Did you just ask an interesting, non-annoying question me from the past? I think we don't know much about early Islamic history because we don't learn about it, because we're taught that our history is the story of Christianity in Europe, when in fact, our history is the story of people on the planet. So let's try to learn something today. So in less than 200 years, Islam went from not existing to being the religious and political organizing principle of one of the largest empires in the world. And that story begins in the 7th century CE, when the angel Gabriel appeared to Muhammad, a 40-ish guy who made his living as a caravan trader, and told him to begin reciting the word of God. Initially, this freaked Muhammad out, as, you know, it would, but then his wife and a couple other people encouraged him, and slowly he came to accept the mantle of prophet. A few things to know about the world Islam entered.