"The author below points out that a lot of Western observers who see themselves as following Enlightenment ideals have not actually upheld the standards of reason and free inquiry when it came to writing about Islam."
-Juan Cole
One doesn't often see or hear the words, "Enlightenment" and "Islam" used in the same sentence, but University of Michigan comedian Juan Cole has broken that barrier. Somewhere on the Internet, he has found a glowing review of his book, "Mohammad: Prophet of Peace Amid the Clash of Empires". Most knowledgeable readers wouldn't get past the title of Cole's book without moving on to the sports section, but he has found support-from Algeria of all places. In this posting from the pompously-named Cole blog, "Informed Comment", Cole breathlessly breaks the news about this glowing review from an Algerian newspaper.
https://www.juancole.com/2021/01/positive-muhammad-echorouq.html
Fousesquawk comment: I haven't seen such fawning language since watching the Biden inauguration this week. But Cole can be forgiven because, outside of academia and Algeria, nobody takes this guy seriously. In fact, the only reason I write about him once in a while is because I like to inject humor into my blog-in between my outbursts of righteous anger and indignation, of course.
One might also ask if an Algerian newspaper were likely to print a critical review of Cole's book on Mohammad. I think not.
At any rate, Algerian readers have now been alerted to this magnum opus of the Wizard of Ann Arbor. They would do well to rush on down to the nearest book store (wherever that is) and pick up a copy. Look in the best seller section next to the latest Arabic-language copy of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. (That also gets rave reviews in Algeria.)
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