How Old is Islam in Years?

Islam is 1,414 years old as of 2023 CE. The genesis of the Islamic faith traces back to the year 610 CE in the city of Mecca in modern-day Saudi Arabia. This over 14-century old world religion continues to expand rapidly across the globe.

The Pre-Revelation Years: Context Around Muhammad‘s First Visions

The founding prophet of Islam, Muhammad ibn Abdullah, was born in 570 CE into the Banu Hashim clan of the prominent Quraysh tribe in Mecca. Orphaned at age 6, he was raised by his paternal uncle Abu Talib.

As a young man, Muhammad took on the occupation of a merchant like many Meccans. He married a wealthy widow named Khadija and became a respected figure in his community known for his honesty and character. However, at age 40, Muhammad increasingly spent time in meditation and solitude.

The Pivotal Moment

In 610 CE, during one meditative retreat in the cave of Hira outside Mecca, Muhammad received a revelatory vision from the angel Jibreel (Gabriel). The first of many such encounters that would transpire over 22 years, this heralded the founding of a new monotheistic faith that would become Islam.

Jibreel commanded Muhammad to "Recite!" and revealed the first verses of the Quran, beginning the Surah Al-Alaq. Initially frightened by this experience, Muhammad found reassurance from his wife Khadija and her Christian cousin Waraqa ibn Nawfal. Waraqa confirmed him as a true prophet in the Abrahamic tradition.

The Early Days: Persecution, Conversion and Hegira

For the first 3 years after his revelation, Muhammad preached Islam privately, slowly gaining a handful of followers from all classes of Meccan society – from slaves to powerful leaders. By 613 CE, he began propagating his messages publicly through Quranic verses that exhorted the polytheistic Quraysh to abandon idolatry and worship only Allah.

This condemnation of Mecca‘s spiritual status quo and powerful elites led to severe persecution of Muhammad‘s followers. Many early Muslims faced violence, imprisonment, starvation and enslavement from 616-618 CE as the Quraysh tried suppressing this new movement.

In 620 CE, Muhammad experienced the renowned Isra and Mi‘raj visions where he toured heavens and hells, met earlier prophets like Abraham and Moses, and communed directly with Allah. He returned with instructions for daily ritual prayers.

The Hijra Migration

After losing the clan protection following his uncle Abu Talib and wife Khadija’s death in 619 CE, Muhammad and his now 150-strong persecuted community received invitation from city leaders in Medina to arbitrate conflict and preach Islam freely there. This migration from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE marked the official formation of the first Muslim community or Ummah and set the Islamic calendar.

Expansion & Consolidation of Islam Under Muhammad

Relocating from Mecca to culturally-diverse Medina proved a pivotal point in Muhammad’s prophetic career and Islam’s early development.

• His first decade in Medina (622-632 CE) saw Muhammad evolve from persecuted visionary preacher to political leader, jurist and military commander
• As de facto ruler of Medina, Muhammad united its contentious tribes under the Constitution of Medina, the first Islamic state
• He enacted social reforms, mandatory charity laws,itary ex

Phase 1: Defensive Battles (624-627)

Between 624-627, Muhammad led a series of raids and battles like Badr, Uhud and The Trench against Meccan forces to defend and establish Islam’s standing. These culminated in the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah with Mecca that achieved a 10 year peace and recognized Muslims political equals.

Phase 2: Conquest of Arabia (627 Onward)

From 627 onwards, Muhammad rapidly consolidated control over the entire Arabian peninsula as Islam’s hegemony through alliances, shows of force and bloodless surrenders. By 630, he had unified Arabia‘s warring tribes into one polity under Medina’s stewardship.

In 630, he peacefully marched 10,000 Muslims into Mecca and ordered the destruction of pagan idols in the Kaaba, consecrating it the holiest site in Islam.

By the time a 60,000-strong Islamic force returned to perform Muhammad’s Farewell Pilgrimage in 632 CE, the whole Arabia had converted.

Death

Shortly after returning from this pilgrimage, Muhammad passed away from a fever in 632 CE at age 63 in Medina. The revelations of the Quran that he had received till this point over 23 years were immediately compiled into a canonical text.

Post-Muhammad: Caliphs, Empires and Islamic Golden Age

After Muhammad‘s death, Islam entered a meteoric growth phase both geographically and culturally under the political and religious stewardship of the Rashidun (or "rightly guided") Caliphs and later dynasties:

Rashidun Caliphate Expands Muslim Rule (632-661 CE)

The sudden passing of Prophet Muhammad in 632 CE upon whom all religious and political authority rested necessitated the appointment of Abu Bakr Siddiq as the first Caliph and successor or Khalifat Rasul Allah (“Deputy of God’s Messenger).

Over the subsequent 30 years after Muhammad‘s death, the first four Rashidun Caliphs overseers incredible conquests establishing a burgeoning Muslim Empire:

• Abu Bakr (632-634) – Crushed tribal apostasy in Arabia to ensure political unity of the Ummah after Muhammad’s passing
• Umar ibn Khattab (634-644) – Conquered Sassanid Persian and Byzantine lands including Egypt, Palestine, Syria; began codifying Islamic law
• Uthman ibn Affan (644–656) – Completed the standardization of the Quranic manuscript; further eastern expansion into Iran and Afghanistan
• Ali ibn Abi Talib (656–661) – Defended rule against first civil war or Fitna; progressed into Iraq

At its furthest extent, the Rashidun Caliphate spanned 5.17 million square miles controlling southwest Asia, Central Asia, North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula establishing Islam as a world religion and power.

The Umayyads And Spread Towards Europe (661-750 CE)

After the fourth fitna Islamic civil war ended the Rashidun rule, the hereditary Umayyad Caliphate dynasty shifted the capital from Medina to Damascus. The new Syrian Muslim court invested heavily in centralizing state bureaucracy and resources to sustain conquered lands.

This led to rapid Arabization Islamization of the Middle East and North Africa under successive Umayyad caliphs between 660-750 CE with major highlights:

• Conquered Mediterranean islands of Sicily, Crete, Rhodes and Cyprus establishing naval supremacy
• Defeated the Tang Chinese Empire’s armies in historic Battle of Talas (751 CE)
• Advanced Umayyad forces into Narbonne, France by 720 CE barely 150 miles from Paris

At the end of 93 years from Prophet Muhammad’s death, the Islamic nation had grown over 6 million square miles spanning parts of 3 continents as the world’s leading civilization.

The Abbasids And The Islamic Golden Age (750 – 1258 CE )

The Umayyad dynasty ended in 750 CE, succeeded by the Abbasid Caliphate which ruled an Islamic empire from Baghdad for 500 years till the 13th century Mongol sieges. This epoch saw Islam’s power, wealth, intellectual prowess and cultural impact peak in what‘s termed the Islamic Golden Age:

• An era of economic prosperity, scientific advancement and cultural resurgence due Baghdad’s cosmopolitan caliphs promoting intra-faith pluralism and institutional support that attracted diverse talent from Asia, Africa and Europe
• Mathematics, medicine, chemistry, philosophy and more saw groundbreaking progress with scholars like Al-Khwarizimi, Ibn Sina, Al-Kindi, Ibn Rushd etc building upon ancient Greek foundations
• Universities, libraries, translation bureaus and centers to synthesize Perso-Greco knowledge thrived leading to transfers of ideas into Renaissance Europe
• Abbasids invested heavily in infrastructure supporting growth of metropolises like Baghdad and Samarra; pivotal trading hubs like Siraf, Muscat and Shanga

This 500 year Islamic Golden Age triggered by Abbasid‘s vision helped establish Islam among world‘s most advanced civilizations scientifically, economically and educationally – a legacy that endured across medieval Europe‘s Dark Ages.

Modern Era: Islam’s Demography And Continued Expansion

After the 13th century Mongol invasions ended the 500-year Abbasid golden age, Islam fractioned into separate political and religious entities across Asian and African countries based on emerging ethnocultural affiliations.

Eventually the common Muslim identity reemerged in the 18th-20th centuries giving rise to contemporary Islamic revivalist movements and related transnational groups seeking political self-determination and religious conservatism.

Statistical Look

Today’s world map shows Islam’s boundary spanning across every continent as world’s 2nd largest religion with 1.9 billion adherents constituting 24.9% of global population based on Pew Research 2022 estimates.

Some noteworthy aspects of modern Islam’s spread:

• 50+ independent countries now have Muslim-majority populations
• Regionally, Asia-Pacific dominates with 62% of world Muslims given Indonesia and South Asia’s high density while Middle East-North Africa is home to about 20%
• Demographic rise will see Muslim population grow 70% between 2015-2060, nearly twice as fast as world’s population according to Pew’s projections
• Factors like high fertility rates and increasing life expectancy driving this growth that‘s likely to make Muslims 30% of estimated 10 billion humans by 2060

Future Trajectory

As expert analyses by scholars like Shadi Hamid of Brookings Institute highlight, Islam has undergone a profound revivalist resurgence in recent decades reemerging as a central identity and political motivator for Muslims globally against Western secularization.

Key driving factors of this pan-Islamic turn include:

• Global connectivity helping create an “imagined community” of wider transnational Muslim solidarity transcending individual cultural identities
• Wider accessibility to conservative Gulf interpretations of Islam through migrant flows and digital exports
• Reactionary hardline backlash against rapid social liberalization like Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood that appeals to observant masses

This gathered momentum is expected to fuel Islam’s growth as a mainstream socio-political identity across the Muslim world in coming decades – influencing international relations, interfaith equations and even global conflicts.

Conclusion

Given Prophet Muhammad first experienced Quranic revelations from Archangel Gabriel in 610 CE that triggered Islam‘s founding as an organized religious movement, the Islamic faith is about 1,414 years old as of 2023 CE.

From those humble beginnings in 7th century Arabia, Islam rapidly became a dominant global religion and civilization within just decades of the prophet‘s death, delivering political stability, economic prosperity, educational advancement and cultural plurality for over 500 years at its peak medieval zenith.

And in modern times, despite fractioning during colonialism, Islam enjoys an immense resurgence buoyed by population growth, conservative clerical resurgence and digital connectivity that binds together its 1.9 billion diverse adherents across every continent. By all expert projections, Islam’s demographic expansion and socio-political influence is only expected to accelerate in coming decades.

So while just 14 centuries old, this world religion already dominates a quarter of humanity in its fold through continued spread. And Islam largely owes this profound success and longevity to the far-reaching vision laid down by its founding prophet Muhammad in those early years at Mecca and Medina that has endured across lands, peoples and times.