Spencer's book

Submitted by Peter Herz (United States), May 17, 2012 at 22:37

As soon as I can, I hope to read Robert Spencer's book, and look at it with an open mind, for he is a writer who does his homework and seems to have more Arabic in his little finger than I could ever hope to muster in a couple of decades.

However, I tend to believe that an Arabian leader named Muhammad did indeed live in the 7th century A.D., even though I am not a Muslim. I've always believed that where there's smoke, there's fire, and the existence of Islam as a religion, political phenomenon, movement, and culture probably can't be explained without some highly charismatic figure at its source.

Further, as for the Christian (and Jewish) echoes in the Qur'an and Hadith, I'm not surprised. Lots of movements have latched onto the person of Jesus Christ over the centuries, and have turned him into reflections of the founders of these movements.

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