One of the most interesting parts of the reading for me was learning about the backstory of the prophet Muhammad, whom I had never read about in great detail before, including the fact that he was an orphan and first experienced his visions from God during a personal retreat. I also think the parallels between the ways in which Islam was first spread by Muhammad and his followers and the spread of Christianity by Jesus and his disciples are fascinating as well, including the fact that neither Muhammad nor Jesus ever wrote down their own messages, but instead had them written down by their followers in the Koran and Bible, respectively. The fact that both prophets were persecuted for their beliefs during their lifetimes is also very interesting to me. Perhaps the most shocking part of the reading for me was learning that Muhammad essentially founded his own state in the city of Medina, as I wasn’t aware that Muhammad had gotten involved in politics and had essentially conquered Medina, as well as his hometown of Mecca, in order to convert the inhabitants to his beliefs and away from their old polytheistic ones. The fact that this was somewhat a history of war and conquest was surprising to me because I did not have much knowledge of the spread of Islam prior to this reading, although I guess it could be said that a lot of religious history involves war. Overall, I thought Muhammad’s life story was incredibly fascinating and is a good illustration of the way in which a religion can gain traction among people.