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Whereas representatives of Christian orthodoxy still describe Muhammad as a "liar-prophet" and the religion founded by him as an "abortion from hell" and "opium of the people" a more objective historical outlook, which considers the prophet of Arabia in the light of and with the methods of general religious history, does him more justice. His uprightness, the self-denial with which he struggled to carry out his mission in the face of a hostile world, his genuine conviction that he was an instrument in the hand of the Almighty, the depth of his belief are fully recognized today: "A man of unusual quality, a fearless and selfless champion of a great Cause who led his people out of the darkness of barbarism to the light of civilization and of higher moral consciousness"; this is what the Roman orientalist Francesco Gabrieli writes about him.
(137:2)
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