252	A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY
had also been, though only nominally, a province of several
Empires in succession, viz., of Egypt, Persia, Macedonia,
Rome, and Constantinople. But it was now her turn to build
up an Empire of her own which would challenge comparison
with the greatest. This was due to the sudden rise of a new
religion.
For centuries before Muhammad preached Islam (622-632
a.d. i the people of Arabia had stagnated in the back-waters
of their desert peninsula. They led a wild and nomadic life
of unrelieved tribal struggles, except during a part of the
year when, as in ancient Greece during the Olympic festivities,
the * truce of God' was proclaimed to enable all the Arabs
to meet in Mecca for worship at the shrine of Kaaba. This
comprised a cubical black stone, which was believed to have
fallen from Heaven, and supplied the only unifying factor
in an otherwise chaotic world. For the rest of the year the
Arabs worshipped their own tribal deities, indulged in their
blood-feuds, or revelled in their incontinent orgies. Music
was the only elevating influence in their lives. It was in
such a world that the Prophet Muhammad was born (c. 570
a.d.). He belonged to the distinguished clan of Qureishis,
who controlled the sacred shrine of Kaaba, though his family
was rather poor in worldly possessions.
Nothing eventful happened to Muhammad until he was
forty years of age, unless it be his marriage with a rich
widow named Kadijah who was by several years his senior.
Then came his great * conversion' when the Angel Gabriel
brought to him the message of Allah. After this revelation
Muhammad boldly proclaimed his famous gospel : " There
is no god but God, and Muhammad is His prophet" Although
this formula has become to-day the creed of about
300,000,000 people (of whom over one-fifth are in India),
the Prophet was not honoured at first in his own land. Like