“If we could view Muhammad as we do any other important historical figure we would surely consider him to be one of the greatest geniuses the world has known.” Karen Armstrong.

Source: Her Magnum opus, her biography of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace be on him, Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet.

A chapter in the book titled, Muhammad the Enemy, can bring the Christians and the Muslims together by promoting insight into some of the limitations of the past.  For a more detailed excerpt from her book, click here.

A good place for the non-Muslims to start learning about the Holy Prophet Muhammad is a movie named the Message: Mohammed: Messenger of God, (1976) Rated PG.

After a non-Muslim seeker has watched this and another movie mentioned below, I propose three further stages of study to getting to know the Greatest of the sons of Adam!

Samuel Parsons Scott understood part of the charm of the Prophet’s character when he wrote:

The glories which invest the history of Islam may be entirely derived from the valor, the virtue, the intelligence, the genius, of man.  If this be conceded, the largest measure of credit is due to him who conceived its plan, promoted its impulse, and formulated the rules which insured its success.  In any event, if the object of religion be the inculcation of morals, the diminution of evil, the promotion of human happiness, the expansion of the human intellect, if the performance of good works will avail in the great day when mankind shall be summoned to its final reckoning it is neither irreverent nor unreasonable to admit that Muhammad was indeed an Apostle of God.[1]

What Samuel Parsons Scott missed, Reverend Professor Montgomery Watt a biographer of the Prophet Muhammad grasped or was it a Freudian slip?  He high lighted above all virtues the Prophet’s trust in God:

The more one reflects on the history of Muhammad and of early Islam, the more one is amazed at the vastness of his achievement.  Circumstances presented him with an opportunity such as few men have had, but the man was fully matched with the hour. Had it not been for his gifts as a seer, statesman, and administrator and, behind these, his trust in God and firm belief that God had sent him, a notable chapter in the history of mankind would have remained unwritten.[2]

The back cover of the movie states, “After seeing a vision of the Angel Gabriel, Mohammad calls to the people of Mecca to cast aside the 300 idols of Kaaba and worship only one God. Starring Anthony Quinn and Irene Papas, this breathtaking historical epic about the birth of the Islamic faith took six years to prepare and more than a year to film. It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score.”  For further details.