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Muhammad (570-632 c.e.) grew up to beciome a carvan manager and eventually married a rich widow, Khadija, who was also his employer.
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Troubled by the growing gap between the Bedouin values of honesty and generosity and the acquisitive behavior of the affluent commercial elites in the city. Muhammad retreats to the nearby hills to meditate in isolation.
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There in the cave during his meditation the angel Gabriel appeared to him and commanded him to teach the revelations that he would be given.
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after endurinh persecution in Mecca, Muhammad and his followers migrate to the nearby town of Yathrib, where the people there accepted Isalm. This marks the "hijrah" or "emigration", and the beginning of the Isalmic calendar. In Medina, Muhammad established and Islamic stated based on the laws revealed in the Quran and the inspired guidance coming to from God. Eventually he begins to in vite other tribes and nations to Isalm.
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Muhhamad returns to Mecca with a large number of his followers. He enters the city peacefully and eventually all its citizens accept islam. The prophet clears the idols and images out of the Kaaba and rededicates it to the worship of God alone.
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Muhammad dies after a prolonged illness. The Muslim community elects his father-in-law and close associate, Abu Bakr, as caliph, or successor.
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Muslims enter Egypt and rout the Byzantine army. Muslims consider their conquest as the liberation of subjugated peopl, since in most instances they were under oppressive rule.
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Isalm begins to spread throughout North Africa.
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Iman Ali, is killed, bringing to an end the rule of the four "righteous caliphs." Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali. This also marks the beginning of the Umayyad rule.
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Isalm continues to spread through the continent of Africa including Nigeria, which served as a trading liasion between the nothern and central regions of Africa.
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Isalm continues to spread throught Asia. Malaysion traders interact with Muslims who teach them abourt Isalm.
