In January, we ranked Omid Safi’s “Memories of Muhammad” among our 10 New Year’s Resolutions in “Reading for Enlightenment and Hope.” TODAY’s NEWS IS: The book now is available in more-affordable paperback. It’s a great time to consider discussing this book in your small group or class.
AND, HERE is a link to our in-depth interview with Omid Safi earlier this year, explaining his research and the purpose of his book. We recommend that you read the interview in light of ongoing confusion and conflict about the historic role of Islam and Islam’s founder.
Review of
Memories of Muhammad
by Omid Safi
IN JANUARY, we published this review, ranking “Memories of Muhammad” among our 10 New Year’s Resolutions for worthwhile reading:
In this second decade of the century, we have a chance to read some remarkably mature new books on Islam, the Prophet Muhammad’s legacy and the whole host of issues that were raised so explosively on 9/11/2001. As a journalist covering these issues, I collected the scores of books produced in the years immediately following 9/11—some of them good, some of them politically biased and some of them absolutely dreadful. Beyond pure bias, the haste in which many books were produced led to tragic inaccuracies and limitations in authors’ perspectives.
Unfortunately, the non-Muslim world still is desperately seeking information about Islam largely because of continuing violence linked to individuals and groups claiming to represent the faith. Whatever factors led to HarperOne’s decision to publish “Memories of Muhammad,” the fact is that this book ranks as a milestone for non-Muslim readers. Dr. Safi is professor of Islamic studies at the University of North Carolina and he serves as the chair of the Study of Islam at the American Academy of Religion.
He’s a Muslim scholar writing for general readers from the wealth of his authority as an academic. Looking over the stacks of books available about Islam, he correctly identified the Prophet Muhammad as a central point of confusion for non-Muslims and produced this book to help guide us in understanding the significance of this major religious figure. When most of the other books in this era are forgotten, people will continue to read “Memories of Muhammad.”
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