Review: The Messenger

Title: The Messenger ***

Author: Tariq Ramadan

Genre: Non-Fiction, Religion

Written for: Muslims and non-muslims who do not know much about Muhammad.

Bearing Witness that there is no god but God is, in effect, stepping toward deep and authentic freedom; recognizing Muhammad as the Messenger is essentially learning to love him in his absence and to live Him in His presence. Loving, and learning to love: God, the Prophet, the creation, and humankind.

Content:

This book recounts, in great detail, the life of Muhammad. It is written with great love and respect for an extraordinary man. You get to learn about Muhammad's early years, his encounters with The One, his love for his people, his military knowledge, and his teachings. Easily can be read by a muslim or non-muslim. There is no use of difficult Arabic phrases, everything is explained. Wonderful book to start out with if you know nothing of Muhammad.

The Messenger goes into great detail about Muhammad's military practices. I was impressed by how many battles were won without a single life lost. I was also moved by his compassion for his captives, almost always letting them go (except in one instance). I am still bothered by the idea of a prophet being a military commander but it helps to know that he was indeed kind and merciful in his practices. And that 90% of all battles were started by someone else, not the muslims. Most were fought in defense.

The book is very honest about the character of all the prophet's companions. It does not hide that Umar had some anger and commonsense issues, that Aishah was extremely opinionated and Uthman well was not always the brightest crayon in the box. But all these people had good intentions toward the prophet even if they didn't go about it in the right way. We see the devotion Abu Bakr had for Muhammad, how they were indeed good friends. How he was very knowledgeable and went to great lengths to learn all he could from Muhammad. And Aishah's love for Muhammad and how she did do some good for women. We get to learn a little bit about each wife and how they contributed to the prophet. I had no idea he had so many wives in his lifetime! Good thing they weren't all at once, that would be too many. We also get a look into the character of Abu Sufyan who will later be what ultimately leads to the battle of Karbala. Let's just say Muhammad was not a fan of his. In short, it shows that no one can be all around bad. One must see the good in people before the bad.

Although my issue is he never mentions Imam Ali or Fatima. Like at all! Imam Ali was just as close to Muhammad, if not more so, as Abu Bakr. The only time Ali is mentioned is in battle. Fatima is mentioned in one paragraph about her love for her father but according to this book you would think Aishah spent way more time with Muhammad than Fatima. His grandsons, Hasan and Husayn, are never mentioned. He does mention Zaynab's speech in Yazid's court as an example of the power of women. So although I think this book paints a rather excellent portrait of Muhammad, a huge chunk of his history is missing. His family is missing.

Buy or Library: Buy it. You will want to read it again and its a great reference book.

If you like this you may like: No God but God by Reza Aslan, Muhammad by Karen Armstrong, Jesus Prophet of Islam by Muhammad 'Ata ur-Rahim and Ahmad Thomson