Muhammad¶
Metadata¶
- Author: [[Karen Keishin Armstrong]]
- ASIN: B00DTTEDLQ
- Reference: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DTTEDLQ
- Kindle link
Highlights¶
Muslims usually understand this to mean the “Time of Ignorance,” that is, the pre-Islamic period in Arabia. But, as recent research shows, Muhammad used the term jahiliyyah to refer not to an historical era but to a state of mind that caused violence and terror in seventh-century Arabia. Jahiliyyah, I would argue, is also much in evidence in the West today as well as in the Muslim world. — location: 118 ^ref-62020
even though the Arabs had rejected him, there was a multitude of worshippers in the great world outside Arabia who would understand his mission. — location: 1057 ^ref-3978
Yet at this low point of his career, he had the greatest personal mystical experience of his life. — location: 1075 ^ref-33224
He had to move beyond his original expectations, and transcend the received ideas of his time. — location: 1114 ^ref-51308
You could not be a muslim unless you also revered Moses and Jesus. True faith required surrender to God, not to an established faith. Indeed, exclusive loyalty to only one tradition could become shirk, an idolatry which puts a human institution on the same level as God. — location: 1140 ^ref-36210
For if one goes in search of a religion other than self-surrender (islam) unto God, it will never be accepted from him, and in the life to come, he shall be among the lost. — location: 1145 ^ref-31915
the blood tie was still a sacred value and helped to cement this experimental community. — location: 1230 ^ref-35251
instead of retaliating with jahili rage, Mus‘ab quietly asked him to sit down and judge for himself. The deputy agreed, stuck his lance in the ground, and, as he listened to the recitation, his face changed. “What wonderful and beautiful discourse this is!” — location: 1242 ^ref-40244
When he called upon the Jewish tribe of Nadir to collect the blood money for ‘Amir, he narrowly escaped an assassination attempt: some members of Nadir had planned to drop a boulder on the Prophet from a nearby roof top. — location: 1807 ^ref-63487
The Qur’anic legislation about women is intertwined with verses about the war, which inevitably affected everything that happened in Medina at this time; Muhammad knew that he had no hope of surviving a Meccan onslaught with disaffected troops. — location: 1925 ^ref-22718
“He who wrongs or destroys a Jew or a Christian will have me to answer on the Day of Judgment.” — location: 1980 ^ref-49575
every day Ibn Ubayy insinuated that had he retained the leadership, Yathrib could have been pacified without incurring the lethal enmity of the most powerful city in Arabia. — location: 2010 ^ref-19267
Muhammad was emotionally and physically drained by the strain of the last few years. He had always been emotionally dependent upon his women and this made him vulnerable. — location: 2023 ^ref-50955
Muhammad had wanted to change people’s attitudes, and the imposition of this external barrier was a compromise, because it did not require Muslims to exercise an internal control over their actions. But he gave in to ‘Umar, because of the crisis that was tearing Medina apart. — location: 2073 ^ref-21999
Muhammad urged her to confess her sin honestly; if she repented, God would forgive her. — location: 2115 ^ref-9955
“I shall neither come to him nor thank him,” she replied. “Nor will I thank the both of you, who listened to the slander and did not deny it. I shall rise and give thanks to Allah alone!” — location: 2125 ^ref-61142
The Muslims would go like lambs to the slaughter! It was essential that they were able to defend themselves! But Muhammad was adamant. “I will not carry arms,” he said firmly. — location: 2139 ^ref-37348
“I am setting out with no other end than to make the pilgrimage.” — location: 2140 ^ref-1746
Generally very cautious and covering bases, yet seemingly a big risk here