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Islam was
founded by Muhammad (full name: Muhammad
Ibne Abdullah). Muhammad
was born around 570 a.d. in Mecca which is now located in
Saudi Arabia. Mecca was then the cultural and religious
center of Arabia.
Around
35 Muhammad assumed the habit of going outside of Mecca to
Mt. Hirah for meditation and contemplation. There was a
cave there and he often went there for solitude. It was
during one of these times of meditation that Muhammad said
an angelic being appeared to him, calling him. This
disturbed Muhammad (Qur'an 81:19-29) and he told his wife
Khadija that he thought he had been visited by an evil
Jinn. Jinn are supposed to be living beings like people,
but not angels, who were created from fire and are
invisible, yet dwell on the earth. A short time later, in
the year 610 (believed
to be the 26th of Ramadan),
while in a cave on Mt. Hirah,
Muhammad said that the angel Gabriel appeared to him and
commanded him to recite (96:1-19). This recitation became
the Qur'an. In these encounters with the angel Gabriel,
sometimes he would see the angel, other times he would only
hear him, and at others he only heard the sound of a bell
through which the words of the angel came.
It became
the mission of Muhammad to proclaim the truth of Islam,
given to him by Allah, through the angel Gabriel. Muhammad
called the people of his area to repent from their idol
worship, to do good, and to serve the one and true God,
Allah. He taught that man is God's slave and it is his duty
to submit to God and obey him. He said that the Day of
Judgment was coming and that a man's works will be weighed
on that day. Those whose good deeds out weigh their bad
may, by Allah's grace, be saved and enter Paradise which is
full of sensual pleasures. The unsaved go to hell. His
first converts were his wife, Khadija, his cousin Ali, and
his adopted son Zaid ibn Haritha. Soon afterwards, Abu Bakr
also believed. In his first three years of proclaiming
Islam, he had 40 converts.
In the year 620 Muhammad lost his beloved uncle Abu Talib (who never became a Muslim) and his wife Khadija.
"After a few months Muhammad sought comfort by marrying the
widow of one of the believers named
Sawdah.
He also later married Ayisha, the seven-year old daughter of
his friend Abu Bakr, who he took into his home three years
later." According to Muslim historians, Muhammad had 12
wives when he died.
In 632, Muhammad
delivers his last sermon, later falls ill, and dies in the
presence of his favorite wife, Aisha, and her father, Abu-Bakr.
He was buried in Medina in his own house. His father in
law, Abu-Bakr, becomes Caliph, the religious leader of
Islam. Today, there are about 1.2 billion Muslims
worldwide.
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