Location: The Heritage Foundation's Lehrman Auditorium

New York Times bestselling author and Islam expert Robert Spencer offers an honest and telling portrait of the founder of Islam – perhaps the first such portrait in half a century – and draws out what his life implies for reforming Islam and repulsing Islamic terrorists. He relies solely on primary sources considered reliable by Muslims and evaluates modern biographies to show how Muhammad has been changed for Western audiences, lulling them into consoling but false conclusions. With extensive documentation, Spencer details Muhammad’s development from a preacher into a political and military leader and recounts a life that has come to affect our world today. Recognizing the true nature of Islam, Spencer argues, is essential for judging the prospects for large-scale Islamic reform, the effective prosecution of the War on Terror, the democracy project in Afghanistan and Iraq, and immigration and border control protection of the United States from terrorism.

ROBERT SPENCER, the Director of Jihad Watch, a project of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, is a writer and researcher who has written six books, eight monographs, and well over a hundred articles about jihad and Islamic terrorism. He earned his Master’s degree in Religious Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has been studying Islamic theology, law, and history in depth since 1980. He serves as an Adjunct Fellow with the Free Congress Foundation. Widely published in the print media, he has also consulted with U.S. Central Command on Islam and jihad and has discussed jihad, Islam, and terrorism at a workshop sponsored by the U.S. State Department and the German Foreign Ministry as well as on major national and international television networks and radio programs.