How Old Is the Muslim Religion?
The Muslim religion, properly referred to as Islam, dates back to 610 C.E., making this belief system more than a thousand years old. Since its beginnings, Islam has grown into one of the most popular religions on the planet.
Islam, which means “submission to the will of God,” is the religion that is followed by Muslims, which means “one who submits to the will of God.” According to Islamic belief, this religious belief system dates back to 610 C.E., when the angel Gabriel visited the prophet Mohammed, informing him that he was a prophet of God and revealing the first parts of the Quran, Islam’s holy book. Mohammed and his followers lived through years of persecution before moving in 622 C.E., an event that allowed the fledgling religion to find its first place of acceptance.
Mohammed was 40 years old when he is said to have been visited by Gabriel, the angel who delivered God’s word to the prophet. He died in 633 C.E., just over 20 years after Gabriel revealed the first parts of the Quran to him. He did not live to see his belief system become one of the most widely practiced religions on the planet, and it still thrives today, with many nations accepting Islam as their official national religion and thousands of devotees making the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. The religion of Islam has survived centuries of conflict and power struggle, and several different sects of the religion exist in the modern world.
