Roots of Islam Part 1

I’ve been reading – or rather listening to—a book. It’s called In the Shadow of the Sword by the populist historian Tom Holland. And it deals with the geopolitical background of the Koran and the birth of Islam in 7^th century Arabia. It attempts some answers to questions like,

-          Where did Muhammad get his ideas from?  

-          All those bits of the Koran that essentially recapitulate bits of the bible – how did they get in there? and,

-          How and why did Islam spread so far and so fast in those early years?      Continue reading >>