"MUHAMMAD, PROPHET OF GOD," by Daniel C. Peterson, with a foreword by Khaleel Mohammed, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 186 pages, Paperback, $15.00

"Soon after his conquest of Mecca, the Prophet (Muhammad) was seen lying prostrate on an unkept grave, weeping," writes Daniel C. Peterson in his book "Muhammad, Prophet of God."

It was Muhammad's mother's grave.

Peterson, who is a professor of Islamic studies and Arabic at BYU, wrote a moving and enlightening account of the "complex" and "commanding" messenger who brought a world religion into being.



For Latter-day Saints (and critics of Mormons), the parallels between the Prophet Muhammad and the Prophet Joseph Smith Jr. may leap out in this book. The non-parallels are also stark. But these comparisons are not the purpose of Peterson's book and are not even mentioned. This book is for a wider Western audience.

The book is probably the best short overview of the founder of Islam by a non-Muslim. Peterson masterfully, charitably and fearlessly looks at a life that he clearly admires. It is a life journey that few understand in the West, but a journey that everyone should know -- especially in our day of terrorism and distortion.

The book is very readable -- if you begin on paragraph 2 on page 22. The previous pages are a tad too informative about the background culture and empires. The book would also have been much more usable had there been maps and a brief biographical list of names.

Muhammad had asked God to forgive his mother for her pagan polytheism because she had died before Islam had been revealed. That request was denied. Peterson writes, however, that a tradition arose that God made an exception and allowed Muhammad's parents a brief resurrection "so that their son might preach Islam to them and, thus, save their souls."

As Peterson writes, Muhammad is a "challenge for interpretation." His book wisely allows readers to make their own judgments -- but argues persuasively for that judgment to be made with charity.

E-mail: mdegroote@desnews.com