The word "Islam" comes from the Arabic language and means "submission to God". A Muslim belongs to the Islamic religion. The Arabic word Muslim means "one who is submitted to God, wholly committed to the divine power and authority (Speight 2). Islam is the youngest and one of the largest major religions with more than one billion followers (Hopfe 329).
Muhammad, the founder of Islam, was born around A.D. 570 in Mecca. His mother died when he was six and his father died before he was born. Muhammad's uncle, Abu Talib, a traveling merchant, raised him. Muhammad often traveled with his uncle to Syria and other regions for trade. At twenty-five years old, Muhammad married a wealthy widow, Khadija, who was forty at the time. They worked together as caravan merchants. Once Muhammad was allowed more leisure time, he started visiting a popular cave at Mount Hira, three miles from Mecca, to meditate. In the year 610, he received a vision of the angel Gabriel while at the cave. Gabriel brought this command from God:.
Recite: In the Name of thy Lord who created,.
created Man of a blood clot.
Recite: And thy Lord is the Most Generous,.
Who taught by the Pen,.
Taught man what he knew not.
From this point forward, Gabriel was to be the middle-man of communication between God and Muhammad, at the frequent revelations throughout the rest of Muhammad's life (Braswell 12). These communications were transferred over time to become the scriptures of Islam, or the Qur"an. This sacred text teaches about God as well as how to lead a good, faithful life. The scriptures set harsh penalties for evils such as stealing or murder. After three years of silence about his experiences, Muhammad started his prophetic mission. At first, he only converted a few followers; most under forty years old from some of the most worthy families in Mecca. He preached against the idols in the Ka"ba , which most Arabs worshiped.