The Eternal Message of Muhammad

by A.R. Azzam, Vincent Sheean, Caesar E. Farah (Translation)

This translation into English of a great Islamic classic offers the western world a simple yet profound interpretation of Islam. Drawing upon years of unparalleled experience in diplomacy and government, Azzam examines the social and economic ramifications of the Muslim state, one based on humane ideals of law and justice expressed in the Qur'an, and one which can provide the foundation for a just society. Abd al-Rahman Azzam (1893-1976) is generally considered as the father of the Arab League. He served as the League's first Secretary-General between 1945-52 as well as distinguishing himself in a long career as an ambassador and parliamentarian. As Vincent Sheean points out in his introduction, 'In Damascus as well as in Djakarta, Istanbul and Baghdad, this man is known for valour of spirit and elevation of mind...He combines in the best Islamic mode, the aspects of thought and action, like the Muslim warriors of another time who are typified for us Westerners by the figure of Saladin.' Malcolm X's reading of The Eternal Message of Muhammad and his meeting with Azzam Pasha are vividly recounted in his Autobiography. It is clear that these events marked the point in his life at which Malcolm X turned towards orthodox traditional Islam.

Genres: Religion, Islam

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Dr Abdul Rahman Azzam is a graduate of Oxford University where he completed his BA and PhD in history. He is the author of RUMI AND THE KINGDOM OF JOY (Muhammadi Trust, 2000) and in 2007 Longman published his biography of Saladin to critical acclaim. The Edinburgh Evening News called it ‘a comprehensive survey not just of the man, but of the age in which he lived’, the FT Weekend described it as ‘absorbing’ and The Irish News praised the book as ‘timely and well-written'. SALADIN was a bestseller when published in Arabic and was selected in Jordan as one of the top one hundred books on Islam. THE OTHER EXILE, about the St Helena Island hermit, Fernão Lopes, a real-life Robinson Crusoe, was published in May 2017, and he is working on THE RETURN OF SEBASTIAN.

Reviews

[Hadeel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant piece of the prophetic message.

Its a book for all mankind, not just Muslims to recognize how basic human rights are embedded in Islam and all other religions.
I learnt so much about Islamic Shariah and how Islam shuns war and only makes war to attain peace and sustain it in the world. and you would understand the paradox of this sentence when you read the conditions of why war is only permissible in certain situations? Like war is permissible to achieve justice if a group oppresses another group.

The book speaks about: Dissemination of Islam among the christians - Bringing Islam to Europe - colonialism - Class struggle - Racial and national strife - war in aid of the oppressed - rules and etiquettes of war - purifying the individual's moral character - basic principles of the Islamic state and many more.

This books sheds light on important aspects of how all religions is devoid of any compulsion and violence and that wrong-doing only stems from man, and that only by righteousness, piety, moral conduct of society a civilization can flourish and elevate spiritually.

[NKay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book and his conclusion (spoiler alert) that the world order can only really start to change when we change from focusing on demanding our rights and instead get everyone to look at their individual duties to and in society. However given how far this take, take, take world has developed I do wonder if that is a realistic possibility.
When I first picked up this book I didnt realised it was a translation from a book by a founding father of the Arab League or how long ago the original version was written but it is still so relevant to today.
Sad that things still haven't improved since the book was written, (in fact you could argue they have got worse) but the author was hopefully so I think we should all be hopeful too.

[R]

stopped on page 39

[DungeryPoo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gateway to what has been seemingly elusive in my mind. Wisdom, I suppose.
The knowledge of my own.

[Hasan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply marvelous! This book contains the real values of Islam and the message that Muhamad (PBUH) proclaimed. Each chapter is carefully written and each point tactically explained. One thing that really impressed me was that the Author, didn't use a lot of Hadits (Sayings of prophet) when making a point. I am sure the author felt that it might lead to a disagreement between the different sects of Islam. So he opted for just refereeing Quranic verses. I think it’s a must read for every Muslim and non-Muslims especially.