Evolution of Islam

The Revelations of Muhammad happened over a period of twenty three years, in which the Qur'an was revealed to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel. This caused the formation of Islam led by the prophet Muhammad and impacted the world by creating a new religion that relied on forming religion based empires to spread their religion, as opposed to preexisting empires. Islam is now the second largest religion in the world and the fastest growing.

A plot to assassinate Muhammad was discovered, so Muhammad quickly fled to Medina with his followers. He would late go back to Mecca with his followers and conquer it. This pilgrimage allowed of the continuation of Islam and avoided it's persecution. Present day muslims also make a journey to Mecca as one of the high pillars of Islam, the hajj.

The Fertile Crescent is noted throughout history as a place of great
innovation and agricultural surplus. Muslim control of the Fertile Crescent was a crucial cornerstone in enlarging and spreading Islam through it's wonderful location. Because of the growth of Islam and the control of the Fertile Crescent, this area remains highly muslim today.

The Qur'an is important because it helped to spread the message of Islam. It gave an outlet so that anyone could learn about the faith and allowed the record of Muhammad's teaching and findings to never be altered. The Qur'an is still important in Islam today for the same reasons it was important throughout history. It gives an outlook on what Islam is all about.

In Islam, there are two separate sects. The Sunni, which is the more popular of the two, believes that the first four caliphs were all rightfully there and that they were the successors of Muhammad. The Shiites believe that only direct descendants of Muhammad can be his successors, starting with the fourth caliph. This politically divided Islam into two separate groups. Today Islam is made up of approximately 80% Sunni, 15 % Shi'a, and 5% smaller other sects of Islam. The Shi'a is usually thought of as the more radically group.

Although this was more of an Islamic failure because the Franks stopped Islamic progression into Europe, it still evolved Islam and led to the development of the religion. The failure at Tours represented the end of Islamic expansion and is probably one of the reasons that Islam isn't the largest religion in the world today. This allowed Islam to build on their previous accusations instead of continuing expansion.

During his reign, Islam reached a sort of golden age with innovation across multiple areas of life rapidly increasing. The most notable achievement can be seen in the writing of One Thousand and One Nights, whose modern version is commonly named Arabian Nights. This piece of literature is impotent throughout history and is a classic example of certain examples of satire and storytelling.

During the reign of Ma'mun a large controversial theological debate arose, questioning the difference between how eternal the Qur'an is. Baghdad was also a center for text translation during this time causing scholars from around the Islamic world to flock to the city. This was another stepping stone in portraying Islam as a well thought out religion and providing growth throughout the world. This led to several documents being available to us today, that otherwise would be forever lost in history.

Averroes or Ibn Rushd, is arguably the most important philosopher to come out of Islam, even Dante puts him next to Aristotle in one of his books. He combined ideas from religion and logic and transformed a lot of people's views. His work caused Aristotle's work to be popularized, leading to several scholarly developments in the Middle Ages.

Saladin self-declared himself ruler of Egypt and Syria and led the Muslim opposition against the Franks and Crusades. Through his leadership, Muslim forces were able to put an end to the chaotic crusades and allowed the recapturing of certain places that had been seized such as Palestine. Yet instead of being hated by Europeans, he was more often than not respected because of his chivalrous ways.