Unity: The God of Islam Summary and Analysis

Drawing heavily from the Koran and works such as those of Muhammad ibn Ishaq, Karen Armstrong delineates the amazing rise of the religion of Islam and its prophet Muhammad. Muhammad was a member of the tribe of Quraysh who ruled the city of Mecca in the Hiraz, in what is now the Western province of Saudi Arabia. In the seventh century CE, the Quraysh were emerging from the obscurity of nomadic life in the desert to a life of successful international trading. This was based on the stability provided by the existence of the Kabah, a shrine in the center of Mecca, which was regarded as the most important shrine in Arabia. Muhammad experienced his epiphany during the Ramadan retreat of 610 when he experienced a vision of the Angel Gabriel and subsequently began...