Rise Of Islam Essay

Ahlam Siddiqui

ID number: @56922

ARA 101 (11 AM)

Oct. 17, 2014

The Rise of Islam

Today, Islam is one of the world’s largest religions; in 2012, it was estimated to have over 1.6 billion followers (Pew Research Center, 2011). The spread and rise of Islam is attributed largely to Muhammad ibn Abdullah (PBUH), the Prophet of Islam and Messenger of God. Islam began in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Muhammad became a Prophet when he was 40 in 622 (AD) during the month of Ramadan. When the Arab people began practicing Islam, they abandoned many of their old customs; for example, they gave up drinking, gambling, and so on in accordance to Islamic beliefs. Islam eliminated any activities that were detrimental to society such as infanticide, usury, murder, exploitation of the poor, adultery and so on. It also and elevated the status of slaves and women, and preached equality.

His main guardian was his grandfather Abdul Muttalib, and then his uncle Abu Talib. Several incidents occurred during the Prophet’s youth that foreshadowed his Prophethood. One such instance occurred when Abu Talib took Muhammad with him to Syria. Upon their caravan’s arrival at Busra, a Christian monk, Bahira, invited the people of the caravan for a feast. This was unusual, because Bahira never used to take any interest in them until this particular year, when Muhammad was with them – many allege that Bahira saw the Prophet in his caravan with ‘a cloud overshadowing him among the people.’ At the feast, Bahira observed him closely and looked for any traces on his body that could signify Prophethood. Afterwards, he asked Muhammad questions about his routine and daily life – all of his answers matched what Bahira knew. Finally, Bahira saw the seal of Prophethood between Muhammad’s shoulders – this confirmed that Muhammad would become a prophet, and Bahira went to Abu Talib to advise him to take Muhammad back to Mecca, as the Jews would harm him if they knew about