This work does not profess to be a life of Muhammad. It is a history of the development of the Qur'an, showing how its gradual formation was determined by the events of the Prophet's life. Treated in this way, the Qur'an reveals his change of position towards the various classes of persons with whom he was brought into contact, and by the aptness of its injunctions, its apologies, its denunciations, we are enabled to see how admirably this piecemeal ' revelation was fitted to meet the requirements of Islam as they arose.

Islam describes Muslims as worshippers and slaves of Allah (ibaad Allah). They have submitted themselves to him and are therefore his possession. The word Islam means, "surrender, devotion and submission". Whoever falls away from faith in Islam commits -- from an Islamic perspective -- an unforgivable sin. He takes himself away from Allah, his owner -- which is theft -- and weakens the Islamic state, an action branded as revolt or insurrection. He who falls away from Islam must, according to the Sharia, be prosecuted, taken into custody by force, and called on to repent. If necessary, his return is to be "helped" along with torture. He who does not embrace Islam again has, according to the Sharia, forfeited his life and is to be put to death by the state.

By the teaching of Muhammad the Qur'an is of divine origin, and was brought down, as Tradition tells us, word by word by Gabriel to the Prophet's ear. The original is "written on a Tablet, kept in Heaven,"1 "sent down on the night of al Cadr"2 by the Almighty. Thus the Qur'an comes from God alone, heavenly, divine, and uncreate from all eternity. Now if it be shown that much of this grand book can be traced to human Sources existing daily around the Prophet, then Islam falls to the ground. And this is what the Author proves with marvelous power and erudition.

No doubt, the cross is the core of the Christian faith. The Bible clearly indicates that the eternal destiny of man depends totally on the atoning death of Christ on the cross. This is what Christianity teaches. This is what Christians believe. Islam rejects the whole concept of the cross. Muslims allege that it is against reason to claim that God, the Omnipotent, would not forgive man's sins without the cross. To say so is to limit God's power. When repentance, they say, is combined with God's mercy and forgiveness, it becomes sufficient to award the penitent all the pleasures of the paradise promised in the Quran.

Both Muslims and Christians possess their own prayer which they consider to be superior to all others: the Fatiha and the Lord's Prayer, respectively. Let us compare these two prayer treasures, so as to be better able to understand what unites and what divides these two world religions.