Islam

Islam began in the Arabian Peninsula, a semi- desert between the Red Sea and the
Persian Gulf, in the ancient Near East. In the early seventh century rival tribes
inhabited the Arabian Peninsula. There were nomadic Bedouin people who lived
inland, and there were tribes on the Red Sea coast that settled and lived from
agriculture and trade. The most important cities were Mecca and Medina.
The only things that all Arabian people had in common were their Arabic language
and the cult of the Black Stone, a stone which was worshipped in the Kaaba.
In the seventh century Muhammad brought these tribes together under a common
religion: Islam. Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, was born in Mecca in 570 AD.
When he was forty years old he received a revelation from God and started
preaching a new religion, Islam, which proclaims submission to one god, Allah.
After Muhammads death his revelations from Allah were written down in the Koran,
the sacred book of Islam.
Muhammad began to preach his doctrine in the city of Mecca. As a consequence of
his rejection of polytheism, he and his followers had to escape to Medina in 622.
This event, known as Hijra, is taken as the start of the Muslim calendar.
In Medina, Muhammad gained more followers and became a spiritual and military
leader, which made the conquest of Mecca in 630 possible. By the time he died two
years later, almost all of Arabia was united under his doctrine.