Teachings of the prophet
Alhambra Islamic palace, Spain
In the 7th century Islam, a religion drawing on both Judaism and Christianity, was born. In 610AD Muhammed received his first revelation and in 616AD declared himself to be the prophet of Allah (God). Muslims believe in Creation, the Fall of Adam, Heaven and Hell, the Day of Judgment and the scriptures as revealed to Moses and Jesus. While Christian countries were mired in the Dark Ages, Islamic culture flourished. From the 11th century onwards, Islam came under pressure from Christian Crusaders, from the Mongols and from the Spanish Inquisition. Nevertheless, from the late 13th century the Muslim Ottoman (Turkish) Empire expanded to cover Asia Minor and large parts of south east Europe. It continued until the close of the First World War.
The Enlightenment
In Europe in the late 17th and 18th centuries religious belief would come into question with the Enlightenment. Philosophers such as Descartes, Locke, Newton, Hume, Kant, Goethe, Voltaire and Rousseau argued that reason rather than a belief in the supernatural was the basis of human knowledge and progress. Copernicus and Galileo went head to head with the church by stating that the Earth revolved around the Sun, rather than the other way round.
This led to the reappraisal of the role of the church and monarchies, more tolerance of different faiths and to the rise of revolutionary movements in France and America. In 1859 Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species which contradicted the Bible by arguing that living things evolved over millions of years. In the 19th century various movements such as humanism and Marxism attempted to develop ethical frameworks based on scientific analyses of social, political and economic systems.
Since the Enlightenment alongside increasing secularisation in the West, there has also been a rise in new-age religious sects often drawing on Eastern belief systems. Across the rest of the world there has been a resurgence in interest in religion, particularly Islam, as religious belief has often become identified with struggles against foreign domination.
