The Rise of Islam

Read: In the name of thy Lord Who createth, Createth man from a clot.

Read: And thy Lord is the Most Bounteous, Who teacheth by the pen,

Teacheth man that which he knew not.

— The Qur'an 96: 1-5

In 610, an Arab merchant named Muhammad began to receive the divine revelation. However, his message was not well received by the authorities of his home city of Mecca, which was a major trading center that included a major pagan shrine, the Ka'ba (KA'-ba), which brought in pilgrims and trade from all over Arabia. He

What became of the sacred vessels from the temple after Belshazzar's feast? Cyrus restored the Jewish community in the Holy Land, and undoubtedly many of the Temple treasures were also taken back there. However, the profanation of the vessels could have rendered them unusable in the eyes of the Jewish priests. In this case, they may have been left behind, somewhere in the Middle East, where they still remain. Perhaps the profanation has transformed them into Infernal objects, which even now are being passed from one owner to the next, bringing ruin upon each. Or perhaps the priests were mistaken, and they are in fact holy relics that may bring great benefits to those who are judged worthy enough to find their resting place in the ruins of Babylon.

and his followers were forced to emigrate to Medina in 622, from which he fought and defeated the Meccans in a war lasting eight years. In 630 Mecca submitted to Muhammad's authority, and he confirmed the Ka'ba's importance to Islam as a shrine originally constructed by the angels, then rebuilt by Adam and later by Abraham with the help of his son Ishmael, the ancestor of the Arabs. Meanwhile, Islam was spreading across the Arabian Peninsula, and by Muhammad's death in 632 most of the inhabitants of the region were Muslims.