And Mohammed would be pissed- if he existed.
While still a minority opinion among scholars, a growing number of scholars have begun to question the existence of the historical Mohammed. Contemporary records of him are non existent. It’s not until maybe 100 years after his supposed death that the first accounts of his life start to emerge. Even Mecca as the birthplace of Islam itself has been challenged with some placing the Muslim empire’s origins further north in Petra or even as far north as Iraq.
It’s theorized that rather than an empire founded on a religious movement, Islam developed from an empire in search of a unifying religion to hold it together.
There’s a lot of interesting evidence that supports these ideas. One is the fact that early mosques didn’t face Mecca as they universally do, now. Many actually face Petra, a thriving trading community at the time. Petra is located in far northern Arabia just south of modern day Israel
Visited Petra some time ago now in modern day Jordan. Worth the trip imho. Amazing place. It was just the right appetizer before visiting Israel which was also worth it.
“One is the fact that early mosques didn’t face Mecca as they universally do, now. Many actually face Petra”