A review by Marty Dodge at Blogcritics.org of my new book, The Truth About Muhammad:
Anyone who has a genuine interest in current affairs or, like me, studied international relations or has an interest in religion will probably be aware of much of the material in this book. However, it is clear by what is written in the mainstream media and what is said by politicians they have no clue about the true nature of the person that Muslims consider their prophet of Allah.
This book uses the words of Muhammed, the Koran, the Hadiths, and contempories to describe the man and his mission to spread the word of Allah to all. He clearly demonstrates his feelings towards Jews, Christians, and every other religion or lack thereof in the world. It is pretty bad for Jews for whom he has nary a good word, and not that great for Christians, but it’s either conversion or death for all those not of the book (they are not offered non-Muslim tax and limited rights under Islam). Muhammad has a bit of sympathy for people of the book who fail to recognise him as the Last Prophet; at least in the early days of his mission. It is not surprising that Jihadists take delight in killing Jews considering the actions of their prophet.
Now Spencer is charitable about the whole pedophilia charge against Muhammad, pointing out quite rightly that in a historical context the marrying of 5- and 6-year-old girls was common for the region and would not be seen as unusual. This does not mean that we should not view this and the other maltreatment of women (i.e. they have no rights, they are property, pre-puberty marriage, etc) as practiced in the Muslim world today as ghastly as it truly is. The Prophet made it clear that the penalty for apostasy (leaving Islam) is death, as it is for blasphemy.
This book should be required reading for all politicians, journalists, teachers, professors, and students, or anyone else who is trying to convince the rest of us that Islam is a religion of peace. It is clearly not, and the Prophet of Islam never meant it to be so.
It is no wonder that Robert Spencer is under constant guard and constantly under death threats. So why not at least reward the risk he takes with a read of his book?
This book is essential reading for anyone trying to understand what motivates Muslims, whether they are Islamists or just everyday believers.