The Rise of Islam

Mohammad was born in the city of Mecca in present-day Saudi Arabia about 570CE. Faithful Muslims believe Islam was revealed to Mohammad about forty years later. Today Islam is a world religion practiced by more than two billion people.

Mohammad was orphaned at a young age and raised by an uncle, the leader of an important tribe. Mohammad married, fathered children, and worked as a camel trader. Though he had a prosperous life, Mohammad was often restless, so he frequently withdrew to a cave where he would meditate and pray.

A Visit from an Angel

Sometime around 610, Muslims believe the angel Gabriel appeared to Mohammad while he was meditating in a cave near Mecca. The angel gave him messages to share with his community for the rest of Mohammad’s life. The most important of these messages was that there was only one God, called Allah in Arabic, and that Allah alone should be worshipped. The angel taught Mohammad that Allah was the God of Abraham, whom Christians and Jews worship.

According to Hebrew tradition, Abraham was forced to abandon his son, Ishmael, in the desert, but he received assurance from God that one day, Ishmael’s descendants would form a great nation. The angel told Mohammad that his people were the descendants of Ishmael and that Mohammad was the prophet who would lead his people to greatness. Muslims believe that many prophets came before Mohammad, including Jesus, but Mohammad was the last of Allah’s messengers. Eventually, the angel’s messages were collected in the Quran, the Holy Book of Islam.

Submission of God

Mohammad preached Islam, which means “submission to God.” The people who practice Islam are known as Muslims or “those who submit.” As Mohammad’s message began to spread to the citizens of Mecca, the city’s leaders felt threatened. In 622, Mohammad and his followers fled Mecca for Medina, a village 200 miles north. This journey—called the Hijra in Arabic—is the starting date of the Islamic calendar.

Once in Medina, Mohammad led his adopted city into battle and defeated Mecca. Mecca was home to the Kaaba, an ancient shrine filled with images of gods and goddesses. The prophet ordered that all gods and goddesses be removed from the Kaaba and that the shrine be rededicated to the worship of Allah.

The Spread of Islam

Within a century, Muslim warriors captured many former Christian and Jewish cities to create an empire that extended across the Middle East and North Africa. In 711, Jabal Tariq led a Muslim army across the Strait of Gibraltar from North Africa to conquer most of present-day Spain. Tariq’s forces then crossed the Pyrenees Mountains into what is today France. There, the grandfather of Charlemagne, Charles Martel, turned back Tariq’s army at the Battle of Tours in 732. By the late fifteenth century, Christian rulers regained control of Spain. The Reconquista ended in 1492, but Muslims were later expelled in 1609.

The Caliph

After Mohammad’s death, his followers disagreed over who should lead Islam. Some Muslims believed the caliph, meaning “successor,” should be chosen by the faithful. This group, the Sunnis, comprise nearly ninety percent of present-day Muslims. Another group believed the caliph should be someone from Mohammad’s immediate family. These Muslims are known today as Shiites. Shiites live primarily in present-day Iran.

Islam Today

Today, Muslims predominate throughout most of the Middle East and North Africa, though Muslims live worldwide. No matter where they live, at least once in their life, faithful Muslims believe they should travel to Mecca, the place where Islam was first revealed to Mohammad.