Episode 28 - The Rise of Islam

Ok, so Europe was reeling from the volcanic winter of 536, and then the subsequent Plague of Justinian in 541, and it was beginning to descend into the Dark Ages. But nearby, in the Arabian Peninsula, things were just about to get really busy. In AD 570, in the small desert town of Mecca, a boy was born into the Arab tribe of Quraysh, the tribe that controlled Mecca. This boy was named Muhammad ibn Abdullah, which means, Muhammad, the son of Abdullah. But his father, Abdullah, died very shortly after Muhammad was born, and his mother, Amina, died when he was 6. So he was raised by his uncle, his father’s brother, Abu Talib.