Omid Safi

Several months ago I had sent out a note asking to see whether some of you may be interested in getting copies of my book on the life and legacy of the Prophet Muhammad, and over a hundred of you had written back. This book has just been published by HarperCollins as Memories of Muhammad:  Why the Prophet Matters.  It is available this weekend at the AAR, and soon nationally (on Amazon, etc.)

It is definitely intended as a general introductory text, and hopefully will be suitable for courses on Islam, Islamic Civilization, and Sufism. In terms of style, I hope that it can be something that evokes several titles like Michael Sells’ Approaching the Qur’an, Schimmel’s And Muhammad is His Messenger, Martin Lings’ Muhammad, and Carl Ernst’s Following Muhammad. Of course those are the very archetypes of excellence, and one can only hope to aspire to them.

If you happen to be strolling through the book fair at the AAR, feel free to stop by the HarperCollins booth to have a look at it.     

Here is a chapter by chapter breakdown:

Chapter One:  The World Before Muhammad
Chapter two:  The Muhammadi Revolution
Chapter three:  Ascension of Muhammad:  Face-to-Face with God
Chapter Four:  Islam as an Abrahamic Tradition
Chapter Five:   Life after the Prophet, Death after Hossein
Chapter Six:   Echoes of Muhammadi Grace
Conclusion

It will offer a good introduction to the world of the Prophet, the message of the Qur’an, the life of the Prophet, the connection of Islamic spirituality to the being of the Prophet, the rise of Sunni/shi’i conflicts, and the devotion to the Prophet down to our own day.

Please click here to see the book at Amazon.

Historic.  Brilliant.  Nearly perfect.

The tone of President Obama’s speech in Cairo was most reminiscent of his masterful speech on race in America:  acknowledging open wounds on all sides, while laying out a hopeful vision for a shard future.   It was a masterful narrative rejecting the Neo-conservative nightmare of the past 8 years which perpetuated the fallacy of “Clash of Civilizations.”   Obama began by mapping his hope for a “new beginning between United States and Muslims around the world.”   Obama then offered “the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive…they overlap…”   He went on to identify the common principles between Islam and America:  “justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.”  

Uncovering the Israeli-Republican-Evangelical Networks behind the “Obsession” DVD

Something strange has been showing up inside the Sunday newspapers of millions of Americans the past few weeks.   The material being included alongside comics, coupons, and advertisement for local stores is a controversial DVD called “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West.”   Some 28 million copies of this DVD have been distributed for free so far in this fashion. In some ways the scale of this campaign, and its ideological venom, are unprecedented: many newspapers state that they had never previously distributed free DVDs as inserts, certainly nothing with such a charged content. The copies were distributed not randomly across the country, but in the “swing states” (Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Colorado, etc.) that are seen as a toss-up in the November Presidential elections between McCain and Obama. Obviously, someone is trying to influence the American electorate by playing on fear-mongering and hate-mongering themes. But who? Who is behind this massive, multi-million dollar campaign?