How to Understand the Origins of Islam

Of the three main monotheistic religions—Christianity, Judaism and Islam—the last is the only one rooted in clearly historical events. By contrast, the early development of Christianity and Judaism is largely rooted in myth. We know for a fact that a man named Mohammed was born in Mecca about 570 AD, and that he went on to lead a religious revolution that redrew the map of the world. Here’s how Islam took root and spread around the globe.

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1. The Arabian peninsula was largely untouched by Christianity. Although the burgeoning Christian religion had made inroads in other parts of the Middle East—such as present-day Turkey and northern Africa—Arabians in the sixth century practiced a tribal religion involving the worship of idols. Even before the rise of Islam, Mecca was considered a holy city because it contained the Ka’ba, or holy stone.
2. Mohammed had his revelation in 1610. At the relatively advanced age of 40, Mohammed claimed that God had spoken to him, inspiring him to write down the Koran (which means “recitation” in Arabic). What Abraham had done with Judaism a millennium before, Mohammed now proceeded to do with Islam. He challenged the religious leaders in Mecca to cease the worship of idols and accept the will of Allah.
3. An increasing number of people flocked to Mohammed’s cause. A dozen years after his revelation, Mohammed had attracted enough followers to prompt Mecca’s religious leaders to drive him out of the city. In the year 622, this first “hejira” to Medina (280 miles away on the Arabian coast) is still commemorated by modern-day Muslims, and 622 marks the first year of the Muslim calendar.
4. In Medina, Mohammed and his followers built up their strength. Despite continuing harassment from Mecca, Mohammed’s followers prospered in Medina, finally growing strong enough to conquer Mecca in 630. Rather than destroying the Ka’ba, Mohammed turned it into the new focal point of the Islamic religion, throwing out its idols and rededicating the monument to Allah.
5. Over the next century, Arabian armies spread Islam far and wide. The zeal of its followers—and the relatively weak hold that Christianity had on Middle Eastern territories—allowed Islam to spread with astonishing speed. It also helped that two of the major mid-millennium empires, Persia and Byzantium, were both on the brink of collapse and unable to counter proselytizers for Islam.
6. Early Islam was unusually tolerant of other religions. In its first hundred or so years, Islam discouraged conversion by force, preaching tolerance for other “people of the book” (meaning monotheistic Jews and Christians). However, political developments in the mid-8th century ended this policy, and forced conversion to Islam became increasingly common.