November 12, 2012
Despite Islam’s position at the forefront of the American consciousness, the general public knows little of its founder and prophet beyond platitudes and condemnations. Hazleton (After the Prophet) attempts to rectify this imbalance with her vivid and engaging narrative of Muhammad’s life. The author portrays her subject as an unlikely and unsuspecting vehicle for the divine, “painfully aware that too many nights in solitary meditation might have driven him over the edge.” Sympathetic but not hagiographic, her work draws liberally from a long tradition of Islamic biographical literature about the prophet; the nuanced portrait that emerges is less that of an infallible saint than of a loving family man, a devoted leader of his people, an introspective and philosophical thinker who reluctantly accepted the burden of conveying the word of God, and a calculating political strategist. Hazleton writes not as a historian but as a cultural interpreter, reconstructing Muhammad’s identity and personality from the spiritual revolution that he sparked and the stories that his followers passed down. While the speculation is sometimes off-putting (as when Muhammad’s final illness is confidently diagnosed as bacterial meningitis), the result is a fluid and captivating introduction that will be invaluable for those seeking a greater understanding of Islam’s message and its messenger. Agent: Gloria Loomis, Watkins/Loomis Agency.
November 15, 2012
A longtime reporter on the Middle East, Hazleton (After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split in Islam, 2009, etc.) carefully delineates the great events in the life of the "first Muslim," who, like the Christian prophet Jesus, was chosen as the "translator" of God's message to mankind. The author sifts through and synthesizes many differing and conflicting sources for a gently reverential and ultimately winning study of a humble soul in search of his identity. Hazleton effectively fleshes out the iconic events of the messenger's life. Left fatherless as a baby, shunted to a wet nurse who cared for him and brought him up in the Bedouin ways, Muhammad grew into a capable, hardworking caravan agent for his uncle in Mecca before making an advantageous match with a wealthy widow 16 years his elder, Khadija, who would prove a steady companion and his first convert. Muhammad first made a name for himself as the arbitrator in the collective repair of the damaged sacred sanctuary of Kaaba; his altered state atop Mount Hira at age 40 was an experience of "poetic faith," Hazleton explains, resulting in beautiful verses flowing from his lips. He spoke urgently of social justice and reform, and he spoke in Arabic. Exiled from Mecca by the ruling elite, he again proved a natural, masterly negotiator among tribes in Medina, appealing to a higher authority to solve their disputes and drawing up a binding contract of monotheism. Hazleton explains that he resorted to violence only after a passive resistance got him nowhere--the troublesome precedent of jihad. The author writes poignantly of the evolution of the public messenger from the private man. A levelheaded, elegant look at the life of the prophet amid the making of a legend.
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September 1, 2012
There don't seem to be a lot of universally acknowledged biographies of Muhammad around, so I'll go out on a limb to highlight this one, because Hazleton, who reported on the Middle East for a dozen years, wrote the well-regarded After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split in Islam, a PEN USA Book Award finalist.
Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
January 1, 2013
It is surprising how little most people know about the life of the prophet Muhammad. Hazleton sets out to rectify that in this eminently readable biography. Relying on two biographies from the eighth and ninth centuries, as well as other sources, she presents Muhammad's life as both history and story. It begins with a moving scene: Muhammad alone in the barren mountains, at night, praying and waiting. Who he is and how he came to be there are revealed in chapters that show him as an orphan in need of protection, as a young camel driver appreciated for his fairness, as a prophet touched by Allah, and as a political leader driven to bring the message to all those with ears to listen. The beauty of Hazleton's book is that she portrays Muhammad throughout his life as a living, breathing man with the hopes, fears, struggles, and the monumental blessing and burden of knowing he has received divine knowledge. Does she delve into psychology to bring about a fully realized portrait? Yes, but respectfully so, posing more questions than she answers. A highly readable, insightful biography.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)
March 15, 2013
Writings about Muhammad (570-632) often fail to show necessary objectivity; depending on the author's perspective, the prophet is depicted in an overly positive or overly negative manner. Hazleton (After the Prophet), a veteran journalist covering the Middle East, shows Muhammad as a very human figure, one who was sincere and generally acted appropriately as a leader. However, she also addresses his significant moral lapses, as when he forced the Qaynuqa Jewish tribe in Medina into exile without significant cause and when he oversaw the execution of more than 400 people of the Qureyz Jewish tribe who had resisted his leadership. More broadly, the book presents the story of one man's journey from humble beginnings to business success, to spiritual calling, and finally to religious leadership. The author draws on the seminal writings of two early Islamic historians, ibn-Ishaq and al-Tabari, as well as other early sources. This work is not, however, a scholarly or academic biography; Martin Ling's Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources would be a better choice for that. VERDICT Those interested in a balanced, readable biography of Muhammad for nonspecialists will find this book helpful.--John Jaeger, Dallas Baptist Univ. Lib., TX
Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
May 1, 2014
Weaving psychological interpretation with history, this readable biography of Muhammad offers a balanced portrait of a complex man and his journey to becoming a religious figure. (LJ 5/15/13)
Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.