Carlos’s Reviews > The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the 6th to the 11th Century > Status Update

Kennedy's description of the reign of the first 4 caliphs was fascinating. He manages to give a coherent account of the difficulties that arose in managing such a fast-growing religion that not only had tribal affiliations to deal with but also had to contend with structuring a growing empire.

So far so good, Kennedy is doing a good job at giving the necessary, though not overwhelming, political background needed to understand the rise of Islam. Likewise, he paints a good image of the political realities of Mecca and Medina during the first years of the Hijra. Lastly, he is very good at keeping this a historical description and abstaining from making moral judgement of the actions taken by Muhammad.