<P> Voltaire's views about Islam remained negative as he considered the Qur'an to be ignorant of the laws of physics . In a 1740 letter to Frederick II of Prussia, Voltaire ascribes to Muhammad a brutality that "is assuredly nothing any man can excuse" and suggests that his following stemmed from superstition and lack of enlightenment . Voltaire continued in his letter, "But that a camel - merchant should stir up insurrection in his village; that in league with some miserable followers he persuades them that he talks with the angel Gabriel; that he boasts of having been carried to heaven, where he received in part this unintelligible book, each page of which makes common sense shudder; that, to pay homage to this book, he delivers his country to iron and flame; that he cuts the throats of fathers and kidnaps daughters; that he gives to the defeated the choice of his religion or death: this is assuredly nothing any man can excuse, at least if he was not born a Turk, or if superstition has not extinguished all natural light in him ."--Referring to Muhammad, in a letter to Frederick II of Prussia (December 1740), published in Oeuvres complètes de Voltaire, Vol. 7 (1869), edited by Georges Avenel, p. 105 </P> <P> In 1748, after having read Henri de Boulainvilliers and George Sale, he wrote again about Mohammed and Islam in an article, "De l'Alcoran et de Mahomet" (On the Quran and on Mohammed). In the article, Voltaire maintained that Mohammed was a "sublime charlatan" Drawing also on complementary information in the "Oriental Library" of Herbelot, Voltaire, according to René Pomeau, had a judgement of the Qur'an where he found the book in spite of "the contradictions, the absurdities, the anachronisms", "rhapsody, without connection, without order, and without art". Thus he "henceforward conceded" that "if his book was bad for our times and for us, it was very good for his contemporaries, and his religion even more so . It must be admitted that he removed almost all of Asia from idolatry" and that "it was difficult for such a simple and wise religion, taught by a man who was constantly victorious, could hardly fail to subjugate a portion of the earth ." He considered that "its civil laws are good; its dogma is admirable which it has in common with ours" but that "his means are shocking; deception and murder". </P> <P> Essay on the Manners and Spirit of Nations (French: Essai sur les mœurs et l'esprit des nations) is a work of Voltaire, published for the first time in its entirety in 1756 . In this work, Voltaire deals with the history of Europe before Charlemagne to the dawn of the age of Louis XIV, also evoking that of the colonies and the East . As a historian he devoted several chapters to Islam, Voltaire highlighted the Arabian, Turkish courts, and conducts . Here he called Mohammed a "poet", and furthermore he was not an illiterate . As a "legislator" who "changed the face of part of Europe, one half of Asia", In the chapter VI, Voltaire finds similarities between Arabs and ancient Hebrews, that they both kept running to battle in the name of god, and sharing the passion for booty and spoils . Voltaire continues that, "It is to be believed that Mohammed, like all enthusiasts, violently struck by his ideas, first presented them in good faith, strengthened them with fantasy, fooled himself in fooling others, and supported through necessary deceptions a doctrine which he considered good ." He thus compares "the genius of the Arab people" with "the genius of the ancient Romans". </P> <P> The tragedy Fanaticism, or Mahomet the Prophet (French: Le fanatisme, ou Mahomet le Prophete) was written in 1736 by Voltaire . The play is a study of religious fanaticism and self - serving manipulation . The character Muhammad orders the murder of his critics . Voltaire described the play as "written in opposition to the founder of a false and barbarous sect". </P>

Who was the most enduring literary figure of the late republic who made his reputation as a lawyer