Readings for 10/24

I liked that Professor McGrath was able to align chapter two of No god but God and the pages from the reader because they told the same stories about Muhammad with slightly different wording so we could really understand what was going on. Those stories including when Muhammad “cut open” and snow was put inside him which seemingly signified the removal of impurity and his first revelation when the angel, Gabriel, told him to “Recite” the words of the Lord. I thought it was more interesting that in No god but God, the author brings the controversies of what exactly happened to Muhammad during his first revelation with Gabriel as a man and how it might have affected him different with different perspectives that circulate the occurrence. I also liked the idea that women were a large chunk of his earliest followers. I was surprised by this because it seems as though women of this time and culture were more like property than anything else, and the author, Aslan, highlighted the fact that they had to go against whatever man “owned” her at the time (father, husband, brothers) in order to follow Muhammad’s teachings which would have been dangerous. I find myself enjoying the read of No god but God more than the reader just because it’s easier for me to understand, but as I said before, if the readings keep lining up it won’t be too bad.