Question about Cyril Glassé
I basically found out he was the author of the new encyclopedia of Islam, then I checked over his other book, "Manichaeism: Religion of 1000 Masks"
To just give you an example of one of the many things within this book, here's a passage:
"Salman did not exist. He had never existed, although now he is firmly established in the Muslim mind. He was a fiction. He was supposed to be a slave, a seeker of wisdom and truth, initially a convert to Christianity, then to Islam who got to Medina guided by providence. There he became a Companion or associate of Muhammad whom the Prophet considered like one of his own family and whose advice he sought and followed. Salman always knew what to do. It is well known, albeit not true, that it was Salman's idea to defend Medinah against the Quraysh by digging a trench in the crucial final battle. Firstly, there were Lakhmid defensive trenches in Arabia to protect Sassanid territory, so that the concept was not unknown; but most importantly, in connexion with Salman, is that cosmic trenches are found in Mani's Book of Mysteries. "The three trenches... is concerned to develop a point of cosmology. The trenches [Ar. khanadiq Gr. phossata] designate a series of pits (varying between three and seven in number) dug around the world into which the demonic waste of the firmaments is poured" (Tardieu, Manichaeism.)"
Apparently he has a graduate's degree in Islamic Studies.
so yeah, what do you guys think? should I take him seriously or no?