Book review by Dr Patrick Sookhdeo

Published 5th March 2007 – Evening Standard newspaper, London

A book review by Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of Barnabas Fund, was published in the Evening Standard newspaper, London, 5 March 2007, comparing two recent publications about Muhammad, the prophet of Islam.

“Spinning the prophet”

The Messenger: The Meanings of the Life of Muhammad By Tariq Ramadan (Penguin,  £20)

The Roots of Jihad By Dr Tawfik Hamid (USA: Top Executive Media, $22.95)

Professor Tariq Ramadan is an enigma. His grandfather founded the Muslim Brotherhood, considered the prototype radical Islamist organisation of modern times. Tariq Ramadan himself studied at Al-Azhar University, Cairo, the leading religious institution of Sunni Islam. Banned from the US, he is welcomed in the UK. A respected academic of classical Islam, he presents himself as a liberal-minded reformer.

Ramadan’s biography of Muhammad is an uncritical devotional work for Muslims, strengthening English-speaking Muslims in their love for their prophet. Equally it is aimed at non-Muslims – the Islamic equivalent of an evangelistic tract. Indeed Muhammad is depicted by Ramadan almost as a Christ-figure. “His presence was a refuge; he was the Messenger. He loved, he forgave.” Even his wounds are referred to as a model for his followers, adding another frisson of Christian allusion.

Ramadan’s sanitised biography of Muhammad presents the prophet of Islam in Meccan terms. It shows the peaceable persona he had when living in Mecca, before he established and ruled the first Islamic state in Medina.

It portrays him as a wonderful husband, a freedom fighter, a spiritual giant, concerned for the poor, weak and vulnerable.

The author has selected from the Muslim source texts (Qur’an and Sunna – the life and example of Muhammad), using only the most favourable parts, ignoring other material from the same sources which would undermine his case.

Ramadan’s uncritical approach follows the Islamic tradition that Muhammad can never be questioned. He writes this biography as if he were in Pakistan, where there is a mandatory death sentence for making “derogatory remarks” about Muhammad (Pakistan Penal Code, section 295-C).

Ramadan’s careful avoidance of the tough questions about Muhammad’s character and conduct will be galling to some liberal Muslims. There will be disappointment amongst those seeking to reform Islam by reasoned internal discussion on the role of Muhammad and the context which influenced him.

The debate today is on how to reform Islam for the 21st century. Issues of human rights, religious liberty, women and warfare, in all of which Muhammad plays a pivotal role, are crucial. For most Muslims, their prophet is the perfect model to be emulated by his followers in every detail. Ramadan writes that even Muhammad’s “errors of judgment” are a model.

Despite his liberal credentials, Ramadan’s book simply reinforces the classical understanding of Muhammad. Any reader assessing Ramadan from this book alone would assume the author to be an ultra-conservative mullah, teaching the classical faith to the faithful and reaching out to non-Muslims in da’wa.

Why did Ramadan miss such a glorious opportunity to engage Muhammad? Is he a true liberal, cowed by the threats of conservatives? Or has he been feigning liberalism and this book reveals the genuine thinking of a convinced salafist conservative?

I find it easier to understand the stance of Muslims like Dr Tawfik Hamid, who has come out of the Islamic terrorism scene and, ignoring threats to himself and his family, writes forthrightly and consistently of the need for Islam to be reformed. In “The Roots of Jihad” he examines (amongst other things) the controversial aspects of Muhammad’s life. He pinpoints the Muslim habit of modelling their lives on their prophet as “one of the main problems” in the Muslim world. “The ultimate dream of most Muslims is to follow every step of Mohammed, and unfortunately, some of these footsteps are extremely barbaric by any good standard”.

Any true reformer needs to look at the issue of Muhammad’s life. The roots of reform lie with Muslims who have the courage and consistency to initiate a discussion on the role of Muhammad as prophet and statesman.

Patrick Sookhdeo

Published under the title “Spinning the prophet” in the Evening Standard (First Edition), London – Monday 5th March 2007 – Page 37