Islam, which means "obedience", "submission" in translation from Arabic, is one of the most widespread world religions. Believers who practice Islam are called Muslims. They believe in one God - Allah, who showed his will to people through the messenger (prophet) Muhammad, a resident of the Arabian Peninsula. In one of the Muslim prayers it says: "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet." The holy book of Muslims is the Koran, and services are held in Arabic.
Islam is a young religion compared to Buddhism or Christianity. Muslims claim that when the future prophet Muhammad was 40 years old, the angel Jabrail suddenly appeared to him and began to dictate the first chapters (verses) of the Koran. According to modern chronology, this happened in 610 AD. For the next few years, Muhammad preached the new faith among his inner circle.
Initially, the number of adherents of Islam was very small, but after Muhammad began to preach in the large commercial city of Mecca, it increased dramatically. The popularity of Muhammad was promoted by such provisions of Islam as the prohibition of usury, the requirement for gratuitous aid to the poor and needy. This also caused hostility to the newly-minted prophet from the nobility of Mecca. Fearing for his life, Muhammad was forced to move with his family, close relatives and associates to the neighboring large city of Yathrib. This resettlement (in Arabic, "hijra"), which happened in 622, is considered the beginning of the Muslim chronology.
Muhammad renamed Yathrib to Medina and declared it a city, from where the new faith would begin its victorious march. Over the next ten years, he united almost all Arab tribes under his rule. Shortly before the death of Muhammad in 632, the city leaders of Mecca recognized his authority. Thus, the state of the Arab Caliphate was formed on the territory of the Arabian Peninsula.
After the death of the prophet, his followers began to carry out campaigns outside Arabia. The troops of the Byzantine Empire and the Persian state of the Sanasids were severely defeated. Light Arab cavalry terrified opponents. At the turn of the 30-40s of the 7th century, the Arabs conquered Egypt. And in 661, the capital of the Caliphate was transferred to the conquered Damascus - one of the largest and richest cities of the then world.
Thanks to the conquests, in a relatively short time, Islam became the dominant religion in the vast territory of Asia and Africa. In 711, the Arabs, crossing the Strait of Gibraltar, asserted their rule in the Iberian Peninsula. Their further advance to Europe was stopped by the commander Karl Martell, who defeated the troops of Caliph Abdurahman at the Battle of Poitiers in 732.
