Muhammad, the founder of Islam, was born around A.D. 570 in Mecca. His mother died when he was six and his father died before he was born. Muhammad’s uncle, Abu Talib, a traveling merchant, raised him. Muhammad often traveled with his uncle to Syria and other regions for trade. At twenty-five years old, Muhammad married a wealthy widow, Khadija, who was forty at the time. They worked together as caravan merchants. Once Muhammad was allowed more leisure time, he started visiting a popular cave at Mount Hira, three miles from Mecca, to meditate. In the year 610, he received a vision of the angel Gabriel while at the cave. Gabriel brought this command from God:

Recite: In the Name of thy Lord who created,

Recite: And thy Lord is the Most Generous,

From this point forward, Gabriel was to be the middle-man of communication between God and Muhammad, at the frequent revelations throughout the rest of Muhammad’s life (Braswell 12). These communications were transferred over time to become the scriptures of Islam, or the Qur’an. This sacred text teaches about God as well as how to lead a good, faithful life. The scriptures set harsh penalties for evils such as stealing or murder. After three years of silence about his experiences, Muhammad started his prophetic mission. At first, he only converted a few followers; most under forty years old from some of the most worthy families in Mecca. He preached against the idols in the Ka’ba , which most Arabs worshiped. During the last ten years of Muhammad’s life, he served as Islam’s prophet as well as a political and economic leader. Muhammad built his new religion so strongly that soon after he died, Islam spread ferociously to claim vast territories and people (Braswell 13).

Islam contains people of many different cultures and races. The Qur’an states that the only criterion for differentiating among people lies in the strength of their religious sentiment. Islam has received praise for emphasizing equality of all people regardless of race, creed, or color (Emerick 101).

One of the most distinct features of the Islamic faith is the five pil

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