|Review by Jonathan P. Berkey / San Francisco Chronicle,||
17 April 2013 |
The First Muslim: The Story of Muhammad
By Lesley Hazleton
(Riverhead, 2013; 320 pages)
Who was the first Christian? Many Christians would probably answer: "Jesus." But the Gospels make it clear that Jesus lived and died as a Jew. A better guess might be the Apostle Paul, whose letters reveal a community beginning to distinguish itself from its parent faith. But naming him would be just that: a guess.
If the narratives of Islamic origins are accurate, there is no doubt who was the first Muslim. Around the year 610, Muhammad began to hear a voice. In response to its revelations, Muhammad preached to his pagan Arab neighbors a message of submission to the God also worshiped by Jews and Christians. It took two decades and a long political struggle, but eventually Muhammad persuaded the Arabs to adopt his new faith.