• Had Christian, Jewish and pagan influence
• Jews prayed toward the temple in Jerusalem
• Pagans prayed toward various idols in Mecca
• ‘Islam’  implied attributes characteristics to the men:strong, romantic and warrior-like
•  The word "Allah" probably comes from ‘al illah’, which means "the God."
• ‘Muslim’ is one who submits to Allah

• Traditionally devoted to the moon god – Al~ilah (meaning ‘the god’)
• Custodians of Mecca and responsible for the care of the idols
• Crescent moon symbolized worshippers of the moon god
• Names reveal tribal and family devotion to moon god

• Born 570 A.D to an impoverished branch of the Quraysh, the custodians of Mecca.
• When he was 25, he was employed by the wealthy merchant/trader, Khadijah, and later married her.
• With plenty of spare time in Mecca, Muhammad sat in the market place listening to storytellers and philosophers.
• He was in the habit of going to a particular cave to fast and pray
• Muhammad was disturbed by the polytheistic idolatry that dominated the religious practices in his country and was drawn to the monotheistic faith of the Jews and Christians.
• He came to the conclusion that there was only one of the god and turned away from the Ka’bah with its idols.
• He began to reflect on the meaning of life, resulting in the earlier, more ‘spiritual’  Qur’anic verses.

• In 610 A.D., when Muhammad was 40, he began receiving frightening revelations which were accompanied by violent seizures and foaming at the mouth. (Scholars credit this to epilepsy, demon possession or both)

• He said the angel Gabriel came to him at these times and told him what was written on the stone tablet. The revelations he received were recorded in the Qur'an which means ‘read and recite’. (Much the same as John in the book of Revelation)
• Considered a miracle because Muhammad couldn’t read or write.
• Mohammed was depressed and fearful after the first revelations thinking they were from the devil.
• Khadijah and a cousin convinced him it was god who spoke and he was god’s prophet.
• His first convert was his wife, Khadijah. Another important early convert was a merchant named Abu Bakr (a future father-in-law and successor)
• Preached in secret for 3 years.
• He declared that there is one god.

•  his name is Allah
• Muhammad was his final prophet
•  “Islam”, under the Qur’an , means "surrender" or "submission" to the will of Allah. Peace (individual and corporate) can only come by Allah. 
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• In 613 A.D. He was told to preach publicly and disregard the risk.
• Fled persecution by uncles and others to King of Abbysynia for assylum
• Returned to Mecca to find they had reverted to idol worship
• In 619 A.D.  Umar (future caliph) and Hamza influential men converted.  The Muslims became bolder and prayed openly to one God, Allah.
• Muhammad’s teachings went against the religious practices of Mecca and antagonized the merchants who profited from idol worship.
• The Jews turned against Muhammad’s ‘one god’.
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• The business community turned against Muhammad for lost revenue from idols, lost revenue and merchndise from attacked caravans, antagonistic converts, etc.

Muslims compare this event to the resurrection of Christ for the Christian community

• To draw in the Jews – Mohammad decreed prayer facing Jerusalem and religious fasting manditory.
• Mohammad began attacking caravans support the movement.
•  The ‘Medina verses’ became shorter and more practical in nature, denied authority of the Bible, the people of the Book and advocated violence.
• Through military might he spread his religion throughout Arabia.
• 632 A.D  Muhammad dies w/o a designated successor. 
• 632 – 1258 A.D.  Golden Age of the ‘Rightly Guided Caliphs’
• 632-634 A.D. Abu Bakar-chosen by companions, led prayers in place of Muhammad.
• 634-644 A.D.  Umar- Began doctrine of Jihad, established council of 5 to select successor, established standards for gov. laws, language and courts.
• 644-656 A.D.  Uthman – Compiled Qur’an. crushed revolts and consolidated Islamic rule.
• 656-661A.D.  Ali  (M’s son-in-law)  Beginning of succession by decendant  followed by Shiites.
• Within the next 100 years, Islam took over parts of India, all of North Africa, and a part of Europe

• The Qur’an
• The Tauret (the Pentateuch of Moses)
• The Zabur (the Psalms of David)
• The Injil (the gospels of Jesus)
• During Muhammad’s  early years (Mecca), the Bible was honored
• In his later years (Medina), the Bible was deemed corrupted.

• The original Qur’an still exists in Paradise with Allah.
• It was written in Arabic.
• The Qur’an cannot be translated.

• Allah is too far above mankind to have his words accurately translated.

• The Qur’an is perfect. 

• The Qur’an is written in ‘street’ Arabic
• It contains many grammatical errors
• Over 100 foreign words in the Qur’an
• Egyptian, Hebrew, Greek, Syrian, Akkadian, Ethiopian, and Persian words  are used
• Muhammad changed some verses upon the suggestion of advisers
• The revelation of the Qur’an is a miracle.
• ‘Qur’an’ means ‘read and recite’.
• Muhammad could neither read nor write.

• Grace comes from reciting (not understanding) the Qur’an.
• The ‘ Law of Abrogation’ applies.  The Qur’an supersedes all other scriptures (the Bible) or verses within the Qur’an itself based on new revelation.

• The “satanic verses” in which Muhammad approved of the worship of the three goddesses, the daughters of Allah, were removed

• There are no variant readings, lost verses or conflicting readings.

• 22 years after Muhammad died, the Caliph Uthman collected all transcripts from Muhammad’s recitations and compiled the first ‘official’ Qur’an.
• All originals were burned.
• All known variant texts were collected and burned

• A number have survived and are surfacing to reveal the truth.

• Recent Yemeni Qur’ans reveal that the claim of a uniform text can no longer be made