The Origins And Central Beliefs Of Islam

The prophet Muhammad sparked the rise of Islam on the Arabian Peninsula by preaching the word of Allah, and inspired the caliphs that came after him to expand the religion and lead it to a period of prosperity. Without the benefits that Islam brought and the power of the Muslim army Islamic Civilization might have secluded itself to one region like Judaism did and not spread so quickly across the region like it did. The appeals that Islamic culture and the teachings of Muhammad offered, as well as practical benefits of converting to Islam, brought many People of the Book and other non-Muslims into the religion. Muslims used military force and threats in the name of Allah to strike fear into all non believers and expand Muslim territory through

These disagreements led to the development of three rival sects in the Muslim community. The Shi’ites supported Ali’s claim to the caliphate and believed that the position of caliph rightly belonged to the descendants of Ali. Those known as the Sunnis believed that the first three caliphs had been correctly chosen and supported the Umayyad Caliphate. The most militant followers of Ali formed the Kharijite (rebel) sects. Most of the 800 million Muslims of today are either Sunnis or Shi’ites.

Following this major change in faith, Muhammad tried to gain a following among the Arab people. This proved unsuccessful at first, so Muhammad and his friends journeyed to the area of Yathrib, which he renamed Medina and established himself as the ruler. The journey of Muhammad is now know as the Hijrah and is used by Muslims to date their

Before the prophet Muhammad cultivated the religion of Islam, Arabia was a center of trade. Being the home of various clans and tribes, there would be feuds along the Arabian Peninsula over their opposing beliefs. Along with the blood feuds among the nomadic tribes, there was also village-based agriculture which benefited flourishing small kingdoms. Being located in the crossing point for many trade routes, Arabia also gave rise to many cosmopolitan cities. Arabia before Muhammad differs, from Arabia after Muhammad’s discoveries because of the decrease in battles around neighboring people. When Islam was made present, it unified the Afro-Eurasian world which caused the world to be more peaceful and rose the social standing of Arabia.

The development of Islam – 7th century C.E. – This religion began when the angel Gabriel appeared to Muhammad and told him to spread the word of God. At this time, many people worshipped many gods/idols. Muhammad was thought of as the “one true prophet” by his followers. There are five pillars of Islam: the shahada – profession of faith, salat – ritual prayer, sawm – fasting, zakat – giving alms, and hajj – pilgrimage to mecca. Muhammad’s preaching about there only being one god got him kicked out of Mecca in 622 C.E. where he and his followers ended up in Medina. In Medina, the Islamic community grew into a small emoire-like group. In 630, the Muslims took back Mecca. After Muhammad’s death, the religion continued to grow with many disputes

Many Islamic beliefs determined the nature of average Muslim citizens in the early Muslim empires.  The religion of Islam began with one faith-driven individual named Muhammad, who laid the foundation in which a large and expanding empire would be built on. In the beginning, Muhammad had gained only a few loyal followers, but once he had gained control of the prominent city of Mecca, thousands of converts were led to the monotheistic religion of Islam. After Muhammad’s death, his revelations

The religion of Islam began its emergence through the life of the prophet Muhammad in the 7th century. Muhammad’s belief in a single god and his teachings of Islamic religion grew importance in his hometown of Mecca, India. Though initially rejected by successful merchants, Muhammad and his followers grew faith through military conquest and Arab Muslim traders. The emergence of Islam served as the beginning and end of the 7th century CE because of its dominance within Afro-Eurasian trade and significant military conquests that served as the underlying factor of the development of states and empires from the Middle East through North and East Africa. With Islam becoming an incredibly influential and appealing religion among trade routes,

The word Islam means "surrender" or "submission," submission to the will of Allah, the one God. Muslims are those who have submitted themselves. The basic creed of Islam is brief: Both Muslims and Christians are monotheists, believing in the same god, referred to

During the birth of Islam, Muhammad started to gain many followers. His followers accompanied Muhammad on the Hijra in the year 622. The Hijra was the migration of Muhammad and his followers to Yatrib; now known as Medina. During Muhammad’s time in Medina, it was the beginning to strategically set himself up for a jihad against the pagan Meccans. It was important to spread Islam across the Middle East and diminish the pagan practices in the holiest city of Islam. Some of his followers are recognized to take Islamic expansion in the Middle East for decades, spreading Islam as far into the western hemisphere of the world, and keeping the Umma together. “For the Sunnis, the new caliph had to be a male, a member of the Quraysh tribe (Muhammad’s tribe), and possess the ability to keep the Muslim community united in the face of numerous existential internal and external threats (Moore, 2015)”. Amongst Muhammad’s followers were Abu Bakr, Umar (634-644), Uthman (644-656), and Ali (656-661) in which were known as the Rashidun Caliphs: defined as the righteous caliphs. This acknowledgement divides Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims due to Sunnis claiming the four caliphs as the legitimate successors of the

Muhammad took his followers from Mecca to Yathrib which he later named Medina. Muhammad's popularity was seen as threatening and people in Mecca tortured him and his devotees. People did not like or believe Muhammad's message because he was basically telling them that their gods were not real gods. 622 also marked the start of the Islam calendar. 632-Muhammad dies.

They began persecuting Muhammad’s

The Muslim prophet, Muhammad, was born in 570 in the city of Mecca. Muhammad lived a normal life just like any Muslim, until he began seeing visions believed to be inspired by Allah. Muhammad believed that since Allah has already revealed himself to Moses and Jesus, it was now his turn to receive the final revelations. After receiving them, Muhammad tried to convince his people that the revelations were true, but most thought he was insane and crazy, or that he would upset the social and political order of society. As a result, Muhammad and some of his followers left to the rival city of Yathrib in 622. Yathrib was later renamed Medina, which meant “city of prophet”, as he began to win support from the residents in Medina and on the surrounding country side. With these people, Muhammad formed the first Muslim community.

Before Muhammad became the messenger of God, the residents and leaders of Mecca practiced mostly Judaism but also encourage many different gods up to 300 different ones. The purpose of Mecca’s leader supporting these other religion or gods were to make money off of them. They invited these people and would gain money from selling or allowing them to sell and spread their religion to the other followers. Once Muhammad became the messenger of god, he wanted to spread to the people the ideology and beliefs this one god had. He wanted people to know that everyone was created equal including the women and slaves. He also wanted people to know that there was a place for heaven for the good and hell for others he didn’t believe him. They tried to

After ‘The Year of Sorrow’ in which both Muhammad’s uncle- Abu Talib and wife- Kadijah died Muhammad is warned by the angel Gabriel that the situation is getting too dangerous for him in Mecca. “Muhammad knew the faith must find expression in a community which would insure its external force and the opportunity to prevail against opposition” (Cragg). It is at this point that Muhammad is invited to become a leader in Medina (622ce).

He simply preached what he had received. In the first three years of his ministry, Muhammad gained only 40 followers. And as his teachings threatened the Meccan way of life, both moral and economic, he and his followers experienced heavy persecution. It first took the form of mockery, but soon turned into open violence. Members of the small movement were stoned, covered in dirt as they prayed, beat with sticks, thrown into prison and refused service by merchants.