In a meticulous quest for the historical Muhammad, Armstrong first traces the Wests long history of hostility toward Islam, which it has stigmatized as a religion of the sword. This sympathetic, engrossing biography portrays Muhammad (ca. 570-632) as a passionate, complex, fallible human being--a charismatic leader possessed of political as well as spiritual gifts, and a prophet whose monotheistic vision intuitively answered the deepest longings of his people. Armstrong ( The Gospel According to Woman ) refutes the Western image of Muhammad as an impostor who used religion as a means to power, an attitude encapsulated in a psychotic dream episode in Salman Rushdies The Satanic Verses. Denying that Islam preaches total intransigence, she finds in the Prophets teachings a theology of peace and tolerance. The holy war urged by the Koran, in Armstrongs reading, alludes to each Muslims duty to fight for a just, decent society. She draws significant parallels between the spiritual aspirations of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.