| Chronology of Muhammad's life | p. xi |
| Names and places | p. xiii |
| Why a biography of Muhammad is relevant today | p. 1 |
| Is Islam a religion of peace? Why it matters | |
| Dueling Muhammads | |
| Why Muhammad matters | |
| Polite fictions are useless | |
| The purpose of this book | |
| Why I did not want to write this book | |
| Death to "blasphemers" | |
| Defending freedom of speech | |
| General notes | |
| In search of the historic Muhammad | p. 19 |
| What can we really know about Muhammad? | |
| The Qur'an | |
| The Hadith | |
| The Sira | |
| Historical fact and Muslim belief | |
| Muhammad becomes a prophet | p. 33 |
| Arabia before Muhammad | |
| Muhammad's early life | |
| Khadija | |
| The first visitation | |
| The suicidal despair returns | |
| Muhammad's revelations and their sources | p. 47 |
| Borrowings from Judaism | |
| "Tales of the ancients" | |
| Borrowings from Christianity | |
| Other borrowings | |
| Revelations of convenience? | |
| The consequences | |
| Modern embarrassment | |
| "A warner in the face of a terrific punishment" | p. 73 |
| Difficulties with the Quraysh | |
| The evolution of the command to wage war | |
| The Satanic verses | |
| The Night Journey | |
| Muhammad becomes a warlord | p. 89 |
| The Hijra | |
| The covenant between the Muslims and the Jews | |
| The conversion of Abdullah and tensions with the rabbis | |
| The Hypocrites | |
| The Nakhla raid | |
| The break with the Jews and the change of qibla (direction for prayer) | |
| "War Is deceit" | p. 103 |
| The Battle of Badr | |
| Allah fights for the Muslims | |
| The problem of booty | |
| The Qaynuqa Jews | |
| Anger toward Jews and Christians | |
| Assassination and deceit | |
| The Quraysh strike back | |
| Assuaging doubts after Uhud | |
| The deportation of the Banu Nadir | |
| Casting terror into their hearts | p. 123 |
| The Battle of the Trench | |
| Dealing with the Banu Qurayzah | |
| Finding excuses for a massacre | |
| The women of the Banu Mustaliq | |
| Abdullah bin Ubayy and praying for one's enemies | |
| The Treaty of Hudaybiyya | |
| The raid at Khaybar | |
| The poisoning of Muhammad | |
| The spoils of Khaybar | |
| Victorious through terror | p. 145 |
| The conquest of Mecca | |
| Apostates to be killed | |
| Muhammad at the Ka'bah | |
| The Battle of Hunayn and mastery of Arabia | |
| Invitations to Islam | |
| The Tabuk raid | |
| Collecting the jizya | |
| The last pilgrimage: the rights of women and the expulsion of the pagans | |
| The murder of the poets | |
| Muhammad's final illness | |
| After Muhammad | |
| Muhammad's legacy | p. 169 |
| The War on Terror | |
| Pedophile prophet? | |
| Misogynist? | |
| Draconian punishments? | |
| Warrior prophet? | |
| Islamic tolerance? | |
| A kinder, gentler Muhammad | |
| The veneration of Muhammad | |
| Imitating Muhammad today | |
| Frightening reality | |
| What is to be done | |
| Acknowledgments | p. 195 |
| Notes | p. 197 |
| Index | p. 215 |
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