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Mohammed
With an Introduction by Hugh Griffith. According to Mohammed, the one true religion was revealed to five great prophets before him - Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus. But each time their message was ignored and people chose to worship false gods instead. As the last and greatest prophet of the one and only God, it was his task to abolish all idolatry. For many years his mission seemed hopeless. As long as he remained in Mecca, he made few converts and had to endure dangers and persecution. But when the city of Medina offered him sanctuary, his small band of followers rapidly multiplied. Mohammed now led his armies out to do battle in the desert, spreading his religion at the point of the sword. This later part of his life, as told by Washington Irving, is as much about military conquest as spiritual teaching. For us today, the consequences are still reason to reflect on the extraordinary career of one individual who joined conviction, resoluteness, courage and self-mastery in the pursuit of a religious vision.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1849
19 people are currently reading
458 people want to read
About the author
Washington Irving
5,571 books1,051 followersPeople remember American writer Washington Irving for the stories "
Rip Van Winkle
" and "
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
," contained in
The Sketch Book
(1820).
This author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century wrote newspaper articles under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle to begin his literary career at the age of nineteen years.
In 1809, he published The History of New York under his most popular public persona, Diedrich Knickerbocker.
Historical works of Irving include a five volume biography of George Washington (after whom he was named) as well as biographies of Oliver Goldsmith, Muhammad, and several histories, dealing with subjects, such as Christopher Columbus, the Moors, and the Alhambra, of 15th-century Spain. John Tyler, president, appointed Irving to serve as the first Spanish speaking United States minister to Spain from 1842 to 1846.
This author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century wrote newspaper articles under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle to begin his literary career at the age of nineteen years.
In 1809, he published The History of New York under his most popular public persona, Diedrich Knickerbocker.
Historical works of Irving include a five volume biography of George Washington (after whom he was named) as well as biographies of Oliver Goldsmith, Muhammad, and several histories, dealing with subjects, such as Christopher Columbus, the Moors, and the Alhambra, of 15th-century Spain. John Tyler, president, appointed Irving to serve as the first Spanish speaking United States minister to Spain from 1842 to 1846.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 10, 2015
Important because of the author, there are many better and more authoritative biographies of the Prophet. This one is significant because Irving is a significant American literary figure. Born in 1783, this particular work was started in 1826 and finally published in 1850 as part one of a larger work entitled Mahomet and His Successors. Irving is probably best known at this time for his short stories such as Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. But as evidenced here, he took a deep interest in Islamic civilization, being inspired while living for a time at the Alhambra palace in Spain. To me what is of special interest is the extent to which an American of Irving's influence and import had knowledge of Islam and made this knowledge available to his readers in English during the mid-1800s.
Irving's account suffers from biases that seem to fit with his time and his personal temperament. He is entertaining but did not intend controversy, which means his account necessarily includes the affirmation of Christianity and disclaimers against the veracity of Muhammad as a true Messenger of God and any miraculous attributions as well. This last point I appreciate, though I realize it reflects my own biases as much as his, that any miracles other than the Quran in the Prophet Muhammad's life only detract from the common sense appeal of his noble example. But he is unable to simply disavow Muhammad's claims to Prophecy without giving fair acknowledgment of his humble and charitable character and concludes that he was sincere but deluded and that his worldly success only compounded self-deceit.
As Irving scholar Hugh Griffith states in the introduction: Is it possible for greatness of spirit to flourish in the soil of delusion? And if so, should we not all take steps to make sure that we delude ourselves in the same way?
Again, denying any supernatural agent, Irving doubts Muhammad's illiteracy and attributes the Quran to the Prophet's genius and exposure to Christianity, Judaism, and other pre-Islamic middle-eastern religions rather than divine revelation. He is charitable in his description of the Prophet's life up until the turning point of the migration to Medina, but interprets and exaggerates whatever negative stereotypical qualities thereafter in the manner still promoted today by Islamophobes who are unwilling to acknowledge the same concerns and inconsistencies in the stories and source materials for their own religions. This of course leads to other issues which exceed the purposes of this review, but it is a shame in my view, that Irving was not a bit more critical of the sources he relies upon, (such as Sale and Burkhardt), and perhaps more willing to pursue his appreciati for the Prophet's nobler qualities that lead him to admit his sincerity and the great civilization that he inspired of which Irving was no doubt greatly intrigued.
Irving's account suffers from biases that seem to fit with his time and his personal temperament. He is entertaining but did not intend controversy, which means his account necessarily includes the affirmation of Christianity and disclaimers against the veracity of Muhammad as a true Messenger of God and any miraculous attributions as well. This last point I appreciate, though I realize it reflects my own biases as much as his, that any miracles other than the Quran in the Prophet Muhammad's life only detract from the common sense appeal of his noble example. But he is unable to simply disavow Muhammad's claims to Prophecy without giving fair acknowledgment of his humble and charitable character and concludes that he was sincere but deluded and that his worldly success only compounded self-deceit.
As Irving scholar Hugh Griffith states in the introduction: Is it possible for greatness of spirit to flourish in the soil of delusion? And if so, should we not all take steps to make sure that we delude ourselves in the same way?
Again, denying any supernatural agent, Irving doubts Muhammad's illiteracy and attributes the Quran to the Prophet's genius and exposure to Christianity, Judaism, and other pre-Islamic middle-eastern religions rather than divine revelation. He is charitable in his description of the Prophet's life up until the turning point of the migration to Medina, but interprets and exaggerates whatever negative stereotypical qualities thereafter in the manner still promoted today by Islamophobes who are unwilling to acknowledge the same concerns and inconsistencies in the stories and source materials for their own religions. This of course leads to other issues which exceed the purposes of this review, but it is a shame in my view, that Irving was not a bit more critical of the sources he relies upon, (such as Sale and Burkhardt), and perhaps more willing to pursue his appreciati for the Prophet's nobler qualities that lead him to admit his sincerity and the great civilization that he inspired of which Irving was no doubt greatly intrigued.
January 1, 2014
تدخل المترجم في النص تعدى الترجمة والهوامش ولو اكتفى بما علق وأضاف في الهوامش لكان كافياً , فنحن لا نقرأ السيرة من كتاب إيرفنغ ولكن نقرأ قراءته للسيرة لنعرف ما نقله للناس لكونه مؤلف مهم وقديم.
September 4, 2015
كنت اتمنى افهم قصص الرسول وبشكل مفصل, من كاتب عربي وليس اجنبي..
ولكن حدث و حصلت على هذا الكتاب ورقياً .. فكان ماكان.
ولكن حدث و حصلت على هذا الكتاب ورقياً .. فكان ماكان.
June 1, 2020
The first thing in my mind which becomes the main reason why i bought this book is a strange impression that this book is written by the man who wrote "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". Okay, i know early that Irving also wrote a great narration about Alhambra, but a biography of prophet Muhammad...
That's why this book is really interesting. I enjoy the book as a story narrated by one great story-teller. This is a new edition published by Wordsworth as part of the Wordsworth Classics of World Literature series while it is originally written by Irving in 1849 under the title "Life of Mahomet" as the part of "Mohamet and His Successors" (includes the history of Abu Bakr, Umar, Utsman, and Ali).
In his introduction, Irving said that he uses primarily the work of Arabian Historian Abulfida (Ibnu Katsir, one prominent historian which some of his books have been translated into Indonesian language) even from Gagnier translation. There are several uncommon parts about prophet Muhammad presented in the book, for example the story about the jewish sorcery prepared by Jewish necromancer from the mountains, aided by his daughters, to endanger the life of Muhammad (p. 133-135). Generally, it is a good book, one good book written by a prominent man of literature about prophet Muhammad.
That's why this book is really interesting. I enjoy the book as a story narrated by one great story-teller. This is a new edition published by Wordsworth as part of the Wordsworth Classics of World Literature series while it is originally written by Irving in 1849 under the title "Life of Mahomet" as the part of "Mohamet and His Successors" (includes the history of Abu Bakr, Umar, Utsman, and Ali).
In his introduction, Irving said that he uses primarily the work of Arabian Historian Abulfida (Ibnu Katsir, one prominent historian which some of his books have been translated into Indonesian language) even from Gagnier translation. There are several uncommon parts about prophet Muhammad presented in the book, for example the story about the jewish sorcery prepared by Jewish necromancer from the mountains, aided by his daughters, to endanger the life of Muhammad (p. 133-135). Generally, it is a good book, one good book written by a prominent man of literature about prophet Muhammad.
April 6, 2023
Видимо опыт проживания в Испании с её исламским наследием привёл Вашингтона к идеи написать биографию Мухаммеда. Плюс, возможно, характерный для романтики интерес к исламу. Он честно предупреждает, что не является арабистом или исламоведом и опирается на работы профессиональных исследователей. Так что здесь он выступает как литератор и мне его биография Мухаммеда показалось скорее каким-то приложением к сказкам "1001 ночи". К тому же пишет он как американский протестант середины 19 века и аудиторию свою видит примерно в такой же среде. Этот факт также накладывает свои особенности на его восприятие. Со времени написания этой книги наши познания, если не в биографии Мухаммеда, то о времени и месте в котором он жил значительно расширились. Исключительных литературных качеств я здесь также не нахожу.
June 11, 2025
A fascinating book. Well -written!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews