Ancient Islam

In 610 CE, a new religion was created by a man called the Prophet Muhammad. This religion was called Islam and was practiced by Muslims. The Prophet Muhammad was born in 570 CE, making him around 40 years old when the angel Gabriel visited him. After describing the first parts of the Quran (the Holy Book for Muslims), the angel Gabriel told Muhammad that he was a prophet of God.

1. A map of the reaches of each Islamic Empire.

Islam was a monotheistic group, meaning they believed in only one god. They called this "Shahada" or the " Profession of Faith". There are about 1.9 billion Muslims around the world, making Islam the second largest religion practiced. Islam was the religion of many empires, including the Umayyad Caliphate, the Abbasid Caliphate, and the Ottoman Empire.

The Islamic religion was built around the five pillars of islam, those being Shahada (faith), Salah (prayer), Zakat (almsgiving), Sawm (fasting), and Hajj (pilgrimage). These pillars are the core foundation of Muslim practice. The Shahada is the first and most important pillar in their religion. This is an islamic oath and creed. The Shahada means their dedication to the faith in one god (Allah) and his messenger. It is the most sacred statement in islam. The Salah is the second pillar and means prayer. In this religion/faith they pray five times a day (morning, noon, afternoon, evening, and nighttime). Zakat, the third pillar, means almsgiving, which is a required donation or gift to the neediest members of the community. Sawm is the fourth pillar, and it means fasting. Fasting is where they do not eat from dawn to dusk during a certain period of time known as Ramadan. The time of Ramadan is based on the moon. The last pillar is Hajj. The Hajj is a pilgrimage that every muslim must take at once in there life.