robert spencer-did muhammad exist__ an inquiry into islams obscure origins-intercollegiate studies institute (2012) (1)

“clash of civilizations” that has been a defining feature of world history for well over a millennium.
Did Muhammad exist? The full truth of whether a prophet named Muhammad lived in seventh-century
Arabia, and if he did, what sort of a man he was, may never be known. But it would be intellectually
irresponsible not to ask the question or consider the implications of the provocative evidence that
pioneering scholars have assembled.
Contrary to the common assumption, Islam and its supposed prophet did not emerge in the “full light of
history.” Now, more than ever before, historical investigators have the opportunity—in fact, the
responsibility—to usher Islam's origins out of the shadows and into the light. Were they not to discharge
that responsibility fully or properly, we would all be the poorer.