Muhammad a Prophet For all Humanity
8. Rising above Events
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8. RISING ABOVE EVENTS
The Arabian Peninsula, in the period immediately
preceding the coming of the Prophet Muhammad,
was confronted with immense political problems.
The two super powers of the day—the empires of
Rome and Persia—lay to the west and east of the
Arabian Peninsula, and both had turned the land
of the Arabs into their political playground. The
most fertile regions of the peninsula were under
the direct control of one or the other of these two
powers. Iraq had been annexed by the Persians,
while Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon had
become part of the Byzantine Empire. Despite the
natural protective boundaries of the Red Sea to
the west and the Persian Gulf to the east, the
lands, which bordered these seas, were not
immune from intrusions by their powerful
neighbours. Persian warships had no difficulty in
crossing the Gulf of Oman and entering Arab
territory. The Red Sea also posed no barrier to
interference in Arab affairs from Egypt and
Ethiopia, both under the control of the Byzantine
Empire.
