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G.C.S.E coursework: Religious Studies Origins Of Islam: Islam’s historical origins lie in the life of man named Muhammad who was born in the city of Mecca in present-day Saudi Arabia in around 570C.E., and died in a nearby city called Medina in 632 C.E. In Muhammad’s time, Arabia was culturally, politically and economically impoverished relative to the large and wealthy empires that surrounded it. To the north were the Byzantine Greek and Sassanian Persian Empires and to the south the affluent world of Abyssinia. Arabia itself was divided between the main Arabia (present-day Yemen), which had once been the seat of a thriving agricultural society but had fallen on poorer times. The plateau, where Muhammad was from, was an arid place in which the majority of people lived as nomads, accompanying their herds of camels, sheep, and goats pasture. The few cities were located on oases, which provided the only reliable source of water for agriculture, and some were centres for trade among the people of Arabia and with the surrounding lands. The Arabs of Muhammad’s time lived in tribes which were large social groups held together by a shared ancestry, each being composed of a number of clangs made up of several extended families. A family elder would be recognised as the leader of the clang, and the clang leaders together constituted the ruling of a tribe. Tribal councils tried to operate through negotiation and consensus building, although powerful plans no doubt had much greater influence over tribal affairs than did weaker ones.
Approximate Word count = 963
Approximate Pages = 3.9
(250 words per page double spaced)
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