Islam and the earliest Muslims - Two Conflicting Portraits

The Two Contradictory Portraits-seeks to present an sketch of the earliest ideal era of islam the period of the holy Prophet and his companions in the light of beliefs religious traditions and writings of the experts of two major sects of Muslims Ahl-e Sunnat Wal Jama'at and the Ethna 'Ashari sects which project two contradictory portraits of Islam and its earliest adherents.It has been left to the discretion-common sense prudence and better judgement of the readers to decide which of the two portrayals is upheld by the Quran as well as historians Muslims and non- Muslims.The reader can decide which of the two presentations of Islam befit the Prophet held to be the most successful Messenger of God and the religion laying a claim to show the path of godliness and virtue to all races and nations in every time and clime.About the AuthorSyed Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi a direct descendant of Hasan b. Ali and Husain b. Ali comes from an illustrious family which has produced numerous spiritual preceptors as well as men of letters. A gifted speaker and a prolific writer of Arabic and Urdu the author authored over 60 books of which several have been rendered into different languages like English Turkish Persian Bhasa Indonesia. Tamil Bengali etc.He was the head of some of the most eminent religious and literary institutions like the Nadwatul Ulama Lucknow Academy of Islamic Research and Publications Lucknow Darul Musannifin Azamgarh within the country and associated with numerous similar organizations all over the World of Islam. He was awarded King Faisal Award in 1980 for his services to the cause of Islam.