-The Rise of Islam - Muhamed, a prophet astute in statecraft and military strategy and an inspired statesman, changed the history and destiny of Arabia and of much of the world. He was born about 570 to the Banu Hashim family, reputable merchants in the tribe of Quraysh in Mecca. According to tradition, he was a penniless orphan who married Khadija, the widow of a rich merchant, somewhat older than himself. He probably engaged in trade, and is said by some to have had responsibilities in connection with the Ka'aba stone. When he was about forty years old he began preaching a new religion, eventually meeting the opposition of Meccan oligarchy. Following the death of Khadija in 621, Muhamed married eleven other women. Tradition relates that he and his followers were invited to the town of Yathrib by Jewish and Christian tribes after they were no longer welcome in Mecca. In 622, the first year of the Muslim calendar, they set out on the Hijra, the emigration to Yathrib, later renamed Medina, meaning "the city" where Muhamed concluded a treaty with the tribes of Medina. A large number of Medinans, known as the Ansar (helpers), were attracted to Muhamed's cause. According to several sources, early versions of Islamic practice included Jewish practices such as the fast of Yom Kippur and prayer to Jerusalem, perhaps influenced by the Jews of Medina. These were eventually dropped, and the direction of prayer was turned to Mecca. Eventually Muhamed fell out with the Jews of Medina and destroyed two Jewish tribes in battles related in the Qur'an. In 628, Muhamed and his followers set out on a pilgrimage to Mecca, and met the Quraysh tribe at Hudaybiyeh, where the Quraysh had assembled to block the pilgrimage. Instead of fighting, the enemies concluded a treaty and the Muslims agreed not to make the pilgrimage that year. Instead, they turned on the Jews of the town of Khaybar, who were now no longer protected by the Quraysh, and attacked and subjugated the city. By 630, Muhamed and the Muslims were strong enough to attack and conquer Mecca, despite the treaty, alleging that the Quraysh had violated the treaty first. The Meccans were forced to convert to Islam, and the powerful Quraish and Umayya tribes were incorporated into the Islamic leadership by giving members of their leaders, especially Uthman, prominent positions in the military and government.
The new religion evolved into a way of life and recipe for community organization, providing a religious and ideological framework for uniting the Arab tribes, and a social and organizational framework for regulating the unified action of the nomads. The separate tribes had been re-formed into a Muslim-Arab Umma (community). The Qur'an is, among other things, a handbook for rules of war, prescribing the laws of treaties and of booty and commanding the faithful to Jihad, (holy war) against any who interfere with the practice of Islam. In practice, Jihad was often carried as aggressive war well beyond the borders of Islam.
Muhamed had created powerful force that could now wrest control of much of the subcontinent. In 632, Muhamed died after a short illness.
. The constant misinterpretation of the term "Jihad" by Westerners as necessarily a violent "holy war" has done Islam a huge disservice.
