Author Response: Mother of the Believers by Kamran Pasha

I recently posted my review on Amazon for the book Mother of the Believers. In my review, I expressed my difficulties reconciling the contradictions of these religious men and their actions: raping girls taken prisoner and made slaves, "justice" served by cutting off hands, etc. Following my review, I was honored to receive a comment on my review by the author Kamran Pasha, and I wanted to repost it here to give him a moment to express his side.

Here is the author's response:

Thank you for your kind words about my novel "Mother of the Believers." I must admit that I am saddened that you came away from my book with a mixed view of Prophet Muhammad. I am a believing Muslim and I wrote the novel to explain his life in context. I think if you compare the Prophet's life and actions to those of the great biblical figures such as Moses, Joshua and King David, you will see that he exceeded the moral standards set by these leaders who lived in a similar lawless desert world. The Prophet was faced with the dual challenge of teaching about God and creating order out of a lawless society. So he had to make difficult military and legal decisions in order to end the bloodshed and create a functioning society. Jesus, on the other hand, did not have to worry about being both a spiritual teacher and a policeman, as he was preaching in a civilized world controlled by the Roman Empire. Jesus said "Render unto Caesar" because there was a Caesar. Prophet Muhammad had to create a civilization from scratch and play the role of both spiritual teacher and Caesar at once. So he should be judged in that context, and I for one believe he showed remarkable wisdom and compassion in a very barbaric world. Please contact me through my website at http://www.kamranpasha.com/ if you would like to discuss this further.

Here is also a video of the author talking about his book and why he wrote it, and why he was drawn to the main character Aisha.

Thanks so much to the author for his comments. I will take them to heart, and am always happy to share opinions and beliefs with others.

And I still recommend the book Mother of the Believers. It really is an action-packed story and very well-written.