Islam began in Mecca about 610 CE. The dominant religion of Arabia at this time was a form of the old Semitic religion, with shrines of various gods and goddesses in many places. There also appears to have been a widespread belief in a high god, or supreme god, Allah. The other gods were sometimes regarded as angels, and could be asked to intercede with the supreme god on behalf of the worshippers.
Most of the Arabs were members of nomadic tribes, and believed more in human excellence than in any divine power. They believed that what happened to them was determined by Fate or Time, which they thought of, not as a being to be worshipped, but simply as âthe course of eventsâ. Some tribes, or parts of tribes, had become Christian, and there were Jewish communities in Medina and elsewhere in western Arabia. Thus, certain Jewish and Christian ideas were familiar to many Arabs.
BEGINNINGS
Islam began, not among nomads, but among city-dwellers engaged in far-flung commercial enterprises. Towards the end of the sixth century, the merchants of Mecca gained a monopoly of trade between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean, which passed up the west coast of Arabia by camel caravan. Mecca had a sanctuary, the Kaâba, which was an ancient pilgrimage centre, and the surrounding district was sacred. All this facilitated the growth of trade, but the wealth that poured into Mecca led to social tensions, especially among the younger men.
Muhammad was born in Mecca, around the year 570 CE. In about 610, he came to believe he was receiving messages from God, which he was to convey to his fellow Meccans. These messages, or revelations, revealed over 23 years, were later collected and form the Qurâan. They asserted that God was One (Allah), and that he was both merciful and all-powerful, controlling the course of events. On the Last Day, he would judge people according to their acts, and assign them to heaven or hell. Part of the conduct he expected of people was a generous use of wealth. In the revelations, Muhammad himself was spoken of, sometimes as simply a warner, telling of Godâs punishment for sinners, sometimes as a prophet, or messenger, of God. Muhammad sincerely believed these revelations were not his own composition, but the actual speech of God, conveyed to him by an angel. This is still the belief of Muslims.
Muhammad gained a number of followers, who met frequently with him, and joined him in the worship of God. But his messages were not all well received. The Meccan merchants were roused to vigorous opposition by the criticisms of their practices implied in the Qurâan. The merchants spoke of the old pagan gods, but the Qurâan came to emphasize that there is only one God â that âthere is no deity but Godâ. As opposition grew, the Quranic messages began to speak of former prophets who had met with opposition, and of the way in which God had preserved them and their followers, and brought disaster on their opponents. Among the stories were those of Noah and the Flood, Lot and the destruction of Sodom, and Moses escaping from Pharaoh.
| He is Allah, besides whom there is no other god. He is the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One, the Giver of Peace, the Keeper of Faith; the Guardian, the Mighty One, the All-powerful, the Most High! Exalted be He above their idols! He is Allah, the Creator, the Originator, the Modeller. His are the gracious names. All that is in heaven and earth gives glory to Him. He is the Mighty, the Wise One. The Qurâan, Surah 59:23â24. |
EMIGRATION TO MEDINA
Muhammadâs followers were now persecuted in various ways by his opponents, who were often their own relatives. Eventually it became impossible for him to carry on his religious activity in Mecca. An initial emigration of a handful of Muslims took place to the neighbouring Christian kingdom of Abyssinia, whose Christian ruler regarded kindly the message of Islam, and refused to hand over the Muslims to their adversaries from Mecca. Later, these emigrants joined the others in the main emigration of Muslims from Mecca in 622, when Muhammad, preceded by about seventy men and their families, emigrated to Medina. This emigration, the Hijrah, became the event that marked the beginning of the Islamic era. Medina was a fertile oasis, and the inhabitants were divided into two hostile groups. Most of them accepted Muhammad as prophet, and agreed that they and the emigrants from Mecca would form a single community or federation. Possibly they were more ready to accept Muhammad because they had heard from local Jewish clans that a messiah was expected. They were also hopeful that he would help them to overcome their divisions.
At Medina the religion of Islam took shape. The main ritual forms, modelled on Muhammadâs example, were: worship (or prayer), almsgiving, fasting for the whole month of Ramadan, and the pilgrimage to Mecca, including ceremonies at neighbouring sites. The messages revealed to Muhammad at Medina included legal regulations for matters where Arab custom was unsatisfactory, such as the inheritance of wealth and the avoidance of incest.
The Jewish clans in Medina were associated with Muhammadâs federation, as allies of Arab member clans, but nearly all the Jews refused to accept him as prophet. They mocked parts of the Qurâan, and sometimes actively opposed the Muslims. Muhammad expelled two Jewish clans from Medina, and had the men of a third executed. Until after the conquest of Mecca, he had few contacts with Christians.
At first, Muhammad had no special political powers at Medina, beyond being head of the emigrants from Mecca. After a year or two, however, all his followers there â now called Muslims â became involved in hostilities with the pagan Meccans. By 630, Muhammad was strong enough to take Mecca. He treated his enemies generously, and won most of them over to become Muslims. Many tribes all over Arabia also joined his federation and became Muslims. Because of his successes, Muhammadâs authority as head of state was unquestioned.
| If you ask them who it is that has created the heavens and the earth and subjugated the sun and the moon, they will say âAllahâ, How then are they turned away? The Qurâan, Surah 29:61. |
THE FIRST CALIPHS
âHe who honours Muhammad must know that he is dead. But he who honours the God of Muhammad must know that He is living and immortal.â Muhammad died in 632, and with these words his first successor, Abu Bakr (c. 573â634), encouraged the Muslim community and pointed them to the task ahead.
On his death, Muhammad left both a religion and a state. At first, the state had the form of a federation of tribes or clans, but as it expanded it became more organized. The head of state was known as the âcaliphâ (khalifa) â the âsuccessorâ or âdeputyâ of Muhammad. Raiding their neighbours had been a normal occupation of the nomadic Arab tribes, and Muhammad and the first caliphs realized they could not keep peace within the federation unless they found some outlet for the energies of the tribesmen. They therefore organized raiding expeditions (ghazawat) in the direction of Syria and Iraq. The aim of these was to obtain booty, including domestic animals, and the first raids from Medina were very successful. There was a power vacuum in the region, because the two great powers of the day â the Byzantine and Persian Empires â had been almost constantly at war for half a century, and were now exhausted. In a few decisive battles, the Muslims overcame such opposition as the empires presented. Instead of returning to Medina after each campaign, they establish...
