Mohammed is known as the prophet of Islam, born  570 AD in Mecca in Saudi Arabia. He is believed by Muslims to be the perfect man, the example for them to follow.

Around 610, he began to claim visitations from an Angel Gabriel (Jibreel). The angel taught him to recite and memorize words from a god named Allah. Long after his death, these were written down by his followers and would become the Koran.

For 13 years  in Mecca Mohammed preached his visions as the final revelation from Allah, and gained 150 converts, the first Muslims. He claimed the Jews perverted the Torah and the Christians falsified the Gospels. He claimed that Jesus did not die on the cross. Instead, he said that a 'look alike' was crucified. He ridiculed the gods of his fellow Meccans and claimed that their ancestors were burning in Hell as they were not Muslims. This infuriated the Meccans who worshiped their ancestors.

In 622 he left Mecca for Medina. This migration with his followers is known as the Hijra. This event marked the start of the Islamic calender.

In Medina Mohammed built the first Mosque as a political command centre for the Muslims. He developed rules for different treatment of believers and non-believers which became the basis for Sharia Law. He changed strategy from "religion" to politics, attacking the trading caravans of the Meccans who had rejected him. The Medina developments ensured the spread of Islam by war (Jihad) and the promise of booty for the Muslim warriors (Jihadis).

He developed systematic methods for conquering people and forcing them to accept Islam. He called his system Jihad. This system was devastatingly successful and allowed him to conquer all of Arabia by the time of his death in 632AD.

He continued to receive revelations but the tone of the Koran changed from the peaceful Meccan phase (64%)to violently intolerant (36% Medina phase). As this happened, Mohammed further developed his system of Jihad.

Mohammed became virulently antisemitic when the local Jews rejected his claim to prophethood. Because of this rejection Mohammed led his men to slaughter many Jewish communities in Arabia. The Koran and his biographies contain harsh anti-semitic preaching and stories of killings. 

After his death, half the tribes of Arabia left Islam and returned to their old religions. His successor fought them in a long and bloody war, known as the Apostasy Wars, and forced the Arabic people back into Islam as Muslims. They then burst out of Arabia and used the tactics of Jihad to conquer most of the Middle East and North Africa in just a few short decades.

 

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