NPR

'Muhammad: Forty Introductions' Isn't Setting Out To Satisfy

Michael Muhammad Knight's new book on the religious figure is designed to seduce, educate, and irritate its audience into curiosity about Islam and Muhammad — and on all three fronts it succeeds.
<em>Muhammad: Forty Introductions</em> by Michael Muhammad Knight

Michael Muhammad Knight's Muhammad: Forty Introductions asks two questions at the same time — or asks the same two questions 40 times.

One is explicit: How should we think about the prophet Muhammad? The other is implicit, but barely. How, Knight asks in each chapter, should I write an introduction? Or how do I decide where to start? How do I decide who to be?

That question is key to Knight's work. A convert to Islam, he has long written from — and for — the social and scholarly margins. His literary debut, a self-published punk, has become a cult classic. He's now a scholar and professor, and has written nonfiction about the Five-Percent Nation, Salafism, and meeting Muhammad's daughter while tripping on ayahuasca.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR2 min read
As Theaters Scramble To Reach New Audiences, Three Get $1 Million Each
The Mellon Foundation announced grants of $1 million to three theaters: Actors Theatre of Louisville, Long Wharf in New Haven and Portland Center Stage.
NPR2 min read
A Bus Plunges Off A Bridge In South Africa, Killing 45 People
An 8-year-old child is only survivor. The passengers were headed to an Easter festival before the bus plunged off a bridge on a mountain pass and burst into flames.
NPR9 min readWorld
Fractures In The Grand Alliance Between Black And Jewish Americans
The Grand Alliance between Black and Jewish leaders, known largely for shared work on Civil Rights in the 1960s, has a complicated legacy--and an uncertain future between these communities.

Related Books & Audiobooks