Prophet Muhammad in French and English Literature: 1650 to the Present

(Hardback)

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"Gunny, a pioneer in the study of French and European literary and theological representations of Islam in the modern period, offers a survey of over 350 years, which is both a cross cultural history and a discussion of the intellectual changes in the representation of the Prophet's life based on the examination of original published and unpublished manuscripts." -Islamic Horizons

"Ahmad Gunny has been a pioneer in the study of French and European literary and theological representations of Islam in the modern period. Thanks to his acclaimed critical studies, students and scholars alike have found in his work new and important directions for research." Nabil Matar, professor, University of Minnesota

This magisterial survey of the Prophet Muhammad over three hundred and fifty years is both a cross cultural history and a discussion of the intellectual changes in the representation of the Prophet's life based on the close examination of original published and unpublished manuscripts.

Ahmad Gunny is fellow and senior associate at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies.

Reviews

Ahmad Gunny has been a pioneer in the study of French and European literary and theological representations of Islam in the modern period. Thanks to his acclaimed critical studies, as well as to his definitive editions of Voltaire, students and scholars alike have found in his work new and important directions for research.A" Professor Nabil Matar, University of Minnesota and author of Islam in Britain, 1558-1685. Ahmad Gunny's fresh approach to the image of Muhammad in French literature of the eighteenth century complicates the extant understanding of the subject. Rather than trying to expose once again a Western prejudice against Islam, he explores the many different views of Muhammad that existed during the period of Enlightenment. What results is a more nuanced and sophisticated study of this important topic.A" Francois Zabbal, Institute du Monde Arabe, Paris

Author Bio

Ahmad Gunny is Fellow and Senior Associate at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. His works include Voltaire and English literature (1979), Images of Islam in Eighteenth-Century Writings (1996), Perceptions of Islam in European Writings (2004), and critical editions of Voltaire's miscellaneous texts, including 'De l'Alcoran et de Mahomet' in the Complete Works of Voltaire. In 2009 he received the award of Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Academiques from the French Government.