ON TOP OF THE HUNDRED BESTS

MOMHAMAD :

ON TOP OF THE HUNDRED BESTS

(Mohammad) was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and the secular levels. Of humble origins, Mohammad founded and promulgated one of the world's greatest religions and became an immensely effective political leader. Today, thirteen centuries after his death, his influence is still powerful and pervasive. The Bedouine tribesmen of Arabia had been no match for the larger armies of the kingdomes in the settled agricultural areas to the north. However, unified by Mohammad for the first time in history, and inspired by their fervent belief in the one true God, these small Arab armies now embarked upon one of the most astonishing series of conquests in human history. For a while, it must have seemed that the Muslims would overwhelm all of Christian Europe. However, in 732, at the famous battle of Tours, a Muslim army which had advanced into the centre of France, was at last defeated by the Franks. Never- theless, in a scant century of fighting, these Bedouin tribesmen,, inspired by the word of the prophet, had carved out an empire stretching from the borders of India to the Atlantic ocean--the largest empire that the world had yet seen. Of many important historical events, one might say that they were inevitable and would have occured even without the particular political leader who guided them. But this cannot be said of the Arab conquests. Nothing similar had occured before Mohammad, and there is no reason to believe that the conquests would have been achieved without him We see then, that The Arab conquests of the seventh century have continued to play an important role in human history, down to the present day. It is this unparalleled combination of secu- lar and religious influence which I feel entitles Mohammad to be considered the most influential single figure in human history. Dr. Michael H. Hart, The 100, New York 1978