Islam

=== Muhammad and the birth of Islam (570–632) ===
{{Main|Muhammad|Muhammad in Islam}}
{{See also|Early social changes under Islam}}
[[File:Hira_Cave.jpg|thumb|[[Jabal al-Nour|Cave of Hira]]]]
According to Islamic tradition, Muhammad was born in [[Mecca]] in [[570]] [[Common Era|CE]] and was orphaned early in life. Growing up as a trader, he became known as the "[[Amin (name)|trusted one]]" ({{lang-ar|الامين}}) and was sought after as an impartial arbitrator. He later married his employer, the businesswoman [[Khadija bint Khuwaylid|Khadija]].{{sfnp|Esposito|2010|p=6}} In the year 610 CE, troubled by the moral decline and idolatry prevalent in Mecca and seeking seclusion and spiritual contemplation, Muhammad retreated to the [[Cave of Hira]] in the mountain [[Jabal al-Nour]], near Mecca. It was during his time in the cave that he is said to have [[Muhammad's first revelation|received the first revelation]] of the [[Quran]] from the angel [[Gabriel]].<ref>{{harvc |c=Muhammad |in=Encyclopaedia of Islam Online |year=n.d. |last2=Welch |first2=A.T. |last1=Buhl |first1=F.}}</ref> The event of Muhammad's retreat to the cave and subsequent revelation is known as the "[[Night of Power]]" (''Laylat al-Qadr'') and is considered a significant event in Islamic history. During the next 22 years of his life, from age 40 onwards, Muhammad continued to receive revelations from God, becoming the last or [[seal of the prophets]] sent to mankind.<ref name="harvp|Esposito|2002b|pp=4–5"/><ref name="harvp|Peters|2003|p=9"/><ref>
{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Muhammad |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online}}</ref>
[[File:Siyer-i_Nebi_151b.jpg|thumb|"Muhammad at the Ka'ba" from the ''[[Siyer-i Nebi]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ottomans : religious painting |url=http://www.ee.bilkent.edu.tr/~history/ottoman33.html |access-date=1 May 2016}}</ref> Muhammad is shown with veiled face, {{Circa|1595}}.]]
During this time, [[Muhammad in Mecca|while in Mecca, Muhammad]] preached first in secret and then in public, imploring his listeners to abandon [[polytheism]] and worship one God. Many early converts to Islam were women, the poor, foreigners, and slaves like the first [[muezzin]] [[Bilal ibn Rabah al-Habashi]].<ref>Rabah, Bilal B. ''[[Encyclopedia of Islam]].''</ref> The Meccan elite felt Muhammad was destabilizing their social order by preaching about one God and giving questionable ideas to the poor and slaves because they profited from the pilgrimages to the idols of the Kaaba.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ünal |first=Ali |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DyuqdDIjaswC&pg=PA1323 |title=The Qurʼan with Annotated Interpretation in Modern English |publisher=Tughra Books |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-59784-000-2 |pages=1323– |access-date=7 October 2017 |archive-date=28 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231228024048/https://books.google.com/books?id=DyuqdDIjaswC&pg=PA1323#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{harvp|Holt|Lambton|Lewis|1977|p=36}}.</ref>

After 12 years of the [[persecution of Muslims by the Meccans]], Muhammad and his [[Sahaba|companions]] performed the ''[[Hegira|Hijra]]'' ("emigration") in 622 to the city of Yathrib (current-day Medina). There, with the Medinan converts (the ''[[Ansar (Islam)|Ansar]]'') and the Meccan migrants (the ''[[Muhajirun]]''), [[Muhammad in Medina]] established his [[Theocracy|political and religious authority]]. The [[Constitution of Medina]] was signed by all the tribes of Medina. This established religious freedoms and freedom to use their own laws among the Muslim and non-Muslim communities as well as an agreement to defend Medina from external threats.{{sfnp|Serjeant|1978|p=4}} Meccan forces and their allies lost against the Muslims at the [[Battle of Badr]] in 624 and then fought an inconclusive battle in the [[Battle of Uhud]]<ref>{{Citation |last=Peter Crawford |title=The War of the Three Gods: Romans, Persians and the Rise of Islam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d-oHBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA83 |page=83 |publisher=Pen & Sword Books Limited |isbn=9781473828650 |date=2013-07-16 |access-date=5 August 2022 |archive-date=28 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231228023957/https://books.google.com/books?id=d-oHBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA83 |url-status=live }}.</ref> before unsuccessfully besieging Medina in the [[Battle of the Trench]] (March–April&nbsp;627). In 628, the [[Treaty of Hudaybiyyah]] was signed between Mecca and the Muslims, but it was broken by Mecca two years later. As more tribes converted to Islam, Meccan trade routes were cut off by the Muslims.<ref>{{harvp|Peters|2003|pp=78–79, 194}}</ref><ref>{{harvp|Lapidus|2002|pp=23–28}}</ref> By 629 Muhammad was victorious in the nearly bloodless [[conquest of Mecca]], and by the time of his death in 632 (at age 62) he had united the [[tribes of Arabia]] into a single religious [[polity]].<ref>{{harvc|c=Muhammad |in=Encyclopaedia of Islam Online |year=n.d. |last2=Welch |first2=A.T. |last1=Buhl |first1=F.}}</ref><ref name="610CE" />