Muhammad : a story of the last prophet
(Book)

"Although ostensibly a novel, Chopra bookends his story about the Muslim prophet with an author's note and an afterword, offering the reader a history lesson while reflecting on the current relationship between Islam and the rest of the world. The novel emphasizes that of all the founders of the great world religions, Muhammad is the most like us. Muhammad, a merchant who marries a rich widow and routinely travels in caravans as part of his trade, lives a regular life until the day the archangel Gabriel appears and orders the reluctant 40-year-old Muhammad to recite. (To recite, Chopra reminds, is the root word of Koran.) Using multiple first-person narrators, slaves and merchants, hermits, and scribes, he portrays life (including its brutality) on the streets of Mecca. Each chapter is self-contained. Muhammad's wife, Khadijah, laments there have been no warnings that this tumultuous, life-changing event is about to occur; Ali, the first convert, explains how the Prophet approached him. Compellingly told, this is not only good storytelling; it also helps readers, especially non-Muslims, better understand the complexities and contradictions surrounding Islam. --June Sawyers" (from Booklist.)