July 2021
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The chapter opens with the youth of Muhammad, on the fringes of the Roman and Persian empires, then the environmental catastrophe that weakened the two empires, followed by immensely destructive wars which weaken both powers. Muhammad’s movement is initially a reform movement directed at other Arabs. After Muhammad’s death, his followers begin a series of wars which result in the destruction of the Persian empire and the radical diminution of Rome. After the initial period of conquests there is a need to discover a governing ideology, which is achieved by the use that ‘Abd al-Malik makes of the teaching of Muhammad.