Islam began in the early 7th century CE in the Arabian Peninsula, specifically in the city of Mecca (present-day Saudi Arabia). According to traditional accounts, the Islamic prophet Muhammad was born in Mecca around 570 CE and began receiving divine revelations in 610 CE while meditating in the cave of Hira near Mecca. These revelations, believed to be from Allah through the angel Gabriel, marked the beginning of Islam as a monotheistic faith calling for submission to one God and social justice
. Due to persecution in Mecca, Muhammad and his followers migrated in 622 CE to the city of Yathrib, later renamed Medina. This migration, known as the Hijrah, is considered the start of the Islamic calendar and the foundation of the first Islamic state under Muhammad’s leadership. In Medina, Muhammad unified the tribes under Islam and established a political and religious community
. Islam’s origins are thus closely tied to Mecca as the place where Muhammad received his first revelations and to Medina as the place where the first Islamic state was formed and Islam began to spread politically and socially
