The Quran (sometimes spelled Koran) is the holy book of Islam, as the Bible is the holy book of Christianity. Many of the stories in the two are the same, though there are also differences. Some of the names are different in the Quran, for instance. The Bible is a much older text, and the source of many of the books, stories, and even individual passages is in dispute to this day, while the Islamic world sees the Quran as the product of one man, Mohammed. Much of the theology derived from the two books differs, reflecting the situation and interests of the societies from which the two books emerged.
The first great personality to shape the Arab world was thus the founder of Islam, Mohammed. Little is known of the early life or ancestry of Mohammed, and much of the data of the Muslim tradition has been questioned. The story of Mohammed is embodied in the Koran. He received the call from God when he was nearing his fortieth year, and in his own time his story of this call was controversial: "The story of this nocturnal visitation did Mohammed's cause little good. It was scarcely believed at the time by his closest companions. . . For the next three years he met with little except ridicule wherever he went" (Nutting 20). However, his early preaching was seen as harmless by the Meccans, though the people of that city were indifferent to the creation of a new religion. Mohammed moved to the city of Medina, a move known as the Hijara, and this was a turning point and would become the starting point in the Muslim calendar. In Medina Mohammed was the chief magistrate of the community, and he could now not only preach Islam but practice it.
Nutting discusses Mohammed's career in Medina and the political power he gathered to himself during this time. Certain pre-Islamic practices were retained, and the ideas of the Umma were incorporated into the structure of tribalism that already existed. The Umma had a political aspect,...