Lives of Muhammad

<p>Recent outbursts sparked by a viral video and controversial cartoons powerfully illustrate the passions and sensitivities that continue to surround the depiction of the seventh-century founder of Islam. <i>The Lives of Muhammad</i> delves into the many ways the Prophet's life story has been told from the earliest days of Islam to the present by both Muslims and non-Muslims. Emphasizing the major transformations since the nineteenth century Kecia Ali shows that far from being mutually opposed these various perspectives have become increasingly interdependent. <p/>Since the nineteenth century two separate streams of writing one hagiographic and the other polemical have merged into a single contentious story about the life of Muhammad. Protestant missionaries European Orientalists Indian and Egyptian modernists and American voices across the spectrum including preachers scholars Islamophobes journalists academics and new-age gurus debated Muhammad's character and the facts of his life. In the process texts written symbolically came to be read literally. Muhammad's accomplishments as a religious and political leader his military encounters with Meccans and Medinan Jews and--a subject of perennial interest--his relationships with women including his young wife Aisha are among the key subjects writers engaged repurposing early materials for new circumstances. <p/>Many of the ideas about Muhammad that Muslims embrace today--Muhammad the social reformer Muhammad the consummate leader Muhammad the ideal husband--arose in tandem and in tension with Western depictions. These were in turn shaped by new ideas about religion sexuality and human accomplishments.</p>