Early Islam

The formative historical period of the Islamic religion, broadly the era of Muhammad and the early caliphates, used to describe the beliefs, practices, scholarship, and political arrangements that characterized Islam during its first centuries.

Claims that use this term

• Early Islam scholarship was a weapon in intra-Christian polemics.
• Early Islam saw worldly success as confirming prophecy rather than contradicting it
• Early Islam institutionalized a permanent war-theater outside its own territory