THE ORIGINS

The origins of Islam have long posed a challenge for historians. Even today, despite the discoveries made, there is no consensus or perfectly satisfactory model to explain the emergence of the Muslim religion. However, many advances are helping to clarify the picture: Islam began as an apocalyptic movement whose members – starting with the prophet – were convinced of the imminent arrival of the end of times. New theories also emphasize the role of Judeo-Christian influences, of which Islam could be the product; others propose that early Islam was an ecumenical movement that included Jews and Christians… In this section, we will review all these hypotheses and present the current state of knowledge.

APOCALYPSE NOW PART ONE

The Quran contains many references to the end of times. This theme is particularly prominent in the surahs located at the end of the text,…

APOCALYPSE NOW PART II

In the first part, we saw that the formative period of Islam was marked by apocalyptic beliefs, intensified at the beginning of the 7th…