Misquoting Muhammad

Islam, as a faith tradition, seems to be as much about doing as believing. In Arabic, the word “Islam” has its roots in “submission.” If you are going to submit, then knowing what and how is important. For direction, many Muslims look not just to the Qur’an but also thousands of hadiths, accounts of the words and deeds of the Prophet. The title, Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenges and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet’s Legacy, sums up what Jonathan A.C. Brown is trying to do in this book. The book charts the very human process of discerning and interpreting what the Prophet Muhammad might have said and did and what it means for Islamic belief and life.

Reading the book helped me explore the practice of discernment—how ideals and principles are merged with reality to define what is right and proper, sometimes in dangerous as well as helpful ways. I would have liked more unpacking of contemporary social issues and moral choices. And also to understand ways that Muslims have found today to navigate their faith in secular societies. What becomes nonnegotiable and what can be left to the individual to decide.