Originating in a simple family, Muhammad uphold and propagate one of the world's largest religion, Islam. And at the same time appearing as a tough leader, pure, and effective. Now, thirteen centuries after his death, his influence is still strong and deep and rooted.
Most of the people listed in this book is a lucky creature being born and raised in centers of civilization, high berkultur and political circles nations. Muhammad was born in 570 AD, in the city of Mecca, in a little southern Arabian Peninsula, a place that time is the most backward in the world, far from the center of commerce, art and science. Being an orphan at the age of six years, was raised in a situation is about as simple and humble. Islamic sources mention that Muhamnmad an illiterate. The new economic situation began to improve at the age of twenty-five years old when he married a widow being. However, until approaching the age of forty years of barely visible hint keluarbiasaannya as human beings.
Generally, the Arabs when it did not embrace a particular religion except idolaters of Mecca in the town there is a small number of adherents Judaism and Christianity, and most probably from Muhammad for the first time they heard about the existence of one God Almighty, which governs the entire universe. When he was forty years old, Muhammad convinced that the Almighty God is to convey something to him and chose to become disseminators of right belief.
For three years he had only spread the religion limited to close friends and relatives. Only when entering the year 613 he began to appear in public. Once he gradually got followers, ruler of Mecca saw him as a dangerous, trouble maker. In 622, worried about his safety, Muhammad fled to Medina, a city in the north of Mecca within 200 miles. In that city he was offered a position of political power quite convincing.
Events This move is an important turning point for the life of the Prophet. In Mecca he was difficult to obtain a small number of followers, and in Medina followers increasingly so in a fast tempo he can obtain an effect that makes the real power holders. In subsequent years while the followers of Muhammad unfolding everywhere like mushrooms, a spate of fighting broke out between Mektah and Medina. This war ended in 630 with the victory on the part of Muhammad, returned to Mecca as a conqueror. The remaining two and a half years of his life he witnessed extraordinary progress in terms of rapid Arab tribes embraced Islam. And when Muhammad died in 632, he had confirmed himself as the effective ruler of the entire southern part of the Arabian Peninsula.
Bedewi tribes had hereditary tradition as the soldiers are tough and brave. However, the number is not a lot and always tempted disunity and mutually confront each other. That's why they could not surpass the army of the kingdoms established in the agricultural areas in the northern hemisphere. But Muhammad first man in history, thanks to the strong encouragement of confidence to the oneness of God, the small Arab armies capable of astonishing series of conquests in human history. In the northeast Arab stand New Persian Empire Sassanids wide. In northwestern Arabia stood Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire with Constantinople as its center.
Judging from the angle of the number and the size, obviously Arabs would not be able to deal with it. However, on the battlefield, the Arab forces that burning zeal with lightning strokes can conquer Mesopotamia, Syria, and Palestine. In 642 Egyptians wrested from the grip of the Byzantine Empire, and in the meantime the Persian army got beat in a battle that was decisive in Qadisiya in 637 and in 642 Nehavend year.
But, massive --In conquest under the leadership of the Prophet's companions and his successor Abu Bakr and Umar ibn al-Khattab-- it does not show signs stop until there. In 711, Arab forces had wiped out North Africa up to the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. From there they turned north and crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and confront the Visigothic kingdom in Spain.
At first glance one should think of Muslim troops will lick up all of Christian Europe. But in the year 732, in a battle that famous and powerful in Tours, one of the Muslim troops who had advanced into the center of the country of France eventually beaten by the Franks. Even so, in just a century secuwil battle, the people of this Bedewi -dijiwai with the sayings of the Prophet Mohammad have established an empire stretching from the Indian border to the edge of the white sand beaches of the Atlantic Ocean, a greatest empire ever known to human history. And wherever conquest carried out by Muslim forces, always followed by crowd-bondongnya followers entered Islam.
Apparently, not all of the territory conquest is permanent. The Persians, though still devotee of Islam, regained its independence from Arab hands. And in Spain, after over seven centuries of warfare finally recaptured by the Christians. Meanwhile, Mesopotamia and Egypt, the birthplace of two ancient cultures, remain in Arab hands as well as the entire northern coast of Africa. Islam, of course, continue to spread from one century to another century, stepped away from the conquered areas. Generally the millions of followers of Islam were scattered in Africa, Central Asia, especially Pakistan and north India and Indonesia. In Indonesia, the new Islamic religion was a unifying factor. In the Indian subcontinent, almost the opposite: their new religion was a major cause of friction.
Is the influence of the Prophet Muhammad the most basic to the history of mankind? As with other religions, Islam has an enormous influence on its adherents. That is why the spreader-spreader great religions of the world can all places in this book. If measured by the number, the number of adherents of Christianity twice the size of the adherents of Islam, in itself raised a question mark what is the reason to place the order of the Prophet Muhammad higher than Jesus in the list. There are two principal reasons that so my grip. First, Muhammad played a far more important role in the development of Islam over the role of Jesus to Christianity. Even though Jesus is responsible for the basic teachings of Christian morals and ethics (to a certain extent different from Judaism), St. Paul is a figure main disseminators of Christian theology, penyebarnya figures, and writers largest part of the Old Testament.
Instead Muhammad was not only responsible for the theology of Islam but it also points to the ethical and moral. Moreover he "registrar" Scripture Al-Quran, a collection of revelations to Muhammad that he believes comes directly from God. The vast majority of this revelation copied earnestly during Muhammad and later collected in a form that no tergoyangkan shortly after he died. Al-Quran is thus closely related to the views of Muhammad and his teachings because he relied on God's revelation. In contrast, none of the so detailed collection of the teachings of Jesus that can still be found in the present. Because Al-Quran for Muslims to some extent as important as the gospel for the Christians, the influence of Muhammad through the Quran teramatlah magnitude. Possible influence of Muhammad in Islam is greater than the influence of Jesus and St. Paul in the Christian world combined. Measured from the purely religious point of view, it seems similar to the influence of Muhammad Isa in the history of humanity.
Further than that (in contrast to Isa) Muhammad is not only religious leaders but also temporal leader. The fact is, as the driving force of the movement of conquest of the Arabs, the influence of political leadership are in a leading position all the time.
Of various historical events, one might say it could happen without specific leadership from someone who heads them. For example, colonies in South America might be able to free themselves from Spanish colonialism even if Simon Bolivar had never existed in the world. However, this example does not apply to the movement of the Arab conquest. There are no similar incidents before Muhammad, and there is no reason to deny that the conquest could occur and succeed without Muhammad. The only similarity in terms of conquest in human history in the 13th century which is partly due to the influence of most principal of Genghis Khan. This conquest, although wider scope than what the Arab nations, it is not able to prove the establishment, and now the only areas occupied by the Mongols are just the same region as before the time of Genghis Khan
This clearly shows the big difference with the conquest by the Arabs. Stretching from Iraq to Morocco, stretched chains united Arab nation, not only thanks to the fad Islam but also from the Department of Arabic language, history and culture. The central position of the Quran among Muslims and written in Arabic, most likely the reason why Arabic is not fragmented into dialects berantarakan. If not, may already be happening in the l3 century. Arab differences and division into several states that- -of course occur and in fact did so, but the divisions that are in parts that do not necessarily make us negligent that their union is still tangible. But both Iran and Indonesia are both a country of Muslims and both oil producer, did not join in the attitude of the oil embargo in the winter of 1973 - 1974. In contrast not the stuff coincidence if all Arab countries, purely Arab countries, which took oil embargo measures.
So, can we watch, the Arab conquest in the 7th century continue to play an important role in the history of mankind to date. From this aspect I judge their incomparable combination between terms of religion and worldly terms attached to the influence of Muhammad that I consider Muhammad in a personal sense is the most influential man in human history.
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Hundred Most Influential People in History
Michael H. Hart, 1978
Translation H. Mahbub Djunaidi, 1982
PT. World Pustaka Jaya
Jln. Kramat II, No. 31A
Central Jakarta