MUHAMMAD’S MISSION

The work under review is a restatement of the persistent dissatisfaction that Western inquirers feel vis-à-vis the Islamic perspective on the personality and mission of Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace be upon him). This naturally calls for recounting the events that unfolded in seventh century Arabia with an eye to making them intelligible for non-Muslim observers and from a perspective that does not take for granted the truth claim of Islam as a divinely revealed religion. This quest for alternative, and supposedly more objective, historical explanations underpins the centuries-old tradition in the West of studying the life and time of the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him). Nagel’s present undertaking is inspired by a realization that ‘scholarship on the life of Muhammad has not yet completed its task’ (p. 6) in many respects and that there is both need and room to put more flesh on the argument.