Michael Moore
History paper unit 2
10/16/2014

The Islamic religion is the youngest of the three great monotheistic religions. Our views on the Islamic religion can be miss lead by the media in today’s society. The truth is the Islamic religion originated in the Arabian Peninsula around the seventh century. This religion is heavily based on the economy of the Arabian Peninsula. At this time the Arabian Peninsula was very diverse. Framing was mainly located in the southwest mountains and tribes formed around oasis. The city with the greatest economic power was Mecca. This was the center for trade where artisans, merchants, and religious leaders came. Even though the Bedouin's had small numbers they were an important military and political power because of their ability to survive in the desert. As an Arab you belonged a family in a clan and in a tribe. The prophet Muhammad was recognized as the last in a series of prophets. There is not much about Muhammad's child hood but it is thought that he was raised like most children of this time. It was said that Muhammad was born in a well-liked family which was a part of the Quraysh tribe. He would herd the sheep to help his father. As Muhammad grew older he entered the caravan trade. He later married a woman named Khadija. After this he started to turn to the spiritual side of his life. At the age of forty it is said that he started to see visions which said that he was to be the prophet of God. Since having lived in Mecca he started his preaching. Just like any new idea in history it took time to gain support. Mecca was soon became growingly hostile to Muhammad and at the same time some of his disciples asked him to move to Medina with them. In Medina Muhammad gains support and followers. Muhammad returns to Mecca with a large number of his followers. He enters the city peacefully, and eventually all its citizens