Ijtihad Network Being Wise and Faithful Muslim in the Contemporary World
In The Messenger: The Meanings of the Life of Muhammad, leading Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan considers the ways in which the Prophet’s actions, words and teachings can guide us in the modern world.
The life of the Prophet Muhammad, to whom the Angel Gabriel revealed the verses of the Quran, has provided inspiration to Muslims for hundreds of years.
Interspersed with spiritual and philosophical meditations, this profound and stimulating biography shows how Muhammad’s message can be used to address some of today’s most controversial issues – from the treatment of the poor and the role of women to the interpretation of jihad and relations with other religions. It offers Muslims a new understanding of Muhammad’s life and introduces non-Muslims to the story of the Prophet and to the riches of Islam.
In a time when Prophet Muhammad has become the subject of news headlines generating heated debates and fiery actions and reactions around the world, deep understanding and emulation of his magnanimity and wisdom are desperately needed to extinguish the blaze While he is devoutly loved and revered by over a billion Muslims who can recite the details of his life and character, he remains shrouded in myth and mystery for non-Muslims. But exposure to the facts of someone’s life does not necessarily mean knowing one, and reverent love can elevate someone so high in a place that distant one apart from the beloved. Tariq Ramadan’s latest book, The Messenger: The Meanings of the Life of Muhammad, is a biography of the Prophet that aims to lift the shrouds of mystery for non-Muslims and bridge the distance for Muslims. Ramadan does not pretend to uncover any new details, nor does he aspire for his book to replace the multitude of biographies about the Prophet; in fact he admits that his work very much relies on the classics among them.
About the Author
Tariq Ramadan is Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies at the Oxford University (Oriental Institute, St Antony’s College) and also teaches at the Oxford Faculty of Theology. He is Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Islamic Studies, (Qatar) and the University of Malaysia Perlis; Senior Research Fellow at Doshisha University (Kyoto, Japan) and Director of the Research Centre of Islamic Legislation and Ethics (CILE) (Doha, Qatar).
Bibliographic Information
Title: The Messenger: The Meanings of the Life of Muhammad
Author(s): Tariq Ramadan
Publisher: Penguin
Length: 256 pages
ISBN: 978-0141028552
Pub. Date: February 28, 2008
