The Life and Religion of Mohammed

The Life and Religion of Mohammed (ISBN 1-929291-68-X) is a book by author J. L. Menezes. It was written in 1912 in India and provides an account of Mohammed's life and the religion of Islam.

Controversy

The book has been the subject of a dispute between the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and National Review, in which CAIR has sought to have the book withdrawn from sale. CAIR has called the book "virulently Islamophobic," [1] citing in particular a passage that reads:

Mohammed posed as the apostle of God, the seal of the prophets; as the destroyer of idolatry; as preacher of one true God, and the reformer of morals: while his life is marked by innumerable marriages; and great licentiousness, deeds of rapine, warfare, conquests, unmerciful butcheries, all the time invoking God's holy name to sanction his evil deeds, ordering prayers and alms deeds and at the same time propagating Islam everywhere by fire and sword. [2]

Robert Spencer, owner of Jihad Watch, stated in a review of the book, "In fact, however, The Life and Religion of Mohammed is not “anti-Muslim hate literature.” It was written over eighty years ago by Fr. J. L. Menezes, a Roman Catholic priest who was a missionary in India. I have read it, and there is nothing inflammatory or inciteful in it; in fact, it is suffused with a pastoral love for Muslims."

William Gawthrop notes that although the book suffers from the absence of an Index, Bibliography and a detailed Table of Contents, it is an excellent primer even for secularists and Analysts wrestling with an ideological challenge.^{[citation needed]}