The Arab Conquest of Central Asia

Abstract

Numerous competing Arab and non-Arab tribes were brought together by the skillful politics and universal appeal of Muhammad (ca. 570–632). In 610 he declared that he had experienced a series of revelations and gradually began gathering followers (Muslims). Despite an early setback in 622, when he and his followers were forced to escape from Mecca to Medina, he triumphantly returned to Mecca in 630, establishing the city as the center of the Islamic state. Islam soon became the dominant religion among most Arabs.