Sunday, March 06, 2005

Islam Chronology

Islam Chronology. A chronology of Islam, from 570 to 2001. Includes some source material, and articles on various historical periods.

From the site:

Muhammad was born into the trading society of Mecca in 570. He was a part of one of the dominant tribes, the Qu'raish (Adler, p.184). Mecca was a great trade city and was a stopping place for merchants and businessmen of all races, religions, and countries. In general, it was open to the world. Although Mecca continually struggled for supreme power and went through many leaders, Mecca's strength was the ability of the people to form a common mind for the "common good" (Watt, p.50).

Not much is known about this man during the first forty years of his life other than the fact that he married a rich widow and later they had a daughter, Fatima, who became the wife of the great warrior, Ali (Ibid., p.186). However, around 610, Muhammad claimed that after meditating in the desert God had revealed many messages to him concerning life. These revelations came from the angel Gabriel, who Muhammad claimed God had used to call him to publish his religion (Guillaume, p.96). Muhammad's revelations were written shortly after his death and they are now called the Qur'an.

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