Dr. Michael Hart is one of the most prominent Western voices that have talked about the Islamic civilization in his famous book “The 100: A Ranking of The Most Influential Persons in History,”

Michael was born in New York in April 1932 . He studied astronomy and mathematics and obtained a doctorate in astronomy from Princeton University in 1972 , after that he joined the US Space Agency.
He also studied law and obtained a BA in Law at New York University in 1958.

In his book , Michael placed the Prophet Muhammad, PBUH , at the head of the 100 most influential people in human history , his studies were based on strong arguments , including that the character must be real. he excluded unknown personalities (such as the first to invent fire, the first to invent writing, and the first to invent wheels) he was strict in his classification , the person had to have a global impact, not just a regional one, which made him exclude the local political and religious leaders too .

Michael attributed his choice of the Prophet Muhammed , PBUH , at the top of the list , because Muhammed had called to Islam and spread it as one of the greatest religions and became a leader Religiously, politically and militarily, and his impact is still strong and renewed 14 centuries after his death.

While he was giving a lecture in London , Michael was booed and interrupted , people there were complaining and wondering why he ranked Prophet Muhammed PBUH as Number 1 ? He said ,
"Prophet Muhammed PBUH stood in the middle of Mecca in the year 611 and said to people " I am the prophet of Allah . " only four people believed in him , his best friend , his wife and his two kids . Now , even after 1400 years , the number of muslims has gone over 1.5 billion and still expanding .

Michael says, “Most of those whom I chose were born and raised in civilized centers and from civilized peoples politically and intellectually, except for Muhammad. He was born in the year 570 in the city of Mecca in the south of the Arabian Peninsula ,in a backward area of ​​the ancient world far from the centers of trade, civilization, culture and art, explaining that his upbringing was In humble circumstances, he did not read or write, and his financial situation did not improve until he was twenty-five years old when he married a rich widow.”

For the first time in history, Muhammed was able to unite the Arab tribes and guide them . The Arabs who believed in Islam were able to carry out the greatest invasions known and present the call of Islam to the world, and thus , the state of Islam founded by Muhammad extended from the borders of India to the Atlantic Ocean .

The Islam, like all major religions, had a profound impact on the lives of its believers. and Michael describes the Holy Qur’an: “The Qur’an was revealed to Muhammad in its entirety, and its verses were recorded while he was still alive. The impact of Muhammad on Islam was more and deeper than the impact that Jesus left on the Christian religion.”

The American scientist Michael Hart describes the Prophet , PBUH , as a mighty force in addition to being the greatest politician known to history. He explained that a review of history reveals that the whole world did not know a man of this greatness before that, and it was not possible to achieve all these brilliant victories without his leadership, guidance and belief of all in him.

Another thing to ponder is that , Michael said in one of his lectures : even after all this time , millions of muslims will not hesitate to sacrifice their lives over ONE WORD that would hurt their Prophet , Mohammed PBUH .
" Is there even one Christian willing to do that for Jesus ? " after that , there was dead silence in the auditorium .