books @ cc.

A Biography of the Prophet
by Karen Armstrong (1991)

Initially written in the height of Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses crisis in 1990 (with a new introduction for the post-9/11), the book was written not as an an all-inclusive biography, but rather as a readable introductory account of Muhammad’s (frequently misunderstood) life and teachings. There is, as such, much to find in the current context of the common (mis)conceptions of Islam, particularly in regard to the Rushdie affair, the question of jihad, polygamy, and female role in Islamic societies.