chapter 8 notes

-Most peoples' religions were polytheistic and consisted of them believing in many gods.
-Makkah was a prosperous city due to trade with Yemen, Syria, and Africa.
-Many people (Arabs) lived in the desert in small tribes. Tribes had a tendency to launch fights on one another.
-Although they lived in various places throughout the peninsula, they connected through Arab poetry and singing about the beauty of their land.

-He sent to live with nomads in the desert. Then he came back to the city and herded sheep and goats and then began trading.
-He became a merchant when he met Khadijah and married her at age 25. he continued to be a merchant for the next 15 years after she started him off with simple trading and selling.
-In 610 C.E., Muhammad went to pray in a cave and that is where he received a visit from the angel Gabriel.

-In 613 C.E. he began trying to preach and spread his teachings, or the religion of Islam. people called him a liar and tortured his followers and later started a boycott against him.

The Qur'an was the first thing to be written down that really outlined the way Muslims were told to practice their faith. The Qur'an is the guide to Islam like the bible is he guide to Christianity. Both serve similar purposes and each religion could not exist without these two very important things leading the way. The Qur'an is necessary for the survival of this religion and it also holds the most information on the religion itself.

Muhammad asked the Muslims to show respect for the Christians and Jews because all three derived from Abraham and he wanted to respect the ties and bonds of brotherhood that all three different religions shared.