632
The Death of Muhammed
The Islamic prophet and warlord Abū al-Qāsim Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim was born in Mecca about 570. Orphaned at an early age he was raised by an uncle. In his middle age he began to see visions, in which he claimed that the archangel Gabriel was speaking to him. (See the 14th-century Persian illustration above.) In 610 he began to proclaim these messages which centred around the utter oneness of God, a viewpoint which made him unpopular in Mecca which enjoyed a thriving pilgrimage trade to the shrines of various pagan deities. In 622 he and some followers fled to Medina where he struggled for political dominance and the unity of various tribes. In 630 he returned in force to capture Mecca. By the time he died in 632 he had succeeded in uniting most of the tribes of the Arabian peninsula under the banner of his new religion, Islam.
His death sparked a struggle for succession to the headship of the Islamic world. Though many opted for the title of Caliph (“successor”) to Muhammed’s cousin and son-in-law Ali, the majority were for the position to go to Abu Bakr. Ali was again denied the caliphate in 634 after the death of Abu Bakr and the reigns of Umar (d. 644) and Uthman. It was only in 656 after Uthman’s assassination that Ali was recognized but in 661 he himself was assassinated and the Muslim realm fell into the Sunni Shi’a conflict which has yet to be resolved.