[nicollo]

Gibbon argues that the rise of Islam was a crucial factor in the decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire.

Indeed, Arab armies were taking ever greater bites into the Levant -- but they weren't "Islamic" yet.

Islam was invented later to organize an accidental empire.

[SunkenCiv]

The big old Mo' was born about 570, started his bogus cult around 610. The battles that broke Sassanid Persia were in 636, a few years after his death. So, no.

Sidebars that haven't been seen for a while:

• The Myth of Mecca [09/27/2001]
  • The Myth of Mecca [09/27/2001]
  • The Myth of Mecca (oldie but goodie) [01/04/2004]
  • Saudi mosques 'not facing Mecca' [07/27/2007]
  • Mecca mosques 'wrongly aligned' [04/05/2009]
  • 03-ISLAMIC GEOGRAPHY & THE PROBLEM WITH MECCA ..........Al Fadi & Jay Smith CIRA series [08/01/2019]
  • The Sacred City of Mecca: Have We Got It Wrong? | TRACKS [08/02/2019]
  • Islamic Places in Petra [01/27/2020]
  • An Evaporating Edifice-The stunning truth about Islam's origins [07/26/2021]
• Indonesian Muslims Told to Change Prayer Direction (They Faced Toward Africa Instead of Mecca) [07/17/2010]
  • Indonesian clerics: Our mistake _ you're facing the wrong direction during Islamic prayers [07/19/2010]
• The destruction of Mecca: Saudi hardliners are wiping out their own heritage [08/05/2005]
  • The Destruction of Mecca [10/01/2014]
  • After the hajj: Mecca residents grow hostile to changes in the holy city [09/14/2016]
  • The destruction of Mecca: The Middle East's largest building project has effaced [tr] [03/08/2017]
  • Modernising Saudi prince's plans for a retractable ROOF over Mecca will 'destroy the [tr] [10/25/2017]
• On This Day in History - 632 A.D.: Founder of Islam Dies (i.e., Muhammad Goes to Hell) [06/08/2007]
  • Saudi Arabia: Indian Arrested for 'Liking' Photo that Showed Mecca Mosque as Hindu temple [03/04/2015]
  • The black stone of Elagabal {maybe now of allah?} [07/23/2015]
• The Truth About The Kaaba (the big black cube in the middle of Mecca) [08/16/2018]