"Mighty Rome is fallen...."
When last we left this history, the Roman Empire under Constantine had adopted Christianity as the state religion, the Gnostics had been driven underground and the Jews were suffering from intermittent persecutions within the Empire. We should perhaps look at the Roman Empire.
At the height of the Empire, Roman power spanned to the North and South, to the East and West of the Mediterranean Sea. A map of Rome at the height of it's glory can be found at http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~vandersp/Courses/maps/fullmap2.jpg It is estimated that no more than 30 percent and perhaps as few as 10 percent of Romans actually converted, but they wielded significant power.
To the North of Rome were the pagan Germanic tribes. To the East was the Persian Empire, occupying modern Syria, Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan. This was Rome's largest, organized competitor. The Persians practiced the a religion known as Zoroastrianism, established by Zarathushtra, a prophet-reformer, who is commonly known by the Greek version of his name, Zoroaster. Zoroastrianism believed in a duality of light and darkness, good and evil, and that men made moral choices that determined which side they were on. Ahura Mazda, the Wise Lord, was the supreme spirit for good. The main evil spirit was Ahriman.
A good overview of the Persian Empire can be found at http://www.loyno.edu/~seduffy/persia.html
The Persian Empire dates back to 500 BC, but was in its decline by the time Rome reached its peak.
The Roman Empire had expanded because of its military might primarily and continued to hold sway because of its economic and cultural prowess. But Rome soon entered its decline. Rome began to use the pagan barbarians as part of the Roman military forces. Gauls, for example, participated in the Roman invasion of Britain. Soon civil wars broke out and the barbarians were used to bolster the Roman armies. By 410, Alaric and the Visigoths attacked the city of Rome and sacked it. The Burgundians had already taken over eastern France, and the Vandals and Sueves were in Spain. Soon the Vandals crossed the Straits of Gibraltar and landed in Africa. The power of Rome moved to East to Constantinople (the city of Constantine) and would survive for hundreds of years, but cut off from Europe.
Christianity made significant inroads among the barbarians. Even among the feared Huns, horse warriors from Asia and precursors of the Mongol and Tartar hordes that would pour forth centuries later, Christian missionaries gained converts. Europe was being converted to Christianity.
Meanwhile, across the Mediterranean....
It begins in the desert. The Prophet Mohammed (also spelled Muhammed) was born into the Qu'raish tribe living in the city of Mecca, in what is today Saudi Arabia, around the year 570. He gained riches by marrying a widow, many years his senior, and they had a daughter Fatama. His life until he was 40 was unremarkable. When he was on a caravan, the arch-angel Gabriel came to him in the desert and said "Recite in the name of thy Lord …" (Sura 96). As he was instructed by Gabriel, he wrote a book of these recitals, called the Quran. (or Koran.) The word means "Recitation" in Arabic.
We can debate who wrote the Old Testament, the Bible. We can ask when the Gospels were written and by whom with some legitimacy. There can be NO DEBATE about who wrote the Koran. Mohammed spoke the words, a scribe took them down, the copy was given back to Mohammed for proof-reading and correction and then became final.
Here are the Fundamentals of Islam from a Shia website: http://www.shia.org/fundamental.html
Rather than judging the Prophet by what he said (always open to debate, what did he really mean?) let us look at the recorded actions of his life. He was forced to flee from Mecca by assassins. The people of Mecca had grown wealthy because the town housed the Kaaba, the black stone sacred to the pagan gods of the day. The towns people feared that the new religion would upset the economy that rested on worship of the stone. People came to Mecca for festivals honoring the Kaaba. See http://www.submission.org/hajj/kaaba.html for a picture.
Mohammed and his small band of followers fled to Medina. Those who came with him from Mecca were called the Muhajirin, or the Refugees. He soon gained converts in Medina, who would be known as the Helpers or Ansar. Soon Mohammed was leading his followers in prayer at a Mosque. Not long after, he was the supreme civic power in Medina.
When someone accepts the Quran, they make make submission to the will of God. Islam means Submission and one who has made submission is a Muslim.
There were also Jews in the city of Medina, who continued to trade with Mecca. Mohammed had hopes of converting these Jews and issued the following instructions:
"The Jews who attach themselves to our commonwealth shall be protected from all insults and vexations; they shall have an equal right with our own people to our assistance and good offices; they...shall form with the A’loslcms one composite nation; they shall practice their religion as freely as the Moslems...They shall join the Moslems in defending Yathrib against all enemies. All future disputes between those who accept this charter shall be referred, under God, to the Prophet."
The agreement was accepted by all the Jewish tribes in the area: the Banu-Nadhir, the Banu-Kuraiza, the Banu- Kainuka and others.
As Mohammed gained followers, many coming from Mecca, food became a problem. Mohammed and his followers took to raiding caravans. When the raids succeeded, four fifths of the spoils went to the raiders, one fifth to the Prophet for religious and charitable uses; the share of a slain raider went to his widow, and he himself at once entered paradise. So said the Prophet.
Once a raid was conducted by Mohammed's forces on the last day of Rajab, a month sacred to the Arabs. Violence was forbidden at this time and Mohammed's raiders broke the code. On another occasion, a raid was planned against a caravan protected by Mohammed's own people, the Quraish. Word was leaked, the caravan turned aside and a force of 900 Quraish came out to kill Mohammed and his forces. They met at Wadi Bedr. Mohammed personally led his numerically inferior force to victory.
The Jews of Medina rejected the warlike Prophet, whose faith at first seemed so similar to their own. Mohammed seized their possessions and sent 700 out into the desert.
Abu Sufyan, who had led the Meccan forces in their earlier defeat, led an army of 3000 against Mohammed, who had but a 1000 men. Mohammed was defeated and thought to be dead. But he wasn't. He attacked the Banu-Nadhir Jews and, after a long siege, gained their wealth. They were allowed to flee with their lives.
Again and again, Mohammed led actions, some defensive, some offensive. During his ten years in Medina he planned sixty-five campaigns and raids, and personally led twenty-seven. Finally, in 630, he gained a decisive victory over Mecca. He destroyed the idols, but in a move of diplomatic brilliance, spared the Kaaba or Black Stone, and sanctioned the kissing of it. He was now the undisputed ruler of the area. Source: http://www.sullivan-county.com/x/medina.htm
Upon the death of the Prophet, Abu Bakr, a friend of the Prophet and the first adult male to embrace Islam, became the first caliph. Some felt that the husband of Fatima, as direct lineal descendant, should have been granted power. But the rule of the Caliphs continued. As a military power in what was essentially a vacuum (Rome was gone and the Persian Empire in decline) the Arab forces swept out of Arabia. Mighty cities fell before them. Jerusalem fell before them and they built a Mosque on the ruins of the Temple that was destroyed by the Romans 600 years before. Damascus, Acre, Cairo all fell. The Caliphs now governed from beautiful palaces. North African tribes converted and the spread across the Mediterranean into Spain. When they met mightier forces, such as the Seljuk and later the Ottoman Turks, these warriors soon converted too. The Mongol armies were turned back before Cairo. The Mongols would rule a domain from the Sinai Desert to India for a century. But they soon converted to Islam and became known as the Il-Khanids.
It seemed that no force on Earth could stop the conquest of Islam.
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