Muhammad was born in Mecca, his father dying before he was born. The Meccans claimed descent from Abraham through Ishmael. Idolatry was common at the time and a few longed for the religion of Abraham and tried to find out what had been its teaching. These, including Muhammad, became the agnostics of the day, seeking truth by the light of his own inner consciousness. It was his practice to retreat with his family to a nearby cave for meditation for a month, and this began the tradition of Ramadan.
When Muhammad was 40 years old the angel Gabriel came before him twice during Ramadan. The first was during his sleep when he heard a commanding voice. Exiting the cave and climbing a hillside called Mt. Hira, Gabriel appeared as a man in the sky and proclaimed Muhammad to be the messenger of Allah. Returning to Mecca, his wife took him to her cousin, an old man who knew of the Jewish and Christian scriptures. It was this man's belief that Muhammad indeed encountered the very angel who came to Moses, and that he was chosen to be the Prophet of his people.
The words which came to him when in a state of trance are held sacred by Muslims. These words are called Al-Qur'an, "The Reading." Initially teaching only to friends and family, he was persecuted by other Arabs forcing him to flee (Mormonism began with a similar occurrence), though he did eventually return for a time to Mecca. Jews in Medina preached of a Prophet coming among the pagans of Arabia. Men from this town visited Muhammad and recognized him to be the Prophet described to them. Muhammad fled from persecution again in 622 AD, on a night he was to be murdered. The would-be assassins mysteriously became blind and Muhammad fled from Mecca to Medina in safety. This became the tradition of The Hijrah, "The Flight."
The revelations of Gabriel to Muhammad are recorded in the books of the Koran, called Surahs. The surahs written in Mecca give guidance to the individual soul and to the Prophet as a warner. The surahs written in Medina give guidance to a growing social and political community and to the Prophet as lawgiver and reformer. Initially, early Muslims were pacifists, but to ensure their survival several feuds and battles inevitably broke out as Islam expanded across the Arabian peninsula. The Jews in the land became fearful of the new Islamic kingdom and turned against it, siding with the pagan Arabs. The Jews were eventually expelled from Arabia, and a Jewish woman even attempted to poison Muhammad. He died some time later from illness.
The annual pilgrimage to the Ka'Bah in Mecca was already a tradition of the Arabs. However, after the Prophet captured and converted the city, idolatry was banned and the annual pilgrimage was for Muslims only.
This post was edited by Phil Payette at March 19, 2011 5:55:38 PM EDT