A new biography of Muhammad has just been launched in Melbourne.
Called Muhammad: The man who transformed Arabia it was written by UK scholar Peter Cotterell, who has taught and lectured on Islam for over 30 years.
Dr Cotterell’s fresh look at Muhammad challenges the picture of Muhammad painted by Karen Armstrong in her 1991 Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet.
Making use of the Qur’an, hadith, the sunna and the work of a range of Islamic scholars, as well as his own extensive research, he contrasts the lives the two individuals who have had a huge impact on human history, Muhammad of Mecca and Jesus of Nazareth.
Bernie Power, an expert on Islam from the Melbourne based Centre for the Study of Islam and Other Faiths, says: ‘Peter Cotterell’s book fills an important niche in the range of modern writings on the life of Islam’s prophet. Following 9/11, people have generally been forced to choose between two camps. The politically-correct narrative, exemplified by Karen Armstrong, sees Islam as a grand religion of peace and tolerance in danger of being hijacked by a small number of ill-informed fundamentalists. The polemic discourse, promoted by Geert Wilders and Robert Spencer, blackens Islam as a backward creed steeped in violence.’
Power suggests, ‘Cotterell is able to avoid both of these extremes. He holds the middle ground, fully able to appreciate Muhammad’s impressive strengths and achievements, while being honest and open about his very patent errors and shortcomings. This is a very helpful book.’
Rev Paul Arnott, chair of the Acorn Press board
