History+and+Origins

= Islamic History and Origin =

== The word Islam means "submission to God". Islam followers are known as Muslims. A Muslim is a person who submits to the will of God. Belief in the Holy Qur'an is needed to fully understand Islam. The Qur'an is the Islamic bible and describes Islam as Deen, which means way of life in Arabic. "Islam is the religion of all prophets from Adam to Noah to Abraham to Moses, Jesus and Muhammad." The Qur'an also says that all the prophets that came before Muhammad and their followers were all Muslims. == == Prophet Muhammad was a messenger of God and revealed the truth and way of life through the Holy Qur'an. Before the birth of the Prophet Muhammad, Muslims believed in more than 360 gods. Angels were believed to be the daughters of God. The Prophet Muhammad was born in 570 A.D. in the city of Makkah. After he had a revelations from God at the age of 40, he started proclaiming the message of believing in one God. People who once believed in him, now boycotted and plotted to kill him. Due to the poor living conditions and social isolation, Prophet Muhammad migrated to Medina along with his followers. This is known as Hijrah and marks the beginning of the Muslim's calendar. The number of his followers increased in Medina. == == Throughout the next couple of years, there were many battles between various tribes of Makkah and the Muslims in Medina. The Treaty of Hudaibiyah was signed in 628 A.D. and a truce was declared for ten years. In 629 A.D. the treaty was broken by non Muslims of the Makkans. Muhammad, with 10,000 men, moved towards Makkah and won the battle without any blood being shed. In 632 A.D., at the age of 63, Muhammad died in Medina. A huge catastrophe was brought upon the Muslims by Muhammad's death. At Muhammad's funeral, Abu Bakr affirmed to the disbelieved people that Muhammad was no longer with them. == == Abu Bakr was chosen as the first Caliph or leader. His successor was Umar ibn ul Khattab. During his ten years of rule, Muslims conquered 220,000 miles of area including parts of Mesopotatmia and Persia taken from the Sassanids Empire or the Iranian Dynasty, and Egypt, Palestine, Syria, North Africa, and Armenia from the Byzantine Empire. He established an empire of peace, justice, and dignity and was devoted and committed to his people. Through love, the teachings of Islam started to spread. Within a few years people started to accept the message of Islam. Islam dominated the half of the world known at the time by the tenth century. ==