Exclusive interview with Jonathan Brown

I'm Posting this REVERT 

BROTHER STORY FOR A BIG REASON : MANY ISLAM HATERS BELIEVES THAT MUHAMMAD S.A.W WAS NOT THE PERSON,THAT WE CAN 

FOLLOW HIM,IN OTHER 

OTHER WORDS,HE WAS NOT PERFECT PERSON . REASON BEHIND THIS IS BECAUSE HE JOINED FEW WARS,AND JESUS A.S. IS FULL OF PEACE AND LOVE . 

Exclusive interview with 

Jonathan Brown Can we start with the story 

of your conversion? I was raised Anglican, the 

Church of England in 

America, but my family 

wasn't very religious. My 

family wasn't very 

religious, so I wasn't really brought up as a Christian. I 

believed in God; I have 

always believed in God. 

When I was in college, 

during my first year at 

Georgetown, I took a class in Islam and the teacher 

was a Muslim woman. I was 

very interested in what she 

was telling me. I realized 

that the things she was 

telling me were things that I had believed my whole life; 

the nature of God, the idea 

of reason, the idea that 

reason and religion are 

supposed to be compatible, 

religion should enhance your life, not make it 

difficult and not make you 

suffer. At the end of the 

semester I really felt like a 

Muslim; that summer, the 

summer of 1997, I spent reading a lot of books on 

Islam and traveling 

throughout Europe and 

Morocco; when I came back 

to school at the ning of my 

sophomore year of college I became Muslim. Did you have any prior 

contact with any Muslims 

before? No, I don't think I had really 

met a Muslim before I took 

a class on Islam. We all know your books on 

Prophet Muhammad and I 

have just learned that you 

are working on a new 

book. Yes, there is a series of 

books Oxford University 

Press called "Very Short 

Introductions"; they have 

them on everything; "Very 

Short Introduction to the European Union", etc. I am 

doing the one on the 

Prophet. I have finished the 

book. They will publish it as 

a book on its own and then 

as part of the series. Right now it is delayed, because 

they sent it to the Pakistan 

office of the Press, to see if 

it is offensive to Muslims. I 

wanted to tell them "I am a 

Muslim and everything in it is Muslims. There is nothing 

in it that is offensive to 

Muslims." I talk about some 

of the Western historians 

and how they talk about 

the prophet, but this is just a discussion. All the things 

on the life of the prophet 

are the Seerah and the 

hadith. Why are they still worried? Because books that are 

perceived to be offensive to 

the Prophet usually cause 

problems. But for a 

publisher these kinds of 

problems mean that people buy the book more. I don't 

know what they are 

concerned about. What is the thing that 

influenced you the most 

about Prophet Muhammad? Probably, that he was the 

best person in every 

situation. To me this is very 

inspirational. A lot of times 

the religious role models we 

have in America are always a certain way - for example 

Jesus is always kind and 

forgiving. But sometimes 

you can't be forgiving. You 

shouldn't be; sometimes 

you have to soft and sweet and sometimes you have to 

be direct and harsh; 

sometimes you have to be 

patient and at other times 

you have to act quickly. 

There isn't always one rule that you can apply to your 

life that will tell you how to 

act. You have to be able to 

read the situation and act in 

the best way. The Prophet 

knew how to do that; that is inspirational. I think that 

is the most important thing. Do you think that Muslims 

today can apply his 

teachings to their daily 

lives? Definitely. I think that 

Muslims need to think about 

how he was both idealistic 

and effective. He had 

principles which he lived by, 

but he also knew how to market himself and the way 

to speak to a certain person 

to convince them; he knew 

how to speak to a person 

to make them his ally. He 

wasn't always just severe and strict and austere. He 

knew how to tailor his 

message to each person; 

not to change the message, 

but to shape it to the 

person, that is, not changing the content, but 

the form. This is very 

useful. I think when 

Muslims feel they are 

religious they tend to make 

announcements about what is haram. To really 

follow the example of the 

Prophet is to always think 

about what is right. That is 

really useful. To have that balance... Yes, to be a whole person, 

to be a fully-dimensioned 

person So why do you think that in 

Europe and the US Prophet 

Muhammad has become 

such a target for some 

people? First of all it is ignorance. 

People don't know 

anything about Islam or the 

Prophet. They hear that 

Muslims are terrorists and 

that Islam is a violent religion, so the Prophet 

must be the source or 

symbol of this. That is the