with the doctrine of the perFect man, the first
thing God created, and his last messenger, who
mediated between himself and his creation.
Since the l2th–13th century Muslims have cel-
ebrated the anniversary of Muhammad’s birth and
death, known as the Prophet’s mawlid, although
religious conservatives have condemned this holi-
day as an illegitimate innovation (bidaa). His
mosque in Medina became a major shrine shortly
after his death, and most pilgrims who go to Mecca
still visit it during their journey. It is considered
to be the second most holy place after Mecca.
The pious believe that blessing the Prophet and
visiting his grave will win them his intercession
on Judgment Day. Muhammad has been praised
in poetry and songs, including modern composi-
tions recorded by leading performing artists. Many
Muslims claim to have had visions of him in their
dreams, thus giving whatever the dream revealed
validity. Turkish calligraphers have assembled
Quran verses and hadiths about the Prophet to cre-
ate verbal portraits known as hilya, which people
display in mosques and homes in order to imbue
them with divine blessing (baraka). In the face of
growing Euro-American influence and Christian
missionary activities, modern Muslim writers have
portrayed Muhammad variously as a unique sym-
bol of Islamic civilization, a revolutionary hero,
and a brilliant politician and military strategist.
Muhammad has usually been judged harshly
by non-Muslims, especially in Europe and North
America. With some exceptions, authorities in the
medieval Latin church regarded him as a magi-
cian, false prophet, power-hungry charlatan, and
hedonist. Crusaders depicted Muhammad as a
pagan god, while Dante Alighieri (d. 1321), the
famous Italian poet, consigned Muhammad and
Ali to the level of hell reserved for heretics. The
legacy of these medieval views has continued until
the present. In the Age of Reason he was seen as
an imposter, and even as the Antichrist in some
polemical works. During the 18th century some
scholars began to regard him in a more favor-
able light. One of the most positive non-Muslim
interpretations written during this period was that
of the Victorian historian and essayist Thomas
Carlyle (d. 1881). His book On Heroes, Hero Wor-
ship, and the Heroic in History (1859) included
an essay that refuted the medieval stereotypes
about Muhammad and portrayed him instead as
a thoughtful and upright man of religion. Nev-
ertheless, negative views have persisted, as made
evident in William Muir’s Life of Mahomet (1858),
which explained Muhammad’s experiences as a
result of epileptic seizures. More recently, Salman
Rushdie’s fictional portrayal of Muhammad as
a doubt-ridden man in his book Satanic Verses
(1987) and derogatory cartoon images of him
published in a Danish newspaper (2006) sparked
widespread controversy and protest around the
world. Such incidents will no doubt arise on occa-
sion. At the same time, however, Muslim and non-
Muslim scholars in North America and Europe are
contributing to the growing body of knowledge
about Muhammad’s role in early Islamic history
and the significance of his standing in Muslim
devotional life in different times and places. Inter-
religious dialogUe between Muslims and non-
Muslims is also contributing to less polemical
understandings of Islam’s prophet.
See also adab; arabian religions, pre-islamic;
companions oF the prophet; hashimite dynasty;
holidays; hypocrites; idolatry; JUdaism and islam;
mohammedanism; pbUh; people oF the book;
prophets and prophecy; revelation; satanic
verses; sayyid: shiism; sUFism.Further reading: Ali S. Asani, Kemal Abdel-Malik, and
Annemarie Schimmel, Celebrating Muhammad: Images
of the Prophet in Popular Muslim Poetry (Columbia:
University of South Carolina Press, 1995); Muham-
mad Husayn Haykal, The Life of Muhammad. Translated
by Ismail R. Faruqi (Indianapolis: American Trust
Publications, 1976); Muhammad ibn Ishaq, The Life
of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul
Allah. Translated by Alfred Guillaume (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1955); Ibn Kathir, The Life of the
Prophet Muhammad. Translated by Trevor Le GassickMuhammad 495 J