The father of Islam dies. In Medina, Muhammad dies in the arms of Aisha, his third wife and favorite. In 610, the prophet had had a vision in which God commanded him to become a prophet of the “true religion.” Muhammad considered himself the last prophet of the Judeo-Christian tradition, and his teachings unified the Bedouin tribes of Arabia. Having gathered a large following in Mecca, he was forced to flee to Medina, where he organized a rapidly expanding empire. In 630, he returned to Mecca a conqueror and, at his death, effectively ruled all of southern Arabia. His successors continued to expand the empire, which in 732 became the largest in history. Today, Islam is the world’s second largest religion.
