The Life and Legacy of Muhammad Audiobook By Maria Dakake, The Great Courses cover art

The Life and Legacy of Muhammad

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New religious movements aren’t earthquakes - they’re not generated by blind natural forces, and they’re not inevitable. Social and spiritual change requires a catalyst to set it in motion. And in the case of Islam, that catalyst has a name: Muhammad.

He was a charismatic individual, born of the existing culture of sixth-century Arabia and yet somehow alienated from it. He drew on existing religious ideas in radically new ways that would change his world - and ours - forever.

Join Maria Dakake of George Mason University for a riveting exploration of Islam’s founding prophet. The Life and Legacy of Muhammad leads you through the earliest historical accounts of the prophet’s life and personality. Along the way, you’ll examine struggles over Muhammad’s legacy in the centuries since his death. You’ll also examine the ways Muslims have understood the meaning of Muhammad in their religious lives and the ongoing debates among scholars and Muslims over his life, example, and teaching.

The Sufis have a saying: “Muhammad is a man, but not like other men; he is a ruby, while other men are stones.” These 10 illuminating lectures are your chance to discover just what that means.

©2022 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2022 Audible Originals, LLC. Islam Middle East Inspiring

About the Creator and Performer

Maria Dakake holds a BA from Cornell University (1990) and an MA (1998) and PhD (2000) in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton University, and is currently Associate Professor of Religious Studies at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. She is the director of the undergraduate interdisciplinary Islamic Studies program at GMU, and is a founding member and former co-director of the Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies. Her research interests and publications lie in the fields of Islamic intellectual history, with a particular interest in Qur’anic studies, Shiite Identity in Early Islam* (SUNY Press, 2008). She is currently completing work on a co-edited volume with Daniel Madigan and George Archer, the Routledge Companion to the Qur’an, and is working independently on a book that examines Islamic contributions to the religious studies theory.

Comprehensive History • Excellent Narrative • Objective Content • Illuminating Perspective • Well-researched Introduction

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This audiobook is an extremely clear, well researched, easy to follow, concise introduction to Islam. I enjoyed listening to it and I look forward to more books from this author!

Informative and Clear

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I like that this study is not biased. It contains pure history and the author tries to be objective in every aspect. Very good cource.

Good cource

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This was an interesting and easily digested course about the foundation of Islam and the first Caliphate. I am not well versed in late antique Arabian history outside of the Romans (Byzantine) and Sassanians so it was a good foundation. The presenter is not particularly enthusiastic or enjoyable to listen to because of her droning delivery and nasally voice. She is apperantly highly educated in Arabic language but her pronunciation is quite distinct from both traditional anglicization and native Arabic speakers so it can be a bit of a slog in sections where she uses Arabic terms instead of their English equivalent. I would definitely recommend this as a foundational survey if you are interested in the topic or the prophet but don't expect anything too detailed with respect to the political structure of the Rashidun Caliphate or the military expansion.

Useful Introduction

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Over the past few years I have been very intrigued by Islam and Muhammad himself, mostly because of the knee jerk reaction that everyone has against Muslims. Being a Christian, raised a Roman Catholic, and seeing how the United States of America believes itself to be a God fearing nation, and better than everyone else, I felt it was time to expand my religious education. Christianity is lacking when it comes to following in the footsteps of Jesus. So, is Islam any better? And I found this book in the Plus Catalog - and I was not disappointed!!! I learned a GREAT deal about Muhammad, how he developed Islam, how it evolved after his passing, and how it has also been manipulated by human beings. This book has been an incredible eye opener into seeing how human beings screw up the intentions and the teachings of the founders of their religion. I would like to say I was surprised but I am not. I would recommend this book to anyone that is actually seeking to gain knowledge about a peaceful religion that seems to have been hijacked through the centuries, Great book!!!!!

Very Illuminating Book

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Often, we don't get an audiobook looking in from another perspective or angle on Islamic history and religion

This audiobook is good content and narration

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