Summary of Juan Cole's Muhammad

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 Muhammad was born in Mecca, a city that was between two empires, the Roman and the Sasanian. His clan, the Hashim, served as caretakers and ministers of the Kaaba, a cube-shaped shrine to God the Most High. They maintained concord throughout the year. #2 When Muhammad was 25, he had the opportunity to escape his relative poverty. He was recommended for a job by his uncle, who owned half of Mecca’s merchant capital. He went to Syria with Khadija’s rivaled, which may have possessed half of the town’s long-distance merchant capital. #3 The Arab merchants would have traveled through the night beneath a spangled sky. They would have reached the date-palm oasis of Yathrib, where they would have stocked up on water, dates, and other refreshments. They would then have set off again north. #4 The trade route from Mecca to Roman Arabia revived in the last third of the sixth century, as did the travel between the two. The Arabs were constantly switching between the two empires, which allowed them to be both noncommittal and politically neutral.