THE FIRST MUSLIM

Biography of Muhammad that brings to life the man who founded Islam

Muhammad revolutionized his own world, and his life is still shaping ours. Yet for all his iconic power – or perhaps because of it – most people still know very little about him. The First Muslim will change all that as it traces the intensely dramatic arc of the prophet’s life, from powerlessness to power, anonymity to renown, insignificance to lasting conseqence. In Hazleton’s impeccably researched but refreshingly readable telling, Muhammad’s life unfolds as a classic hero’s journey, beginning with tragedy as his mother, widowed before his birth, is forced to send him to live among Bedouin shepherds. The desert is his first and most enduring home, and it will become the setting for not only his meteoric rise but for his awesome encounter with the Angel Gabriel, whose message will turn him into a fierce warrior, a cunning politician, and one of history’s greatest prophets.

How did a child shunted to the margins come to revolutionize his world? How did a merchant come to radically reimagine both God and society? How did the man hounded out of Mecca return from exile and remake himself as the ultimate insider? Hazleton draws on history, politics, religion, and psychology to see Muhammad whole, in all his complexity and vitality. As she captures him navigating between idealism and pragmatism, faith and politics, nonviolence and violence, rejection and acclaim, she not only paints a captivating portrait of Muhammad, but brings new and startling immediacy to the complicated relationship between his followers and the rest of the world.

The author is a well-respected writer and historian who has spoken to a range of audiences about Muhammad and Islam, from the US military to progressive Muslim groups. The video of her TEDx talk about the Quran--the link to which follows--has received hundreds of thousands of views: http://www.ted.com/talks/lesley_hazelton_on_reading_the_koran.html. She's written several previous books, the most recent of which, After the Prophet, was the finalist for the PEN-USA Book Award. Hazleton is a Brit by birth and lives in Seattle.