Islam in its origins Mohammed is one of the great figures of history. He was the founder of Islam, a monotheistic religion that now has millions of faithful around the world and is characterized by rapid and extensive expansion. Followers of Islam are called Muslims, a word that means “under God”, they are made of a very heterogeneous group of believers with a great ethnic, linguistic and geographical. Muhammad ascending to heaven on the back of Buraq, an animal with a body of horse and human face. On 27 Rajab Muslims commemorate the Lailat al-Miraj or the Night of Ascension, the day when Muhammad was led by the Archangel Gabriel to Allah and he gave precise instructions, including the obligation of the five daily prayers. The revelation and preaching of Muhammad took place in the Arabian Peninsula between 610 and 632 AD, and to understand the impact it caused among his contemporaries must know briefly what it was Arabia before the arrival of the prophet. Arabia is among the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf: Within the peninsula there is a vast desert, but the territory is crossed by trade routes and became an important commercial link between the Mediterranean world, India and the Far East. Most of the population was nomadic, Bedouin rearing camels, sheep and horses, and had also sedentary groups living in cities and near the oasis. The latter based their livelihood on agriculture and trade.The basis of the social organization of the Bedouin was the clan and tribe. The guild is a group based on blood ties. These clans had a rigid patriarchal structure under which the seed came from the paternal line. The tribe, although it believes that all members have a common ancestor, is not based on kinship. On numerous occasions, some tribes joined, leading to the creation of large tribal confederations. In an inhospitable and dangerous environment like the desert, the tribe gave people an identity and physical safety were guaranteed. But beside this tribal security, the fact is that there were great rivalries between tribes. Bedouins in the desert In the area of preaching of Muhammad was a melting pot of religions.