whilst it is true that over the course of years he has gathered a large following of largely misled haters, Ali Sina still has had to resort to self-publishing with a relatively small publishing press where anyone with anything to rant about can publish their own.
“Understanding Muhammad”? A Self-Proclaimed Psycho biography.
The book claims to be a “psycho-biography” of the Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be peace, but it is far from being objective and sane in its purported “scholarship”. It claims to refer to the Islāmic religious texts (heavily relying on translations and not the original Arabic sources which betray the author’s lack of command in the language) and then attempts to characterize Muhammad(P) in “modern analytical terms”.
Coming from a Shi’ite background in predominantly Shi’ite Iran, it is not clear from the onset about why Ali Sina favours referring to the Sunni sources such as the hadith collection of Bukhari and Muslim (which is not used by the Shi’a and largely unfamiliar to them) and hardly mentions the Shi’ite sources themselves which talk about the Prophet(P). This leads us to suspect that he may not have the credentials of an Iranian Muslim as he claims to have.
Unfortunately, this book does nothing more than to resort to the old underhanded technique of cherry-picking a handful of half-truths, sprinkling them with lies, exaggerations and misrepresentations, and eventually to come up with a twisted mix of politically motivated propaganda.
Ali Sina, The Liar
While Ali Sina believes that his agenda will liberate Muslims, common sense would tell you that Ali Sina’s book comes nowhere close to it. In fact, he is much more likely to lend credence to the grumblings of right-wing nut jobs who want to stoke fear and hatred. The quality of Ali Sina’s “different” pseudo-scholarship is thus displayed by the revival of a long-abandoned polemic against the historical character of the Prophet of Islam – namely, the issue of epilepsy.
Nuanced scholars such as the Swedish academic Tor Andrae and prolific writer Karen Armstrong have long dismissed the idea of epilepsy as nonsense. It seems that Ali Sina believes that such studies about the Prophet(P) in historiography should be abandoned and instead we should return to Orientalists such as Margoliouth, Muir and other Christian missionaries who would have us believe that the Prophet(P) was epileptic.
Ali Sina consistently maligns the Prophet(P) as delusional – while at the same time ignoring that the coherence, completeness and success of Islam in its 1400 years of history show that it cannot be the product of a madman’s mind, nor of that of an epileptic. Ali Sina then calls him(P) a liar (an all-too-familiar accusation), conveniently ignoring how much he suffered for twenty years before gaining the upper hand and even then he had lived as a poor man with no luxuries. The inconsistencies of Ali Sina’s accusations against the Prophet(P) are themselves a testament to the foolishness of his reasoning.
Ali Sina, The Ignorant
Ali Sina clearly ignores several facts contained within the Sirah itself; that the Prophet(P) spared the Makkans who had tortured and killed his followers for two decades even after conquering them, that he spared all the hypocrites in Madinah undermining his authority (something the man Sina describes would not tolerate), that he had all too often freed prisoners of war freed for no material gain, that he explicitly forbade harming innocent civilians such as women, children, elderly and monks; that he always honoured his treaties even if they were extremely unfair to him (until the disbelievers broke them), that his stories are filled with instances where he spared men who were out to kill him, that as soon as someone became Muslim, he forgave all their past evils, betrayals and murders.
The only people that the Prophet(P) was harsh with were with those who were treacherous and betrayed their pacts to turn on the Muslims to destroy them in their weakest moment – which is considered as high treason in times of war. Ali Sina deviously omits the context and interpreted such acts as something that the Prophet(P) habitually does, which is nothing short of deception to his readers.
Perhaps we should not be surprised at his attempts of ad hominem and poisoning of the well; after all, Ali Sina’s methodology is consistent with his use of “weak Hadiths”, saying of the Prophet(P) that are not accepted by Muslims or are seen as weak sources for the religion. Further, this short list of verses from the Holy Qur’an shows Islam in a different light and contradicts the conclusions made by Ali Sina:
“There is no compulsion in religion, for the right way is clearly from the wrong way. Whoever, therefore, rejects the forces of evil and believes in God, he has taken hold of a support most unfailing, which shall never give way, for God is All Hearing and Knowing.”1
“And so (O Prophet!), exhort them your task is only to exhort; you cannot compel them to believe.”2
“Allah forbids you not, with regard to those who fight you not for (your) Faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them: for Allah loveth those who are just.”3
Ali Sina, The Demented
The only people who would “love” this book are either psychologically demented — similar to Ali Sina himself — disaffected Muslims who have been hurt in the past and want to blame someone for their problems, or they are extremist Hindus and right-wing Christians who would like nothing better than to rationalize their extremist racism and xenophobic hatred with spurious scholarship.
Muhammad(P) did not witness any insurrections or attempts on his life at the hands of his own followers. Not even after his death did anyone attempt to assassinate his memory or desecrate his grave. Instead, the Prophet’s(P) example spawned an empire that ruled over the Middle East for one thousand years and saw a revival of culture and learning the likes of which was not seen in the West until the Age of Enlightenment.
Conclusions
In summarizing this tiresome work, “Understanding Muhammad: A Psychobiography” is not a biography at all, much less a “psychobiography”, of the Prophet Muhammad(P) but a pathetic attempt at character assassination and the rehashing of age-old polemics dating as far as the earliest days of Orientalism.
In fact, the author’s methodology is consistent with what that is found on his website and other atheist websites online. It is simply bad history and even worse psychology by a man who can claim to be neither a historian nor a psychologist. “Understanding Muhammad” does not understand Muhammad(P) at all.
He simply repeats the lying polemics of Serge Trifkovic, Robert Spencer, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and other atheists who have an axe to grind against Islam. When bigots and extremists approach any text, be it the Turner Diaries, the Bible, the Qur’an, Nietzsche or the Sirah literature, they cannot be divorced from contextual hermeneutics. The reason Ali Sina views the Prophet Muhammad(P) in such light is simply a case of trying to find a demon through the nitpicking of isolated incidents. Indeed, if one were to play with such rhetoric, one could find justification for the Holocaust, even within the New Testament as Hitler did.
We have come to the conclusion that a brief psycho-analysis of Ali Sina will find that he is simply a bigoted, disaffected “former Muslim” who is no doubt working out issues with his painful upbringing at the hands of his puritanical parents, cruel Islāmic clergy or perhaps a child-molesting Iranian mullah (or whatever the thorn in his side may be), as in his book he has focused all his rage into painting the ugliest portrait of the Prophet Muhammad(P) that can ever be conceived by the most insane mind.
BY MOHD ELFIE NIESHAEM JUFERIMAY
Now this relatively unknown figure within academic circles — apart from becoming the self-appointed hero for the cause of Islamophobia, bigotry and the new emerging school of lay-people and pseudo-scholars — has moved beyond the world that he is more accustomed to on the internet.
Like his predecessors, such as the infamous Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch, “Ali Sina” is now attempting to make his name within the world of published authors with the publication of his book Understanding Muhammad: A Psychobiography. Whilst it is true that over the course of years he has gathered a large following of largely misled haters, Ali Sina still has had to resort to self-publishing with a relatively small publishing press where anyone with anything to rant about can publish their own.
“Understanding Muhammad”? A Self-Proclaimed Psycho biography.
The book claims to be a “psycho-biography” of the Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be peace, but it is far from being objective and sane in its purported “scholarship”. It claims to refer to the Islāmic religious texts (heavily relying on translations and not the original Arabic sources which betray the author’s lack of command in the language) and then attempts to characterize Muhammad(P) in “modern analytical terms”.
Coming from a Shi’ite background in predominantly Shi’ite Iran, it is not clear from the onset about why Ali Sina favours referring to the Sunni sources such as the hadith collection of Bukhari and Muslim (which is not used by the Shi’a and largely unfamiliar to them) and hardly mentions the Shi’ite sources themselves which talk about the Prophet(P). This leads us to suspect that he may not have the credentials of an Iranian Muslim as he claims to have.
Unfortunately, this book does nothing more than to resort to the old underhanded technique of cherry-picking a handful of half-truths, sprinkling them with lies, exaggerations and misrepresentations, and eventually to come up with a twisted mix of politically motivated propaganda.
Ali Sina, The Liar
While Ali Sina believes that his agenda will liberate Muslims, common sense would tell you that Ali Sina’s book comes nowhere close to it. In fact, he is much more likely to lend credence to the grumblings of right-wing nut jobs who want to stoke fear and hatred. The quality of Ali Sina’s “different” pseudo-scholarship is thus displayed by the revival of a long-abandoned polemic against the historical character of the Prophet of Islam – namely, the issue of epilepsy.
Nuanced scholars such as the Swedish academic Tor Andrae and prolific writer Karen Armstrong have long dismissed the idea of epilepsy as nonsense. It seems that Ali Sina believes that such studies about the Prophet(P) in historiography should be abandoned and instead we should return to Orientalists such as Margoliouth, Muir and other Christian missionaries who would have us believe that the Prophet(P) was epileptic.
Ali Sina consistently maligns the Prophet(P) as delusional – while at the same time ignoring that the coherence, completeness and success of Islam in its 1400 years of history show that it cannot be the product of a madman’s mind, nor of that of an epileptic. Ali Sina then calls him(P) a liar (an all-too-familiar accusation), conveniently ignoring how much he suffered for twenty years before gaining the upper hand and even then he had lived as a poor man with no luxuries. The inconsistencies of Ali Sina’s accusations against the Prophet(P) are themselves a testament to the foolishness of his reasoning.
Ali Sina, The Ignorant
Ali Sina clearly ignores several facts contained within the Sirah itself; that the Prophet(P) spared the Makkans who had tortured and killed his followers for two decades even after conquering them, that he spared all the hypocrites in Madinah undermining his authority (something the man Sina describes would not tolerate), that he had all too often freed prisoners of war freed for no material gain, that he explicitly forbade harming innocent civilians such as women, children, elderly and monks; that he always honoured his treaties even if they were extremely unfair to him (until the disbelievers broke them), that his stories are filled with instances where he spared men who were out to kill him, that as soon as someone became Muslim, he forgave all their past evils, betrayals and murders.
The only people that the Prophet(P) was harsh with were with those who were treacherous and betrayed their pacts to turn on the Muslims to destroy them in their weakest moment – which is considered as high treason in times of war. Ali Sina deviously omits the context and interpreted such acts as something that the Prophet(P) habitually does, which is nothing short of deception to his readers.
Perhaps we should not be surprised at his attempts of ad hominem and poisoning of the well; after all, Ali Sina’s methodology is consistent with his use of “weak Hadiths”, saying of the Prophet(P) that are not accepted by Muslims or are seen as weak sources for the religion. Further, this short list of verses from the Holy Qur’an shows Islam in a different light and contradicts the conclusions made by Ali Sina:
“There is no compulsion in religion, for the right way is clearly from the wrong way. Whoever, therefore, rejects the forces of evil and believes in God, he has taken hold of a support most unfailing, which shall never give way, for God is All Hearing and Knowing.”1
“And so (O Prophet!), exhort them your task is only to exhort; you cannot compel them to believe.”2
“Allah forbids you not, with regard to those who fight you not for (your) Faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them: for Allah loveth those who are just.”3
Ali Sina, The Demented
The only people who would “love” this book are either psychologically demented — similar to Ali Sina himself — disaffected Muslims who have been hurt in the past and want to blame someone for their problems, or they are extremist Hindus and right-wing Christians who would like nothing better than to rationalize their extremist racism and xenophobic hatred with spurious scholarship.
Muhammad(P) did not witness any insurrections or attempts on his life at the hands of his own followers. Not even after his death did anyone attempt to assassinate his memory or desecrate his grave. Instead, the Prophet’s(P) example spawned an empire that ruled over the Middle East for one thousand years and saw a revival of culture and learning the likes of which was not seen in the West until the Age of Enlightenment.
Conclusions
In summarizing this tiresome work, “Understanding Muhammad: A Psychobiography” is not a biography at all, much less a “psychobiography”, of the Prophet Muhammad(P) but a pathetic attempt at character assassination and the rehashing of age-old polemics dating as far as the earliest days of Orientalism.
In fact, the author’s methodology is consistent with what that is found on his website and other atheist websites online. It is simply bad history and even worse psychology by a man who can claim to be neither a historian nor a psychologist. “Understanding Muhammad” does not understand Muhammad(P) at all.
He simply repeats the lying polemics of Serge Trifkovic, Robert Spencer, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and other atheists who have an axe to grind against Islam. When bigots and extremists approach any text, be it the Turner Diaries, the Bible, the Qur’an, Nietzsche or the Sirah literature, they cannot be divorced from contextual hermeneutics. The reason Ali Sina views the Prophet Muhammad(P) in such light is simply a case of trying to find a demon through the nitpicking of isolated incidents. Indeed, if one were to play with such rhetoric, one could find justification for the Holocaust, even within the New Testament as Hitler did.
We have come to the conclusion that a brief psycho-analysis of Ali Sina will find that he is simply a bigoted, disaffected “former Muslim” who is no doubt working out issues with his painful upbringing at the hands of his puritanical parents, cruel Islāmic clergy or perhaps a child-molesting Iranian mullah (or whatever the thorn in his side may be), as in his book he has focused all his rage into painting the ugliest portrait of the Prophet Muhammad(P) that can ever be conceived by the most insane mind.
BY MOHD ELFIE NIESHAEM JUFERIMAY
June 6, 2024
A SHARP CRITIQUE OF MUHAMMAD AND OF ISLAM
Ali Sina was born and raised in Iran, educated in Italy and Pakistan, and is now living in Canada. He is the founder of Faith Freedom International, which is a grassroots movement of ex-Muslims.
He wrote in the Synopsis of this 2014 book, “Historians tell us Muhammad used to withdraw to a cave… He heard bells ringing and had ghostly visions… Convinced of his prophetic status, he was intolerant of those who rejected him, assassinated those who criticized him, raided, looted, and massacred entire populations. He reduced thousands to slavery… All of this, he did with a clear conscience and a sense of entitlement… Muhammad was no ordinary man. He was a narcissist… this book unravels the mystique of one of the most enigmatic men in history.” (Pg. vii)
He continues, “Understanding Muhammad is imperative for both Muslims and non-Muslims. This book makes that task easy. Thousands of Muslims have left Islam after reading this book. The evidence presented is overwhelming and the conclusion is inescapable. Understanding Muhammad will put an end to Islam… The challenge is to convince Muslims to read it. A great majority of Muslims will not read books that are critical of their religion. The greatest gift one person can give to another is the gift of doubt. Unfortunately that is what Muslims dread most.” (Pg. ix)
He asserts, “Everywhere Muslims are busy killing people for what they believe. Why? What makes sane people commit insane things? Why are Muslims… so at war with the world and so quick to resort to violence? Millions of Muslims riot and kill completely innocent people anywhere, when someone says something about Muhammad in another part of the world. This is insane. Yet the perpetrators are completely sane. How can we explain this paradox?... Has Islam been misunderstood by its practitioners? This is the question I am going to answer in this book.” (Pg. 3-4)
He outlines, “This book presents two theses. The first is that Muhammad suffered from narcissistic personality disorder. The second is that he was affected by temporal lobe epilepsy. He had other mental disorders as well, but these two morbidities explain the phenomenon of Islam. Muhammad… was sincere in his claim… Those who knew him best, called him … lunatic, crazy, possessed by jinn. Their voices of sanity were silenced when they succumbed to his brute force. However, modern discoveries in psychology have finally vindicated him.” (Pg. 5)
He states, “Everywhere it is Muslims who are killing, oppressing and persecuting. Yet they are the ones who claim to be the victims and the oppressed ones. To understand this bizarre behavior we must understand the psychology of Muhammad and that is the scope of this book.” (Pg. 22-23)
He says, “Allah does not need help to kill the unbelievers, but he wants Muslims to do it, to test their faith. Allah can be likened to a mafia godfather, who tests the loyalty of his henchmen by asking them to kill.” (Pg. 31)
He contends, “The Islamic world is sick. It would be shortsighted to deny that the cause of this sickness is Islam. Almost every crime, every abuse and inhumanity perpetrated by Muslims is inspired by the examples set by Muhammad and justified through his words and deeds. This is the inconvenient truth that so many would rather not talk about.” (Pg. 47)
He argues, “Muhammad’s ruthlessness, his outlandish claims of grandiosity, his eccentric generosity devised to impress and to establish his superiority, as well as his misplaced confidence and his charismatic personality … all tell tales that he suffered from severe narcissistic personality disorder, a malignant self-love.” (Pg. 72) Later, he adds, “The seizures associated with [Temporal Lobe Epilepsy] consist of simple partial seizures without loss of awareness… and complex partial seizures (i.e., with loss of awareness)... Muhammad’s seizures were of both kinds… This is very much an epileptic seizure.” (Pg. 110)
He continues, “However, epilepsy does not explain Muhammad’s ruthlessness, his lack of empathy, his mass murders, and his dogged determination. Those were the results of his narcissistic personality disorder. It was this combination of personality and mental disorders that made him the phenomenon that he became. Muhammad harbored thoughts of grandiosity and omnipotence. His epileptic visions reaffirmed his megalomania and gave him the confirmation that he was indeed the chosen prophet of God. As if that were not enough, he married a co-dependent woman who sought her own greatness in lionizing her husband and encouraging his madness.” (Pg. 132)
He summarizes, “Muhammad succeeded because he preached to a largely ignorant, superstitious and chauvinistic people. The qualities he needed to bolster his marauding religion were already present in his early followers. Chauvinism, bigotry, haughtiness, arrogance, megalomania, stupidity, boastfulness, lustfulness, greed, disdain for life, and other ignoble character traits that are the hallmarks of Islam were already the ‘materia prima’ of Arabs. Anyone with these base qualities found in Islam a common ground and the ‘divine’ validation for their deviant criminal penchant. Even today, Islam is the favorite religion of prison inmates, fools and criminally minded people, while good [people] born in Islam are leaving it in droves.” (Pg. 190)
He suggests, “The evolution from being a moderate Muslim to a terrorist Muslim is gradual and often imperceptible. New converts are taught the ‘beauties of Islam.’ They are told that Islam is an easy religion, of peace and equality and the worship of a single God. They are led to believe that Islam is accepting of other religions… They are then led to believe that Islam is the only religion that has remained pristine. Consequently, it is the only true religion that is accepted by God… They are told that the people of other faiths are envious of Muslims… They reject Islam out of spite. They are the enemies of Allah. Because of that Allah hates them. It follows that the believers should not love those whom God hates… As the new convert is gradually brainwashed, they develop a sense of victimhood… They start seeing the world differently. The feeling of ‘us’ versus ‘them’ becomes stronger every day. ‘They’ are the evil ones, the oppressors, the enemies of God. ‘Us’ are the Muslims the oppressed ones, the victims.” (Pg. 222)
He concludes, “I support [Dutch politician] Geert Wilders and his effort to stop Islam in Europe… I urge ex-Muslims to join him and demonstrate that we are part of the West. We cherish its values and defend its freedom. This is not a war between races… This is a war between two ideologies---and ideology of freedom, of pluralism, of tolerance and or equality and an ideology of slavery, of supremacy, of intolerance and of dominion.” (Pg. 288)
He adds, “I believe Islam can be eradicated in a very short time. But we need a medium to tell the truth about Muhammad to a large audience… This can be done through an epic biopic on his life. Not a documentary… I have written the script of such movie and I am looking for people who might be interested to help me produce it… we can distribute the movie via Internet, so we don’t have to worry about theaters being bombed… I wrote this book with two goals in mind, to help Muslims see the truth, leave Islam… and to warn the world of the threat of Islam… Islam’s ambition is worldly and political… We can ban Islam’s political side, and that would be the end of Islam. Without its political agenda of world domination Islam has no reason to exist.” (Pg. 298)
Ali Sina’s book would be more persuasive if he relied more on EVIDENCE to support his statements, and less on making broad general insults. Those seeking sharp critiques of Islam will be attracted to it, however.
Ali Sina was born and raised in Iran, educated in Italy and Pakistan, and is now living in Canada. He is the founder of Faith Freedom International, which is a grassroots movement of ex-Muslims.
He wrote in the Synopsis of this 2014 book, “Historians tell us Muhammad used to withdraw to a cave… He heard bells ringing and had ghostly visions… Convinced of his prophetic status, he was intolerant of those who rejected him, assassinated those who criticized him, raided, looted, and massacred entire populations. He reduced thousands to slavery… All of this, he did with a clear conscience and a sense of entitlement… Muhammad was no ordinary man. He was a narcissist… this book unravels the mystique of one of the most enigmatic men in history.” (Pg. vii)
He continues, “Understanding Muhammad is imperative for both Muslims and non-Muslims. This book makes that task easy. Thousands of Muslims have left Islam after reading this book. The evidence presented is overwhelming and the conclusion is inescapable. Understanding Muhammad will put an end to Islam… The challenge is to convince Muslims to read it. A great majority of Muslims will not read books that are critical of their religion. The greatest gift one person can give to another is the gift of doubt. Unfortunately that is what Muslims dread most.” (Pg. ix)
He asserts, “Everywhere Muslims are busy killing people for what they believe. Why? What makes sane people commit insane things? Why are Muslims… so at war with the world and so quick to resort to violence? Millions of Muslims riot and kill completely innocent people anywhere, when someone says something about Muhammad in another part of the world. This is insane. Yet the perpetrators are completely sane. How can we explain this paradox?... Has Islam been misunderstood by its practitioners? This is the question I am going to answer in this book.” (Pg. 3-4)
He outlines, “This book presents two theses. The first is that Muhammad suffered from narcissistic personality disorder. The second is that he was affected by temporal lobe epilepsy. He had other mental disorders as well, but these two morbidities explain the phenomenon of Islam. Muhammad… was sincere in his claim… Those who knew him best, called him … lunatic, crazy, possessed by jinn. Their voices of sanity were silenced when they succumbed to his brute force. However, modern discoveries in psychology have finally vindicated him.” (Pg. 5)
He states, “Everywhere it is Muslims who are killing, oppressing and persecuting. Yet they are the ones who claim to be the victims and the oppressed ones. To understand this bizarre behavior we must understand the psychology of Muhammad and that is the scope of this book.” (Pg. 22-23)
He says, “Allah does not need help to kill the unbelievers, but he wants Muslims to do it, to test their faith. Allah can be likened to a mafia godfather, who tests the loyalty of his henchmen by asking them to kill.” (Pg. 31)
He contends, “The Islamic world is sick. It would be shortsighted to deny that the cause of this sickness is Islam. Almost every crime, every abuse and inhumanity perpetrated by Muslims is inspired by the examples set by Muhammad and justified through his words and deeds. This is the inconvenient truth that so many would rather not talk about.” (Pg. 47)
He argues, “Muhammad’s ruthlessness, his outlandish claims of grandiosity, his eccentric generosity devised to impress and to establish his superiority, as well as his misplaced confidence and his charismatic personality … all tell tales that he suffered from severe narcissistic personality disorder, a malignant self-love.” (Pg. 72) Later, he adds, “The seizures associated with [Temporal Lobe Epilepsy] consist of simple partial seizures without loss of awareness… and complex partial seizures (i.e., with loss of awareness)... Muhammad’s seizures were of both kinds… This is very much an epileptic seizure.” (Pg. 110)
He continues, “However, epilepsy does not explain Muhammad’s ruthlessness, his lack of empathy, his mass murders, and his dogged determination. Those were the results of his narcissistic personality disorder. It was this combination of personality and mental disorders that made him the phenomenon that he became. Muhammad harbored thoughts of grandiosity and omnipotence. His epileptic visions reaffirmed his megalomania and gave him the confirmation that he was indeed the chosen prophet of God. As if that were not enough, he married a co-dependent woman who sought her own greatness in lionizing her husband and encouraging his madness.” (Pg. 132)
He summarizes, “Muhammad succeeded because he preached to a largely ignorant, superstitious and chauvinistic people. The qualities he needed to bolster his marauding religion were already present in his early followers. Chauvinism, bigotry, haughtiness, arrogance, megalomania, stupidity, boastfulness, lustfulness, greed, disdain for life, and other ignoble character traits that are the hallmarks of Islam were already the ‘materia prima’ of Arabs. Anyone with these base qualities found in Islam a common ground and the ‘divine’ validation for their deviant criminal penchant. Even today, Islam is the favorite religion of prison inmates, fools and criminally minded people, while good [people] born in Islam are leaving it in droves.” (Pg. 190)
He suggests, “The evolution from being a moderate Muslim to a terrorist Muslim is gradual and often imperceptible. New converts are taught the ‘beauties of Islam.’ They are told that Islam is an easy religion, of peace and equality and the worship of a single God. They are led to believe that Islam is accepting of other religions… They are then led to believe that Islam is the only religion that has remained pristine. Consequently, it is the only true religion that is accepted by God… They are told that the people of other faiths are envious of Muslims… They reject Islam out of spite. They are the enemies of Allah. Because of that Allah hates them. It follows that the believers should not love those whom God hates… As the new convert is gradually brainwashed, they develop a sense of victimhood… They start seeing the world differently. The feeling of ‘us’ versus ‘them’ becomes stronger every day. ‘They’ are the evil ones, the oppressors, the enemies of God. ‘Us’ are the Muslims the oppressed ones, the victims.” (Pg. 222)
He concludes, “I support [Dutch politician] Geert Wilders and his effort to stop Islam in Europe… I urge ex-Muslims to join him and demonstrate that we are part of the West. We cherish its values and defend its freedom. This is not a war between races… This is a war between two ideologies---and ideology of freedom, of pluralism, of tolerance and or equality and an ideology of slavery, of supremacy, of intolerance and of dominion.” (Pg. 288)
He adds, “I believe Islam can be eradicated in a very short time. But we need a medium to tell the truth about Muhammad to a large audience… This can be done through an epic biopic on his life. Not a documentary… I have written the script of such movie and I am looking for people who might be interested to help me produce it… we can distribute the movie via Internet, so we don’t have to worry about theaters being bombed… I wrote this book with two goals in mind, to help Muslims see the truth, leave Islam… and to warn the world of the threat of Islam… Islam’s ambition is worldly and political… We can ban Islam’s political side, and that would be the end of Islam. Without its political agenda of world domination Islam has no reason to exist.” (Pg. 298)
Ali Sina’s book would be more persuasive if he relied more on EVIDENCE to support his statements, and less on making broad general insults. Those seeking sharp critiques of Islam will be attracted to it, however.
February 14, 2020
Ali Sina Is Nit Muslim He Is A Criminal This Explains Totally Wrong And Hurt Muslim And Brainwashing Every Person
अली सीना मुस्लिम नही है ये एक अपराधी है जो अपने किताब, Understanding Mohammad में हुजूर मोहम्मद स.आ.व. के बारे में गुस्ताखी किया है और मुसलमानों को तकलीफ पहुंचाया है ये लोगो को गुमराह कर रहा है और मुसलमानों को चोट पहुंचाया है। मुझे आप भाइयो से गुजररिस है कि ऐसे भड़कावे लोगो के किताब न पढ़े वरना इसके वज़ह से आपका ईमान खराब होगा बाकी ईशवर इस पर अज़ाब नाज़िल करेगा। अगर Seerat Ka Kitab Padhana Hai To Seerate Mustafa Gulam Mustafa Azmi Ka Book पढ़िए और क़ुरान Translation Ke Saath Kanzul Imaan Padhye.
अली सीना मुस्लिम नही है ये एक अपराधी है जो अपने किताब, Understanding Mohammad में हुजूर मोहम्मद स.आ.व. के बारे में गुस्ताखी किया है और मुसलमानों को तकलीफ पहुंचाया है ये लोगो को गुमराह कर रहा है और मुसलमानों को चोट पहुंचाया है। मुझे आप भाइयो से गुजररिस है कि ऐसे भड़कावे लोगो के किताब न पढ़े वरना इसके वज़ह से आपका ईमान खराब होगा बाकी ईशवर इस पर अज़ाब नाज़िल करेगा। अगर Seerat Ka Kitab Padhana Hai To Seerate Mustafa Gulam Mustafa Azmi Ka Book पढ़िए और क़ुरान Translation Ke Saath Kanzul Imaan Padhye.
May 14, 2021
I give this one star for writing about extremists who have adopted Islam. You get an insight into extremists. I disliked how there was no distinction between the extremists and the followers of Islam. Every cultural group will have extremists. Singling one community out to me seems bigoted.
December 21, 2023
Every time I read a book like this I feel fortunate to be born in India. India is so perfectly situated to see the bs of all groups, camps or whatever the term you fancy, because they all hate hindus. Every one of them. They are all United in that. Muslims, ex-muslims, liberals, conservatives, racists, vegans (because we keep cows as pets and not let them be free) voluntary human extinction groups (because we reproduce the most, we don't really, per capita muslims reproduce the most but India is the most populated country now so idiots think hindus breed like animals Churchill thought the same thing when he was practically responsible for killing 1000 hindus everyday)
This writer here can see the bs in Islam but is an absolute fanboy of "western culture", which is also an oxymoron just like islamic culture. Only ideology more destructive than western culture is Islam. And that's also debatable. It's very tough to know what inflicted more suffering, colonisation or jihad, The difference is just that if I have to choose one between the two I would probably prefer colonisation, but again that could just be the amazing marketing of whities.
This writer mentions thugee in India and how 7 muslim tribes engaged in it, but somehow they worshipped Kali?? Which is a hindu goddess and he can't see how wrong that is. He can't because for him hindus are as savage as muslims, because it's all a "religion"
The most vile barbaric act of abrahamaic religion is that they have destroyed the concept of religion, which is dharma in the traditional sense, before abrahamaic barbarism came. And without dharma we are all so fucked we can't even comprehend the severity of it.
Apart from that, this book is good! Probably written long so back so now most of these things are known. Chapter 9 must be read and re-read.
This writer here can see the bs in Islam but is an absolute fanboy of "western culture", which is also an oxymoron just like islamic culture. Only ideology more destructive than western culture is Islam. And that's also debatable. It's very tough to know what inflicted more suffering, colonisation or jihad, The difference is just that if I have to choose one between the two I would probably prefer colonisation, but again that could just be the amazing marketing of whities.
This writer mentions thugee in India and how 7 muslim tribes engaged in it, but somehow they worshipped Kali?? Which is a hindu goddess and he can't see how wrong that is. He can't because for him hindus are as savage as muslims, because it's all a "religion"
The most vile barbaric act of abrahamaic religion is that they have destroyed the concept of religion, which is dharma in the traditional sense, before abrahamaic barbarism came. And without dharma we are all so fucked we can't even comprehend the severity of it.
Apart from that, this book is good! Probably written long so back so now most of these things are known. Chapter 9 must be read and re-read.
April 12, 2021
A very detailed and descriptive book about the founder of world's most intolerant religion. It gives the idea of the ideology of Islam and why they do what they generally do. Really it needs a very hard stomach to read this book by the believers in Islam and accept the shortcomings in the religion.
October 18, 2020
I want to read this book because someone has recommended it .
December 13, 2020
Good book
April 20, 2021
great book, describes him as he was.
must read for all
must read for all
May 4, 2021
GREAT BOOK, EVERYBODY SHOULD READ
May 19, 2021
Writer is right
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 4, 2022
Now I understood why they're like this..
April 21, 2021
If Karen Armstrong paints an overly rosy picture of Muhammad and Islam, this is the complete opposite. No Muslim will get past the first few paragraphs. It's rich in detail but all of it overwhelmingly negative with no shade of nuance. I prefer a more dispassionate view and let the reader decide for themselves. Ali has a machine-gun approach to diagnosis and tries to label Muhammad with almost anything he can think of. The book would have been far more compelling if he zeroed in on the most likely and left it with that, instead we are told that one of the most effective leaders in world history was a narcissistic psychopathic megalomaniacal epileptic schizophrenic with acromegaly and OCD. Not credible. Ali is at his best describing the psychological hold Islam has on Muslims with a fascinating tour through various modern-day cults. Scattered among the terrible grammar and sloppy prose are a few zingers: "Muslims are psychological hostages of a seventh century psychopath." Interesting overall, but could have been so much better.
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February 27, 2013no comment
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