Islam is a religion that
began in the 7th century in the Arabian Peninsula. In the Arabic language,
islam means "submission," which in a religious context means submission to
God. A person who submits is called a muslim, which is also the word for
a follower of the religion of Islam. Western writers in the past have sometimes
referred to Islam as "Mohammedism." This word can be offensive to many Muslims,
because it insinuates the worship of the prophet Muhammad as a deity, which is
not a component of Islam the way the worship of Christ is a component of
Christianity.
In exploring the history
of the Islamic World from its beginnings in the 7th century to the decline of
the Great Islamic Empires around 1600, this tutorial aims to address some such
western misconceptions of Islam, while also providing a comprehensive survey of
political, military, and cultural events over the first thousand years of
Islamic history. With approximately 1.2 billion Muslims in the world - 22 per
cent of the world's population - Islam is the second largest religion after
Christianity. In the recent past Christians have generally seen less population
growth than Muslims, however, and some estimates show that the number of Muslims
in the world is increasing at a faster rate than the world population as a
whole. Understanding the origins and history of this major world religion is key
to understanding its present and future role in the world.
