Muhammad born in 570 in Mecca--father died before his birth, mother when he was young child, so raised by grandfather, then later his uncle--inhabitants of Arabian peninsula included Arab polytheists, Jews, & Christians--at 25 Muhammad married Khadija, wealthy widow in the caravan trade, who was 40--several children, but no other wives (a common practice) during Khadija’s lifetime--in 610, at age 40, began to have visions of angel Gabriel with messages from Allah, the chief Arabic god, who revealed himself as the one true God, identified with the God of Jews & Christians--Muhammad gathered followers, but forced to leave Mecca for Medina in 622, a journey called the Hijra (emigration), and which became year 1 in the Muslim calendar--his following grew, & in 630 he marched on Mecca, capturing it with little fighting--Muhammad died two years later in 632--revelations from Allah passed down orally at first, but written down after Muhammad’s death in authoritative form about 650--Muhammad viewed by Muslims as last and greatest in long line of prophets, starting with Adam and including many from the Hebrew Bible, such as Ibrahim (Abraham), Ishaq (Isaac), Ismail (Ishmael), Musa (Moses), Daniel, and Isa (Jesus, who is born of a virgin but not divine part of Trinity)
Five Pillars of Islam:
another important concept was jihad, which meant struggle, but some took to mean holy war
Muhammad died without naming a successor--majority of Muslims chose Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s friend, as first caliph (successor) (632-634) over umma (community)--succeeded by Umar (634-644), then Uthman (644-656), a member of the Ummayad clan--Uthman granted favors to members of his clan, so civil war broke out and Uthman assassinated--Muslims in Medina chose Ali ibn Ali Talib, Muhammad’s cousin & son-in-law (married to his daughter Fatima)--many Muslims believed Ali should have been first caliph, because he was a member of Muhammad’s family & named by prophet--Aisha, Muhammad’s youngest & favorite wife (after death of Khadija), wanted Ali to punish those who had murdered Uthman, but Ali unable or unwilling to do so, so Aisha backed members of Umayyad clan who did punish assassins--Ali assassinated in 661, & Muawiya, a member of the Umayyad clan, chosen caliph by majority
at this point minority of Muslims, the Shia, split off from larger community--they supported Ali as caliph/imam (guide) from beginning, and after his death they supported first Hassan, then Husayn, Ali’s sons--Shia continued to support members of Muhammad’s family as imams until 12th imam, Muhammad ibn al-Hassan, who was hidden by God in 941 but will return as Mahdi (messianic figure) alongside Isa (Jesus)
despite some infighting, Muslims quickly conquered all of Arabia, followed by Persia, rest of Near East, N Africa, and Iberian Peninsula--Umayyads succeded in 750 by Abbasids, then in 950 when Abbasid dynasty broke up, many smaller Caliphates emerged
under Muslim rule, Jews and Christians fared well, as they were identified as “people of the book”--eventually spread into E Europe & Anatolia