|Mauritania Table of Contents Origins of Islam In A.D. 610,
Muhammad, a prosperous merchant of the Arabian town of Mecca,
began to preach the first of a series of revelations said to
have been granted him by God (Allah) through the agency of the
archangel Gabriel. The divine messages, received during solitary
visits into the desert, continued during the remainder of his
lifetime. Muhammad denounced the polytheistic paganism of his
fellow Meccans, his vigorous and continuing censure ultimately
earning him their bitter enmity. In 622 he and a group of his
followers were forced to flee to Yathrib, which became known as
Medina (the city) through its association with Muhammad. The
flight (hijra) marked the beginning of the Islamic Era and the
entrance of Islam as a powerful force on the stage of history;
indeed, the Muslim calendar begins with the year 622. In Medina,
Muhammad continued his preaching, ultimately defeated his
detractors in battle, and consolidated the temporal and
spiritual leadership of most Arabs