The two ancient powers who dominated the middle east were Byzantine Empire and Sassanid Empire. The Byzantine Empire controlled over Egypt and a piece of the Mediterranean coastline. Sassanid Empire ruled over Persia. Persia was a great cultural center and influenced Judaism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism. In 613 Muhammad was preaching his faith. He focused on three themes:Allah was the God, the rich shouldn’t share with the poor, and that men would have a final judgement before Allah. Muslims call Muhammad’s flight from Mecca the hegira and in their calendar it’s the same day as the day Jesus Christ was born. In the cities that followed the Muslim religion they would have a mosque that would usually be at the highest point of the town.
