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I RAQ ’ S H ISTORY TO 1990 35

Peninsula. For many years the communities of Arabia had been prosperous because of trade. Muhammad lived in the city of Mecca; when he grew up he married a wealthy widow and became a suc- cessful merchant. At the time, the people of the Arabian Peninsula were pagans who worshipped many gods. One god, Allah, was believed to have created the earth, but in general Allah was given no more or less attention than any of the other Arab gods. According to tradition, however, Muhammad grew up worshipping only Allah. When he was about 40 years old, Muhammad received a series of divine messages, which said that Allah was the only true God. Muhammad was told to spread this message to the people of Arabia. He began to call on his neighbors in Mecca to give up their other, false gods and surrender their lives to Allah. (The word Islam comes from an Arabic word meaning “submission” or “surrender.”) At first, the people of Mecca tolerated the teachings of Muhammad, though he attracted few followers. Eventually, howev- er, Mecca’s pagan leaders decided to do away with the annoying preacher. They plotted to kill Muhammad, but he got wind of the plot. In 622 Muhammad and his followers fled Mecca, journeying to another city, Medina, which was several hundred miles to the north. The people of Medina welcomed Muhammad and listened to his message. The ranks of Muslims—as followers of Islam are called— grew rapidly. Two years after the flight to Medina, Muhammad’s followers and a force of Meccans fought a major battle at the village of Badr. The Muslims won decisively, but in the ensuing years the two sides fought many skirmishes and an occasional pitched battle. Finally, in 629, Muhammad returned to Mecca with a small army. The peo- ple of Mecca surrendered without bloodshed, and many converted to Islam. Muhammad’s disciples wrote down and organized his teachings