Muhammad, the World-Changer

An Intimate Portrait

Hardcover, 350 pages

English language

Published 2021 by St. Martin's Press.

ISBN:
978-1-250-23964-8
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(1 review)

A six-year-old cries in his mother’s arms as she draws her last breaths to urge him: “Muhammad, be a world-changer!” The boy, suddenly orphaned in a tribal society that fears any change, must overcome enormous obstacles to unleash his own potential and inspire others to do the same.

Fusing details long known to Muslim scholars but inaccessible to popular audiences, Mohamad Jebara brings to life the gripping personal story of Islam’s founding prophet. From his dramatic birth to nearly being abducted into slavery to escaping assassination, Muhammad emerges as an unrelenting man on a mission. Surrounding the protagonist are dynamic women who nurture Muhammad; Jewish and Christian mentors who inspire him; and the enslaved individuals he helps liberate who propel his movement.

Jebara places Muhammad’s life in a broader historical context, vividly evoking the Meccan society he was born into and arguing that his innovative vision helped shape our modern …

2 editions

Fascinating Account of the Prophet

This is a religious-leaning account of the prophet that does well at maintaining accuracy with historical sources. Jebara does not state explicitly that he's coming at it from a religious angle, but after he touches on his background it is very clear what frame of reference the book is assuming. The sourcing from traditional Islamic scholarship is clearly mentioned and transparent insofar as the process of Islamic scholarship allows (the author explains that there's not as clear-cut of a relationship of provenance that would make sense to someone not trained as a scholar), which allows you to best understand how the scholarship was woven to give this account.

I don't think the fact that this portrait is more religious in its framing is a bad thing - I think this interpretation gives a lot of meaning to the accounts of Muhammad that remain. The portrait that Jebara presents is intimate …

Subjects

  • Religions