The descendants of Ishmael lived in relative obscurity throughout
the period of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah and the Assyrian,
Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Roman Empires. They mostly kept
to themselves in the Arabian Peninsula where desert life was hard,
frequently fighting among themselves. But this changed early in
the seventh century, less than 600 years after the time of Jesus
Christ, when the most famous of Ishmael's descendants came
on the scene.
Until the early 600s the Arabs were idol worshippers. The great
temple in Mecca had 365 idols (one for each day of the year) and
was a source of considerable revenue for local merchants who relied
on pilgrims visiting the site for their income.
This religious landscape was to change dramatically with the prophet
Muhammad and the religion he founded, Islam.
Muhammad (sometimes spelled Mohammed or Mahomet) was of the Hashemite
family (in Arabic, Beni Hashim) of the powerful Koreish (or Quraish)
tribe, which controlled the pagan temple in Mecca. According to
Islamic belief, it was near Mecca, at Mt. Hira, that the archangel
Gabriel first appeared to Muhammad in A.D. 610, revealing wisdom
from God. This and subsequent revelations form the Koran (or Quran),
the holy scriptures of Islam, a book roughly the length of the
New Testament.
Muhammad, whose name means "highly praised," became
a courageous and determined preacher of monotheism, the belief
in one God, a belief that threatened the commercial prosperity
of other members of his tribe. Their attempts to have him killed
failed, and in a short time Muhammad brought an end to the polytheistic
idolatry of the area, replacing it with Islam (literally meaning "surrender" or "submission" to
the one true God, Allah).
