MUHAMMAD
At twenty-five Muhammad married the wealthy widow Khadija, who was a servant; Khadija -Fatima- bore him a daughter, and a social position better off as a respected merchant in the city. He met albeit superficially the two great monotheistic religions of his time through the small Christian and Jewish communities living in Mecca and perhaps also for their business. With so little -for analfabeto- culture was probably allowed to create a religion that would form the basis for a culture of universal dissemination.

At forty Muhammad began to retreat into the desert and stay for days in a cave on Mount Hira, where believed to receive God's revelation -Ala-, who spoke through the angel Gabriel and informed him the secret of true faith . Encouraged by Khadija, began preaching in his hometown, appearing as the continuation of the great monotheistic earlier prophets, Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Muhammad then merely preaching a return to the religion of Abraham.

Muhammad got his first followers among the poorest urban masses while the rich are enemistaba. When his followers were numerous, the authorities began to see him as a threat to the established order; was accused of impostor and the persecutions began. Some of his followers fled to Abyssinia, where they received the protection of the Christian Negus. But threats to the security of Mohammed came to the point where, after the death of Khadija and Abu Talib in 619, decided to flee to Medina on July 16 of the year 622 when the flight-the Hijra is considered - as the founding date of the Islamic era.

In Medina, Muhammad made ​​contact with the Jewish community, which rejected its erroneous interpretation of Scripture; He realized then that his preaching did not lead to the religion of Abraham, but was a new faith: data then changing the direction of prayer from Jerusalem to Mecca. By combining persuasion with force, Muhammad was surrounding himself with supporters, who began practicing the raids against caravans and surrounding villages for their livelihood. These skirmishes (Badr, Uhud ...), elevated to the status of the official story battles were discovering the Muslims 'holy war', the use of force to subdue and convert the infidels.