Understanding Muhammad [Paperback]

 

 

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In this remarkably straightforward book Sina investigates the moral psychology of Islam's founder as revealed in traditional sources like the work of Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Said, Al-Bukhari and the Hadith & Sira literature in order to reconstruct the personality of the prophet. He shows how the mind and behavior of its founder have shaped the religion to the present day. To understand the followers, one must understand the teacher. Each of the chapters examines some facet of his life and teaching.

Sina argues that monotheism was not the original message; it was that he had been appointed as divine messenger and that people had to believe him. Sina considers Allah & his prophet as the same personality. The commonsensical distinction between good and evil was replaced by the concepts halal (permitted) and haraam (forbidden) so that the ends always justify the means. In the Medina phase, his followers turned violent by committing assassinations to foster a climate of terror. That is the same modus operandi employed today. Terrorists follow this example by seeking supremacy through terror. There is no doubt in the minds of the perpetrators that the strategy works.

Due to the precedents set by the founder and his ideological heirs, extremists believe that terror tactics will prevail everywhere. Before and during World War II, the Mufti of Jerusalem was a supporter of Hitler. Afterwards, many Middle Eastern regimes aligned themselves with the USSR. Later, the Italian translator and the Norwegian editor of Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses survived assassination attempts whilst the Japanese translator and the Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh were less lucky. All totalitarianisms thrive on the Big Lie. Sina provides an arresting explanation of the big lie and the reasons why it so often succeeds.

Just as absorbing are his diagnoses of illnesses like narcissistic personality disorder, temporal lobe epilepsy, obsessive compulsive disorder and acromegaly which is caused by excessive production of a growth hormone. The author explains why this combination of afflictions was taken as signs of prophethood and how it reflects the nature of the movement. With reference to figures like Jim Jones, Sina highlights the cultic nature of the new faith. Everything in Eric Hoffer's True Believer confirms this conclusion.

These days many staunch defenders of the West like Ibn Warraq, Brigitte Gabriel, Ayaan Hirsi Ali & Wafa Sultan come from Asia or Africa, while many western Leftists collaborate with the enemy as Jamie Glazov proves so convincingly in United in Hate. Dismissing the hope of reform since violent conquest & contempt for non-believers remain at the core, Sina claims that this notion of reform derives from a false analogy with Christianity. The deceptions of multiculturalism and political correctness promoted by western academics like Karen Armstrong and John Esposito are undermining the reality of the threat and the will to resist.

Like Ibn Warraq, Sina argues that the Enlightenment, Renaissance and democracy are the foundations of civilization that need to be preserved. The Western one is a culture whilst the other is a cult. The rule of law, individual liberty and freedom of expression are under assault by a resurgence of the irrational and barbaric. The hour is late and the peril is ignored or denied by western leaders, the media and the intelligentsia. Other informative books on the matter include They Must Be Stopped by Brigitte Gabriel, Cruel And Usual Punishment by Nonie Darwish and the work of Robert Spencer.

What to say about this book... I'm in shock. Very well put together, several editing errors (spelling, grammar, some repetition) but overall, a scathing and point blank shot at the prophet of islam. Well deserved too. It helps put into perspective why the middle east and the majority of the followers of islam act the way they do.

Definitely a must read for diplomats, intelligence / counter terrorism, foreign affair ministers, and heads of state.

Thank you Mr. Sina, for opening my eyes to the truth.

This is a must read book with excellent analysis with very clear data in hand.
The explanation is crystal clear that there cannot be another point of view to it.

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