History of Islam

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Out of the many interesting religions, Islam has uniqueness to it. The name, Islam stems from the word “Salam” that means peace. The word “Muslim” which means a follower of Islam refers to a person who submits him or herself to the will of God. Muhammad founded Islam in the year 622CE. This particular religion started when the angel Jibreel supposedly read the first revelation to Muhammad. The Muslims believe in the “one true God” which they call Allah. Islam is totally based on the word of Allah, and Muslims believe that Islam was revealed to the prophet Muhammad. Muhammad was born in 570 in Mecca, a great trading city on the Arabian Peninsula. He became a successful merchant and he was famous for his honesty, but found himself unfulfilled and concerned that his society lacked a religious ethic. In search of spiritual fulfillment, he started to spend long hours in a cave on nearby Mount Hira (Known as Gare-Hira). It was in this cave, Muslims believe, that he received initial messages from Allah through the Angel Gabriel. Messages received by Muhammad were recorded and written by scribes and compiled into the Holy Quran. Muhammad received revelations from Allah for twenty-two years. All Muslims believe that there have been many prophets, including Jesus, and that Muhammad was the last prophet. When Muhammad started preaching and gaining followers, the rulers of Mecca noticed that part of Muhammad’s message was potentially dangerous for their economic base. They were afraid that if the idea is adopted that there is only one god, Allah, people would stop visiting the Kaba and it will ruin the economy of city. Mecca’s rulers began to take measures to stop Muhammad, using political means first and slowly moving to more aggressive means (John, 2000.) By 622, Muhammad’s life was in danger from the Mecca authorities and they were also harassing his followers who had grown in numbers in few years. Then an unexpected opportunity occurred. A town to the northwest...
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