Satan Exposed Deliverance Ministries

Mohammed (570-632)

In the world today there are over 400,000,000 Moslems. They are the followers of the religion taught by Mohammed. The name of the religion is Islam. Moslems do not like to be called Mohammedans, a name they are sometimes called, they believe that Mohammed was the most important prophet, but they do not worship him.
Mohammed was born in the year 570 near the little city of Mecca in Arabia. Mecca was on the spice route from the Far East. Many caravans stopped there.

Not much is known about Mohammed’s early life. When he was very young he was left an orphan. A kind uncle took care of him and soon began taking him on camel caravan trips into countries near Arabia.

As Mohammad rode with the caravans he had a great deal of time to think. At that time many of the Arabs worshipped idols. In Mecca there was a shrine called the Kaaba. “Kaaba” in Arabic means “cube.” The shrine was a cube-shaped building in which there were many idols. Set in one corner of the building was the Black Stone. This stone had fallen from the sky long before. We would call it a meteorite. Mohammed had seen many Arabs, having made special journeys, come to the Kaaba and worship idols there. He longed to give them a better religion.

The word Mecca has several meanings to Mohammed including being the capital of Saudi Arabia, spiritual center of Islam and is also considered a sacred place where many gather.

In time Mohammed married a rich widow. He became a merchant. But he kept on worrying about the religion of his people. He himself was familiar with the Bible. He believed in one God just as the Jews and Christians did, and he thought very highly of the teachings of Jesus. At last he had some revelations that he believed came from God, and he began to teach a new religion to the Arabs.

But many of the people of Mecca did not want to give up their idols. These people became so angry with Mohammed and his teachings that he had to flee from Mecca. He went to the city of Medina.
Mohammed fled from Mecca to Medina in 622. Moslems call his flight the Hejira. In numbering their years they count from the Hejira. Our year 622 is their year 1.

Mohammed called his religion “Islam,” which means in Arabic “submission to the will of God.” In Medina he won many followers. He and his followers soon began fighting to make others accept their religion. In 630 he returned to Mecca where he destroyed all the idols in the Kaaba, but not the Kaaba or the Black Stone.

From then on his religion spread fast. Mohammed died in 632, but his religious beliefs kept on spreading. In less than 100 years the Moslems had conquered northern Africa and all the lands of western Asia. They had even conquered much of Spain. Today most of the people of North Africa, the Near East, Pakistan, and Indonesia are Moslems. There are others in India and the Soviet Union. In fact, one-seventh of the people of the world are Moslems.

Moslem places of worship are called mosques. Every mosque has at least one tall tower, or minaret. From this tall tower a crier calls the people to prayer.

The Moslem name for God is Allah. The sacred book is the Koran. Moslems believe it to be the word of God which was given to Mohammed. Many Moslem boys of ten and eleven know the whole Koran by heart.

The Koran teaches that every Moslem has religious duties. These are the five most important:

The Moslem must declare his belief that there is no God but Allah and that Mohammed is the messenger of God.

He must pray five times a day. As he prays he must kneel and face Mecca. The times for praying are daybreak, noon before sunset, after sunset, and night.

He must fast at certain times. For one whole month he must not eat between dawn and sunset. The month of fasting is called Ramadan.

He must give alms to the poor.

Once during his lifetime, if he can do so without hardship, he must travel to the sacred city of Mecca.
Moslems are not allowed to drink any drink that has alcohol in it. They are not allowed to eat pork. They may not charge interest on money they lend. A man may not have more than four wives.

Today the Kaaba, which is within the walls of the Great Mosque of Mecca, is the holiest shrine of the Moslems. A part of the pilgrimage to Mecca is to walk seven times around the Kaaba on three different days. The Kaaba is covered with a black “robe” embroidered with gold. The Black Stone has cracked and is now bound in silver. Other Moslem shrines are in Medina and in Jerusalem.