i believe Quran and Bible

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 DavidC wrote:

Thank you, Syed.  The resource I found most valuable 
as a Christian in understanding violence in Islam was Martin Ling's 
biography of Muhammad.  Ling used hadith exclusively as his source, so 
one can read direct accounts of Muhammad acting as a general through a 
well documented, traditional muslim perspective.

Muhammad's sense of chivalry, fair play and mercy are shown to be a 
definitive part of his ethos.  The Qu'ran is limited in discussing 
violence, and reading hadith is exhausting.  I think Ling did a good job
 of presenting an orthodox Muslim perspective and anyone interested in 
understanding violence within Islam as Muslims understand it would do 
well to start with Ling.

It is also simply a fascinating read, and biography of one of histories most important personalities.

Greetings David,

Thank
 you for your comments. I haven't personally read Martin Ling's work on 
Prophet Muhammad's biography but I have read many Muslim and Non-Muslims
 who have referred to his work in their writings. So I think he is one 
of the influential Non-Muslim writers on Prophet Muhammad's life.

I
 do agree that Prophet Muhammad is one of most important personalities 
in history. In addition to Martin there are other Non-Muslim writers who
 have given an honest account of his life and how Quran was his guide in
 achieving the mission he was sent with.  

In fact one of the 
very recent Christian writers named Michael Hart in his work called '100
 Most Influential People in history' ranked Prophet Muhammad (SallAllahu
 alaihi Wassallam) as # 1. He explains his choice in the following 
words:

"My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world's most
influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others,
but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the
religious and secular levels...

Muhammad founded and promulgated one of the world's great
religions, and became an immensely effective political leader. Today, thirteen
centuries after his death, his influence is still powerful and pervasive...
Like all religions, Islam exerts an enormous influence upon the lives of its
followers. It is for this reason that the founders of the world's great
religions all figure prominently in this book. Since there are roughly twice as
many Christians as Moslems in the world, it may initially seem strange that Muhammad
has been ranked higher than Jesus. There are two principal reasons for that
decision. First, Muhammad played a far more important role in the development
of Islam than Jesus did in the development of Christianity. Although Jesus was
responsible for the main ethical and moral precepts of Christianity (insofar as
these differed from Judaism), St. Paul was the main developer of Christian
theology, its principal proselytizer, and the author of a large portion of the
New Testament.

Muhammad, however, was responsible for both the theology of
Islam and its main ethical and moral principles. In addition, he played the key
role in proselytizing the new faith, and in establishing the religious
practices of Islam. Moreover, he is the author of the Moslem holy scriptures,
the Koran, a collection of certain of Muhammad's insights that he believed had
been directly revealed to him by Allah. Most of these utterances were copied
more or less faithfully during Muhammad's lifetime and were collected together
in authoritative form not long after his death. The Koran therefore, closely
represents Muhammad's ideas and teachings and to a considerable extent his
exact words. No such detailed compilation of the teachings of Christ has
survived. Since the Koran is at least as important to Moslems as the Bible is
to Christians, the influence of Muhammed through the medium of the Koran has
been enormous It is probable that the relative influence of Muhammad on Islam
has been larger than the combined influence of Jesus Christ and St. Paul on
Christianity. On the purely religious level, then, it seems likely that
Muhammad has been as influential in human history as Jesus.

Furthermore, Muhammad (unlike Jesus) was a secular as well
as a religious leader. In fact, as the driving force behind the Arab conquests,
he may well rank as the most influential political leader of all time... the
Arab conquests of the seventh century have continued to play an important role
in human history, down to the present day. It is this unparalleled combination
of secular and religious influence which I feel entitles Muhammad to be
considered the most influential single figure in human history."
http://www.adherents.com/adh_influ.html#Muhammad
Keeping
 Hart's explanation in mind is why we Muslims believe that Allah (swt) 
refers to the life of Prophet Muhammad (sallAllahu alaihi Wassallam) as 
the best example for entire mankind till the day of judgment:
Al Quran 33:21
The Messenger of God is an excellent model for those of you who put your hope in God and the Last Day and remember Him often. 
Whether
 you are father, husband, suffering from poverty, political leader, 
military commander, Employer (referred to as Master in the past), A 
judge , a spiritual leader etc, whatever you are, there is a best model 
available for you in the life of the Final Messenger of God.
As
 for your words of 'Violence within Islam' I would humbly disagree 
because to me violence is a form of lunacy. In the teachings of Islam 
Muslims are not allowed to resort to violence at any circumstances. They
 can only resort to fighting in self defense. Allah (swt), did not only 
gave permission to the Muslims to fight when faced with aggression but 
also people of other religions to defend themselves if they are attacked
 by similar force:
Al Quran 22:38-40
Those
 who have been attacked are permitted to take up arms because they have 
been wronged��God has the power to help them�� those who have been 
driven unjustly from their homes only for saying, �Our Lord is God.� If 
God did not repel some people by means of others, many monasteries, 
churches, synagogues, and mosques, where God�s name is much invoked, 
would have been destroyed.
The above Verse 
was the first commandment allowing Muslims to fight in self defense only
 after they had been patient against severe persecution done to them for
 more than 10 years. 

Just FYI, Muslims don't own monasteries, churches and synagogues. The message of the Quran is a Universal one.

Thank you.