Brief Essay on the History of Islam (Essay Sample)

Islam
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Introduction
Islam was started by Prophet Mohammed when he encountered Arch Angel Gabriel in Mount Hira. He later preached the words of Allah at the Mecca city and won some people to Islam. The Mecca city was composed of other idol worshipers who felt that Mohammed was spoiling their polytheist religious activities (Lings, 2006). They chased him to Medina. Muslims made Mecca their religious city till today. Succession of Mohammed resulted into wars and division among Muslims. The Sunni and the Shia groups emerged from the conflict during succession. The Muslim groups hold differing teachings with the Sunni group blamed for adopting extremism and violence I the present generation.
History of Islam
The genesis of Islam dates back to the seventh century in Mecca. The arch angel Gabriel appeared to Mohammed at night and told him to speak the words of God to the people. The angel appeared to him when on a journey of trade (Spencer, 2007). The angel instructed the prophet to teach the words of God to the people. The main religious practices of that time were Judaism and Christianity. Mecca was a commercial center at the coast of Arab from where many traders gathered as they journeyed (Ramadan, 2009). There are times when the prophet heard from the angels but not all the times. The angel was sometimes quiet and made Mohammad to doubt his calling. When Mohammad appeared hesitant, Gabriel appeared harsh and instituted that he teaches the words. Many traders converged there on their trade routes (Smith, 2009).
Mohammed himself was a trader before he became a preacher and a prophet. Many people worshiped their gods and idols at Mecca. This town had a feature called Kaba where many idols were placed and worshiped by their followers (Smith, 2009). Mohammed taught that Allah was the only god and that many other prophets had served Allah before (Smith, 2009). Mohammed mentioned that Moses, Abraham and Jesus had also preached Allah’s word before (Ramadan, 2009). Other traders were not pleased with Mohammed and plotted to kill him. Most of those who wanted him killed were polytheist traders who hated the teachings of Islam. Mohammed escaped to Yathrib which was situated on the northern side of Mecca.
Yathrin was later renamed Medina. The people of Medina welcomed Prophet Mohammed and his teachings about Islam (Smith, 2009). Mohammed became a religious and a political leader while at Medina. The teachings of the prophet were assembled and recorded in a book called Koran. Mohammed had gathered a large following while at Medina. His troops matched against Mecca in bid to use Kaba for religious practices (Ramadan, 2009). The people of Mecca resisted. The prophet Mohammed later negotiated a peaceful agreement to have Muslims allowed to visit Mecca for worship (Ramadan, 2009). The people in Mecca later failed to obey the requirements of the peaceful treaty. Mohammed and his troops consequently matched against Mecca and took over in a rather easy battle. Mecca became the Capital of Islam but Mohammed still operated from Medina (Ansary, 2010). The idols in Mecca were destroyed except the Kaba which still had a religious significance to Muslims.
Mohammed’s wife Khadija died soon after the Mecca negotiation. Mohammed did not have a son to succeed him. When the prophet died, his position was taken by his wife’s father (McCarthy et al, 2010). The Muslim faith had started spreading in the Middle East mainly through battle. The Muslim troops consumed a wider area of the Sinai desert including Jerusalem. Abu Bakr was later succeeded by Omar (Ansary, 2010). Those who succeed in leading the Muslim group were always killed and assassinated by those who were not contented with the decision. Ali took over after the death of Abu Bakr. Ali was later selected as the next successor after Othman. The Muslims were not contented during the time of Ali that they decided to make two factions. The Sunni and the Shia Muslim groups emerged during the reign of Ali (Harris and Nawaz, 2015).
Two groups of Muslims emerged during the reign of Mohammad’s father in law. One group was the Sunni and the other was Shia (Danahar, 2015). This religion was already transforming into a political influence at the time of the division. The Sunni were the majority while the number of Shia Muslims was small (Harris and Nawaz, 2015). They had battles and assassinations but later cooled in their killing spree. The Sunni believed in the teachings of Prophet Mohammed while the Shias had their own teachings known as Ayotollahs reflections. The difference between these two Muslim factions brought in different ideologies some of which border extremism (Spencer, 2005). The Shias blame Sunni Muslims for helping fuel violence that ...