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Early History of Islam

The Early History of Islam

Owais Hassan

University of North Carolina at Pembroke

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Early History of Islam

Abstract

During the life of the prophet Muhammad Islam was formed and was made to be a uniting force

to the Arab people and guided them to towards a central belief which in turn caused the major wars

and bloodshed among the Arabs to end. This also played an important role in building society

towards a notion of peace and prosperity which caused an almost Islamic renaissance to occur and

flourish.
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Early History of Islam

The topic which I would like to discuss today is the Early history of Islam. Islam has a

very rich and interesting history and is directly related to my life since I’m a practicing Muslim.

Islam is the second most practiced religion in the world next to Christianity and is also one of the

three Abrahamic religions. Islam, like Judaism and Christianity, started in the Middle East and

has many strong similarities such as the belief in a single Deity, belief in biblical prophets, and

belief in an ultimate destination decided by your morals and actions in this life.

Islam started in the seventh century ACE by Muhammad. Muhammad’s occupation was

being a Shepperd at a young age and accompanying Abu Talib with his Caravan. Muhammad

lived in Mecca. Muhammad spent most of his time in meditation and solitude. Once when

Muhammad was 38 and was meditating at the Cave of Mount Hira he saw the angel Gabriel

come to him. Gabriel instructed Muhammad to recite. Muhammad did not know what to think

about this situation at the time but eventually he accepted the mantle of Prophethood. The main

things he focused on at the early point in his life were to abolish Idolatry in Arabia and to unite

humans under a single deity starting with the Meccans.

Muhammad Preached to the people of Mecca and slowly but steadily began to gain a

following. One thing which bothered Muhammad was that the Kaaba was filled with thousands
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Early History of Islam

of Idols. The Kaaba was originally built by Abraham as a Prayer House to worship God.

Muhammad was a direct descendent of Abraham. There were many other obstacles which

Muhammad had to deal with and one of them was the physical and verbal abuse his followers

faced on a daily basis by non-Muslims.

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Early History of Islam

Many Muslims were beaten and killed for converting to Islam. During Muhammad’s

time, there was a convert named Bilal Ibn Rabah. Bilal was a salve and was treated poorly by his

slaveholder and even worse when he had converted to Islam. Bilal was treated with physical

abuse and was tortured for his religious choice. The Prophet Muhammad heard of this and sent

his closest companion, Abu Bakr to purchase his freedom. This was only a single case of the

abuse that Muslims faced during the early days of Islam as there were many other similar

situations and cases of abuse going on.

At the time the Meccans would hold Arabs to be superior to non-Arabs and engaged in

tribalism. A very authenticated saying of the prophet states, “O people, your Lord is one and

your father Adam is one. There is no virtue of an Arab over a foreigner nor a foreigner over an

Arab, and neither white skin over black skin nor black skin over white skin, except by

righteousness. Have I not delivered the message?”. This shows that Muhammad reformed early

Arab society by allowing us to judge others by their character rather than by physical

characteristics.

Early Arabs engaged in tribalism and bloodshed over very small matters. Each tribe was

very hostile to the others. The Pre-Islamic Arabs would show hatred towards other tribes and

classes of people. These types of things caused unnecessary bloodshed and an endless cycle of

killing which only caused hatred amongst the neighboring tribes. When Islam was introduced to

the Arabs it was a movement united humans under a single banner. In Islam, all people are equal.
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This was an incentive for those who abhorred the bloodshed and killing harsh tribalism carried at

the time.

Another idea which united Muslims under a single banner and identity was their belief in

a single God who was absent of partners and how Muslims assembled side by side five times a

day and prayed towards this God regardless of race, class, or any other factor. This was very

different from other religions at the time since Islam had no form of Hierarchy limiting the status

of individuals within the masjid, which is a prayer house for Muslims. This single belief in God

also abolished the prevalent black magic, superstition, and tribal hatred associated with idolatry

at the time and was ultimately beneficial in uniting the Arabs under a single religion and belief.

After preaching for many years and gaining followers, the Meccans began to fear The

Prophet Muhammad and his teachings. They were hostile towards him and his followers in

violent and terrible ways. The last option left was for the prophet and some of his followers to

migrate to a city about 200 miles north named Yathrib. The name was later changed to “Medina

Tun-Nabi” or “city of the prophet” in English. This marked the Pilgrimage to Medina and the

first year in the Islamic calendar, known as Hijri. The Muslims were constantly being harassed

and attacked even while living in Medina. After many successful victories, Muhammad and his

followers marched from Mecca to Medina and retook the city peacefully. There was a treaty

signed between the two sides and both agreed to live in peace from there on. The overwhelming

majority of Meccans began to convert to Islam and eventually the clear majority of Arabia was

Muslim.
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Early History of Islam

During the time of the Prophet Muhammad many things were accomplished. First the

abolishment of tribalism and the bloodshed caused by it. Second the act of uniting all people

under a single God and defeating the division that Idolatry and multiple belief systems had

created. Islam begun to spread throughout the Arabian Peninsula and through the far reaches of

North Africa and Asia and eventually to Europe. Many Muslim scholars and individuals went on

to discover new ideas and concepts in the subjects of Art, Math, Science, Literature, and many

other mediums and even helped influence the Renaissance and European reform from the Dark

Ages.
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Early History of Islam

Sources

Ihab Hamdi El-Sakkout (1994) The Arab Tribes from Jahiliya to Islam: Sources and Historical

Trends

Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad (2013) Life of Muhammad

Various Sources(N/A) Hadith