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Faces of Muhammad: Western Perceptions of the Prophet of Islam from the Middle Ages to Today Kindle Edition

by John Tolan (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 28 ratings
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Heretic and impostor or reformer and statesman? The contradictory Western visions of Muhammad

In European culture, Muhammad has been vilified as a heretic, an impostor, and a pagan idol. But these aren’t the only images of the Prophet of Islam that emerge from Western history. Commentators have also portrayed Muhammad as a visionary reformer and an inspirational leader, statesman, and lawgiver. In Faces of Muhammad, John Tolan provides a comprehensive history of these changing, complex, and contradictory visions. Starting from the earliest calls to the faithful to join the Crusades against the “Saracens,” he traces the evolution of Western conceptions of Muhammad through the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and up to the present day.

Faces of Muhammad reveals a lengthy tradition of positive portrayals of Muhammad that many will find surprising. To Reformation polemicists, the spread of Islam attested to the corruption of the established Church, and prompted them to depict Muhammad as a champion of reform. In revolutionary England, writers on both sides of the conflict drew parallels between Muhammad and Oliver Cromwell, asking whether the prophet was a rebel against legitimate authority or the bringer of a new and just order. Voltaire first saw Muhammad as an archetypal religious fanatic but later claimed him as an enemy of superstition. To Napoleon, he was simply a role model: a brilliant general, orator, and leader.

The book shows that Muhammad wears so many faces in the West because he has always acted as a mirror for its writers, their portrayals revealing more about their own concerns than the historical realities of the founder of Islam.

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  1. Print length
    327 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Princeton University Press
  5. Publication date
    June 11, 2019
  6. File size
    28333 KB
  7. Page Flip
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  8. Word Wise
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"[A] highly readable book."---Paul Hunt, interLib

"Faces of Muhammad is a learned, panoramic and fascinating book."---Tom Holland, The Spectator

"A well-timed and long-awaited survey of the European portrayal of the Prophet of Islam."---Elmira Akhmetova, Muslim World Book Review

"A perceptive, meticulous and unbiased critical assessment of the 'changing, complex, and contradictory visions‘ of the prophet of Islam in European and American/ 'Western‘ literary and academic works."---Tauseef Ahmad Parray, Aligarh Journal of Quranic Studies

Review

"John Tolan sets aside the historical Muhammad and Muslim portraits of God's beloved Messenger to focus on Mahomet as European men have depicted him over the centuries. He shows how wildly varied versions of Islam's prophet emerge and how they make sense within their own social, intellectual, and theological contexts. Nuanced and fascinating, Faces of Muhammad is a terrific read."―Kecia Ali, author of The Lives of Muhammad

“John Tolan is the preeminent authority on European views of Islam. No living scholar is more qualified to attempt such an ambitious project. This book represents a milestone in the field.”―Hussein Fancy, University of Michigan

“A book of great interest, Faces of Muhammad makes utterly clear that there is no single, monolithic view of Muhammad in European culture but rather a wide spectrum of views.”―Thomas E. Burman, University of Notre Dame

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07LC5SNRK
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Princeton University Press (June 11, 2019)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 11, 2019
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 28333 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 327 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0691167060
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 28 ratings

About the author

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John Victor Tolan

John Victor Tolan

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John Tolan was born in Milwaukee and received a BA in Classics from Yale and an MA and PhD in History from the University of Chicago. He has taught and lectured in universities in North America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East and is currently Professor of History at the University of Nantes (France). He works on the history of the rich web of relations in the medieval Mediterranean world, between Jews, Christians and Muslims. While conflict was common (then as now), cultural, intellectual and economic exchange was essential to the development of Arab, Latin and Byzantine cultures. Far from being the stage of a "clash of civilizations", the Mediterranean was (and is) complex mesh of variegated interdependent cultures. John Tolan makes public lectures in this field in North America, Europe and worldwide.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
28 global ratings
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Quite insightful. Well-researched.
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Top reviews from the United States

sammy_boy
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding
Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2021
Well researched, well written and overall insightful work.
One person found this helpful
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QO
5.0 out of 5 stars Worthwhile
Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2020
Quite insightful. Well-researched.
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QO
5.0 out of 5 stars Worthwhile
Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2020
Quite insightful. Well-researched.
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Top reviews from other countries

Paul Williams
5.0 out of 5 stars An indispensable analysis of the contradictory and often bizarre portrayals of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 26, 2023
Verified Purchase
An indispensable analysis of the contradictory and often bizarre portrayals of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ by Western Christians, philosophers, and scholars, from the Middle Ages to today.

Prof John V. Tolan gives the reader a readable and fast-paced narrative which is engrossing and highly informative.

Highly recommended!
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Tazeen
1.0 out of 5 stars False promotion
Reviewed in India on July 7, 2023
Verified Purchase
It is not what it is promoted as more of spreading misconceptions and false information.
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essam
5.0 out of 5 stars Great condition
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 10, 2020
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It arrived in a great condition
2 people found this helpful
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