shortly before the advent of islam, apart from urban trading settlements (such as mecca and medina), much of what was to become saudi arabia was populated by nomadic pastoral tribal societies. the islamic prophet muhammad was born in mecca in about 571 ce. in the early 7th century, muhammad united the various tribes of the peninsula and created a single islamic religious polity. following his death in 632, his followers rapidly expanded the territory under muslim rule beyond arabia, conquering huge and unprecedented swathes of territory (from the iberian peninsula in west to modern day pakistan in east) in a matter of decades. arabia soon became a more politically peripheral region of the muslim world as the focus shifted to the vast and newly conquered lands.