The Prophet Muhammad led a life that was divided into many different stages. One of the most interesting parts of the Prophet's life was the time he spent in Mecca between 610, when the Archangel Gabriel first appeared to him, and 622, when he fled to Medina in order to escape the persecution of the Meccans. This time in the Prophet's life formed a bridge between his early years, which were pleasant and ordinary, and his later years, which were mostly filled with glory, as the faith spread. From a psychological point of view, this is an interesting part of the Prophet's life because it was a time when he was persecuted in small ways and big ways every single day. He was faithful to his beliefs, and continued to preach, no matter what his enemies did to him. At the time when Muhammad was first ordered by God to preach to the people, he was treated as if he was crazy. But, the Meccans did not only want to mock Muhammad and his followers. They eventually planned to murder the Prophet, and he was forced to flee. The history of Islam is dated from the time of the flight to Medina. The flight is called the Hejira (or Hijra), and it turned out to be the beginning of the spread of Islam far beyond the small group of friends and neighbors who had been converted first in Mecca.
In order to understand the daily life, thoughts, and attitudes of the Prophet at this time, it is necessary to know what the Arabian Peninsula was like in the seventh century, and to have some information about Muhammad's life before the conversion. The majority of the Arabs, who lived in the northern and central parts of the Arabian Peninsula, were nomads who raised camels and sheep. The camels were valuable to the traders who carried goods from Aden, in the south Arabian Peninsula, to Gaza, on the Mediterranean Sea. Some Arabs had settled in cities near the Red Sea Coast, and the people in these towns were engaged in trade.
The two most important Ara...