Islam is heavily inscribed with the ‘presence of the past’ (Bhaskar, 2008; Wilkinson, 2019). In other words, forms of Islam that are dominant today have long-standing historical precedents. Also, a wide variety of criminals of different types, both Muslim and non-Muslim, abuse Islam’s past to justify their contemporary attitudes and illegitimate activities. Therefore, so that the reader can place Islam and Muslims in prison fairly in historical context, we begin by telling Islam’s story in brief, including showing why Muslims come to be found in European prisons today.

Muhammad, son of Abdullah, Prophet of God

The Muslim Declaration of Faith (the Shahada) – ‘There is no god but God and Muhammad is the Prophet of God’ – was first heard in the trading oasis of Mecca in the Arabian Peninsula in 610 CE. It was uttered by one Muhammad, the son of Abdullah, a 40-year-old orphaned minor nobleman from the ruling Meccan tribe of Quraysh. The Arab tribe of Quraysh and Muhammad’s own Hashim clan were responsible for the upkeep of the worship that took place in Mecca at an ancient cuboid structure draped in a black cloth, called The Cube (Ka’aba) (see Image 1.1). The Ka’aba was believed to be the site dedicated by the Prophet Abraham to the worship of God (Allah), which had since accrued the worship of myriad religious idols.

The First Revelation

Muhammad was a respected and prosperous merchant known in Mecca as ‘The Trustworthy’ (‘Al-Amin’). However, according to Muslim tradition, he did not feel satisfied by the affairs of this world and for years had gone on an annual retreat away from the city of Mecca to reflect on life’s meaning. The place to which he retreated was a small cave at the back of a mountain overlooking Mecca called Mount Hira (see Images 1.2 and 1.3).

One night in Ramadan 610 CE as Muhammad sat in this small cave, Muslims believe that the Archangel Gabriel appeared to him and said, Muhammad was illiterate and formally uneducated and he replied in astonishment,

Twice more the same command to ‘Read’ was issued. Twice more Muhammad made the same reply until the Archangel Gabriel, holding Muhammad in a fierce embrace, recited:

These were the first phrases of what became the Book of Islam, The Qur’an, meaning ‘The Recitation’.