{"product_id":"the-first-muslim-isbn-9781594632303","title":"The First Muslim","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe extraordinary life of the man who founded Islam, and the world he inhabited—and remade. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLesley Hazleton's new book, \u003ci\u003eAgnostic: A Spirited Manifesto\u003c\/i\u003e, is out now from Riverhead Books.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Muhammad’s was a life of almost unparalleled historical importance; yet for all the iconic power of his name, the intensely dramatic story of the prophet of Islam is not well known. In \u003ci\u003eThe First Muslim\u003c\/i\u003e, Lesley Hazleton brings him vibrantly to life. Drawing on early eyewitness sources and on history, politics, religion, and psychology, she renders him as a man in full, in all his complexity and vitality.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Hazleton’s account follows the arc of Muhammad’s rise from powerlessness to power, from anonymity to renown, from insignificance to lasting significance. How did a child shunted to the margins end up revolutionizing his world? How did a merchant come to challenge the established order with a new vision of social justice? How did the pariah hounded out of Mecca turn exile into a new and victorious beginning? How did the outsider become the ultimate insider?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Impeccably researched and thrillingly readable, Hazleton’s narrative creates vivid insight into a man navigating between idealism and pragmatism, faith and politics, nonviolence and violence, rejection and acclaim. \u003ci\u003eThe First Muslim \u003c\/i\u003eilluminates not only an immensely significant figure but his lastingly relevant legacy.\"A rich biography… Those who read it will come away well prepared to understand the prophet whose message, 14 centuries later, is the creed of more than a billion and a half people.” –\u003ci\u003eThe San Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This book offers a welcome chance to read [Muhammed's] life story in a more familiar and accessible form than the Islamic sources… \u003ci\u003eThe First Muslim \u003c\/i\u003esucceeds. It makes its subject vivid and immediate.\" –Hari Kunzru, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Richly detailed and beautifully written... [Hazleton] is able to do with words what is almost never attempted in pictures... indispensable.\" –\u003ci\u003eThe Seattle Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Like her subject, Hazleton brilliantly navigates 'the vast and often terrifying arena in which politics and religion intersect,' revealing the deep humanity of faith.\" –\u003ci\u003eMore Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The book's focus is an effort to portray the prophet's unique circumstances and recognizable humanity… Hazleton's biography covers the broad strokes of his life with fairness—she doesn't gloss over his more fallible moments—and insight.\" –\u003ci\u003eNPR\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Hazleton is both a good storyteller and writer. Here she has brought to life a man about whom much has been written and whom millions revere, yet about whose actual life very little is known… A very readable book.\" –\u003ci\u003eThe American Spectator\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This story is deep with details not only of Muhammad's life journey, but with historic information about the culture of the times in Arabia... filled with rich color of the locations, culture, and people; it is a book plentiful with tales of Muhammad's life that follow logically from orphan to religious leader, but more than that, it enriches us with the detail of a time and place in history.\" –\u003ci\u003eThe New York Journal of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[A] humane, audacious biography… An elegant narrative crafted for open-minded readers… a vivid canvas of Arabian life in the early seventh century.” –\u003ci\u003eHa’aretz\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"\u003c\/i\u003eA genuine attempt to try to understand the human experience Muhammad went through…  Hazleton queries and questions in a way that will resonate with a non-academic audience trying to come to grips with the fastest growing religion on the planet. It is a welcome antidote to the barrage of hatred and distortion to which Islam has been subjected since the early Bush years\u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003e, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003ean opportunity for balance to be restored and for those of us who don’t subscribe to the extremes to regain the middle ground.” –\u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eGuernica\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Hazleton... is in the revelation business: She's out to consider Muhammad as a mortal human, a man who lived and died and was vulnerable... A world-class history teacher who contextualizes the realities of [his] far-off times... [she] can effortlessly distill years of research into a few conversational sentences.\" –\u003ci\u003eThe Stranger\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A strikingly nuanced portrait of how Muhammad the man—fallible and complex—became Muhammad the prophet… With the insight of a psychologist and the details of a historian, Hazleton portrays a Muhammad both divinely inspired and deeply human.\" –\u003ci\u003eSpirituality and Health\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Among the spate of recent biographies of the Prophet Muhammad, this one stands out. Hazleton, a former Jerusalem-based journalist and a psychologist, brings both of her professional skills to bear in this perceptive work, examining Muhammad’s life within its historical context and offering insights into the struggles of the early Muslim community. Indeed, 'The First Muslim' might be considered a prequel to her celebrated 'After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split'. Hazleton’s mining of the earliest biographies of Muhammad has yielded anecdotes that even scholarly Muslims may not know (although the absence of discussion of Muhammad’s last sermon may be missed by some). 'The First Muslim' is a beautifully written and dynamic work that Muslims, those wanting to learn more about Islam, and lovers of the English language will enjoy.\" — Asma Hasan, \u003ci\u003eSaudi Aramco World\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Vivid and engaging... a fluid and captivating introduction that will be invaluable for those seeking a greater understanding of Islam's message and its messenger.\" –\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Winning... a level-headed, elegant look at the life of the prophet amid the making of a legend.\" –\u003ci\u003eKirkus\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Beautifully written, \u003ci\u003eThe First Muslim \u003c\/i\u003erespectfully humanizes the inimitable prophet of Islam and sees him whole.\" –Cornel West, Professor, Union Theological Seminary, and Professor Emeritus, Princeton University\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Hazleton sets her keen eye and her sculpted prose on one of the most fascinating and misunderstood figures in history. What she uncovers is a complex yet utterly relatable man whose personal trials and triumphs changed the course of history. This is a wonderful book.” –Reza Aslan, author of \u003ci\u003eNo God but God \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eHow to Win a Cosmic War \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Hazleton has done the seemingly impossible: rendered into human proportions a man who is more often the subject of pious veneration or political vitriol. This is the most readable, engaging study of Muhammad I have ever come across.\" –G. Willow Wilson, author of \u003ci\u003eAlif the Unseen \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Butterfly Mosque\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eThe First Muslim \u003c\/i\u003etells the mostly unknown story of the prophet Muhammad in a masterful, accessible, and engaging way.  Hazleton's empathetic touch softens her rigorous scholarship and research as she crucially demystifies both the man himself and the birth of Islam. An absolute delight (and indispensable) for believers and non-believers alike.\" –Hooman Majd, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Ayatollah Begs to Differ \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Ayatollahs' Democracy\u003c\/i\u003eLesley Hazleton reported on the Middle East from Jerusalem for more than a dozen years, and has written for \u003ci\u003eTime\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eHarper’s\u003c\/i\u003e, among other publications. Her last book, \u003ci\u003eAfter the Prophet\u003c\/i\u003e, was a finalist for the PEN-USA book Award. Hazleton lives in Seattle.Part One\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOrphan\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChapter One\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf he weren’t standing lonely vigil on the mountain, you might say\u003cbr\u003ethat there was no sign of anything unusual about him. The earliest\u003cbr\u003esources describe him with infuriating vagueness for those of us\u003cbr\u003ewho need images. “He was neither tall nor short,” they say. “Neither\u003cbr\u003edark nor fair.” “Neither thin nor stout.” But here and there, specific\u003cbr\u003edetails slip through, and when they do, they are surprising. Surely a\u003cbr\u003eman spending night after night in solitary meditation would be a\u003cbr\u003egaunt, ascetic figure, yet far from being pale and wan, he had round,\u003cbr\u003erosy cheeks and a ruddy complexion. He was stockily built, almost\u003cbr\u003ebarrel-chested, which may partly account for his distinctive gait, always\u003cbr\u003e“leaning forward slightly as though he were hurrying toward something.”\u003cbr\u003eAnd he must have had a stiff neck, because people would\u003cbr\u003eremember that when he turned to look at you, he turned his whole\u003cbr\u003ebody instead of just his head. The only sense in which he was conventionally\u003cbr\u003ehandsome was his profile: the swooping hawk nose long considered\u003cbr\u003ea sign of nobility in the Middle East.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn the surface, you might conclude that he was an average Meccan.\u003cbr\u003eAt forty years old, the son of a man he had never seen, he had\u003cbr\u003emade a far better life for himself than had ever seemed possible.\u003cbr\u003eThe child born an outsider within his own society had finally won\u003cbr\u003eacceptance, and carved out a good life despite the odds against him.\u003cbr\u003eHe was comfortably off, a happily married business agent with the\u003cbr\u003erespect of his peers. If he was not one of the movers and shakers of his\u003cbr\u003eprosperous city, that was precisely why people trusted him to represent\u003cbr\u003etheir interests. They saw him as a man with no axe of his own to\u003cbr\u003egrind, a man who would consider an offer or a dispute on its merits\u003cbr\u003eand decide accordingly. He had found a secure niche in the world, and\u003cbr\u003ehad earned every right, in middle age, to sit back and enjoy his rise to\u003cbr\u003erespectability. So what was he doing alone up here on one of the\u003cbr\u003emountains that ringed the sleeping city below? Why would a happily\u003cbr\u003emarried man isolate himself this way, standing in meditation through\u003cbr\u003ethe night?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere was a hint, perhaps, in his clothing. By now he could certainly\u003cbr\u003ehave afforded the elaborate embroidered silks of the wealthy,\u003cbr\u003ebut his clothing was low-key. His sandals were worn, the leather\u003cbr\u003ethongs sun-bleached paler than his skin. His homespun robe would\u003cbr\u003ebe almost threadbare if it hadn’t been so carefully patched, and it was\u003cbr\u003ehardly enough to shield him against the night-time cold of the high\u003cbr\u003edesert. Yet something about the way he stood on the mountainside\u003cbr\u003emade the cold irrelevant. Tilted slightly forward as though leaning\u003cbr\u003einto the wind, his stance seemed that of someone who existed at an\u003cbr\u003eangle to the earth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCertainly a man could see the world in a different way up here. He\u003cbr\u003ecould find peace in the silence, with just the soughing of the wind over\u003cbr\u003ethe rock for company, far from the feuds and gossip of the city with its\u003cbr\u003earguments over money and power. Here, a man was merely a speck in\u003cbr\u003ethe mountain landscape, his mind free to think and reflect, and then\u003cbr\u003efinally to stop thinking, stop reflecting, and submit itself to the\u003cbr\u003evastness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLook closer and you might detect the shadow of loneliness in the\u003cbr\u003ecorners of his eyes, something lingering there of the outsider he had\u003cbr\u003eonce been, as though he were haunted by the awareness that at any\u003cbr\u003emoment everything he’d worked so long and hard for could be taken\u003cbr\u003eaway. You might see a hint of that same mix of vulnerability and resoluteness\u003cbr\u003ein his mouth, the full lips slightly parted as he whispered into\u003cbr\u003ethe darkness. And then perhaps you’d ask why contentment was not\u003cbr\u003eenough. Did the fact that it had been so hard-earned make him unable\u003cbr\u003eto accept it as a given, never to be secure in his right to it? But then\u003cbr\u003ewhat would? What was he searching for? Was it a certain peace within\u003cbr\u003ehimself, perhaps? Or was it something more—a glimpse, maybe just\u003cbr\u003ean intimation, of something larger?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne thing is certain: by Muhammad’s own account, he was completely\u003cbr\u003eunprepared for the enormity of what he would experience on\u003cbr\u003ethis particular night in the year 610.","brand":"Riverhead Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46302282809573,"sku":"NP9781594632303","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781594632303.jpg?v=1767739352","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-first-muslim-isbn-9781594632303","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}