A few things to know about the world Islam entered. First, Muhammad's society was intensely tribal. He was a member of the Quraysh tribe, living in Mecca, and tribal ties were extremely important. Also at the time, the Arabian Peninsula was like this crazy religious melting pot. Like most tribal Arabs worshipped gods very similar to the Mesopotamian gods you'll remember from episode 3. And by the time of Muhammad, cult statues of many of those gods had been collected in his hometown of Mecca, in this temple-like structure called the Kaaba. But Arabia was also home to monotheisms, like Christianity and Judaism and even a bit of Zoroastrianism.