I'm not sure if we are on the same page or not, but he himself was talking about Dante when he said he wanted to defend him in relation to how Dante placed Prophet Muhammad only in the part of hell that was reserved for those who caused division and not for those false Prophets, which means that Dante was showing him some respect. He later goes on to say that Dante didn't actually mean Muhammad by the person, but rather it was just a name used to promote an idea. He used the word defend in relation to Dantes speech about where he placed Prophet Muhammad did he not? Since he did, please tell me what you have understood from his word usage in the context that he used, perhaps I am mistaken. Watch the second video down, from 9 minutes on. http://adoptingorthodoxy.wordpress.c...nte-alighieri/ Hamza Yusuf Said, I don't think it was either, but one sentence is enough when it comes to such a statement in regards to Rasool Allah .