I was drawn into the Muhammad Khan account of the Battle of Yarmuk which I found compelling in its account of the battle and insightful descriptions of the characters involved. I've already ordered a book off Amazon on the subject!

In regards to making the texts relevant I have a couple of ideas: The Ibm Ishaq materials being put together from oral histories in the immediate wake of the 7th century origin era could provide some insight in historical record keeping. Maybe comparing these passages to other "nearly firsthand" historical accounts could be interesting: Alexander's Arrian, Persian War's Herodotus.... others?

I believe the idea that is forming for how I would integrate these materials is a lesson over the growth of early Islam beyond Arabia using the Battle of Yarmuk as the centerpiece case study. We do similar type lessons with the Persian Wars and an examination of the Battle of Marathon and Salmis and the Gallic Wars with the Caesar's siege of Alisia. This addition would be an effort to mold this non-western unit topic into a similar mold as those classical western lessons.

-Sam Knopik