WE have already heard abut tw religins that began in the partf the wrld we nw call the Middle East. These are Judaism and Christianity. In this stry， I"ll tell yu abut a third religin that began in the same area. This religin is called Islam.
Every hundred years is called a century， but a thing that seems a little strange is this-the hundred years frm 500 t 600 is called the sixth century， nt the fifth； the hundred years frm 600 t 700 is called the seventh century， nt the sixth， and sn. Well， we have nw reached the seventh century， the six hundreds， and we are t learnf a man wh was t make a change in the whle wrld.
There lived in Arabia a man named Muhammad. He was brn int humble circumstances. Because his parents died when he was yung， he was raised by an uncle. His uncleperated camel caravans， which transprted passengers and gds much as trainsr trucks d tday. The Arabian cityf Mecca， where Muhammad lived， was the centerf the caravan trade. These camel caravans traveled acrss the Arabian Desert t Nrth Africa and t the lands alng the eastern endf the Mediterranean Sea. Althugh Muhammad had little frmal educatin， he traveled t many wnderful places with the caravans and met many different kindsf peple. While wrking fr his uncle， he met a wealthy Arabian wman named Khadija. They were sn married and lived happily tgether. Muhammad and Khadija had fur daughters.
A remarkable thing happened t Muhammad when he was arund frty yearsld. Accrding t Muslim traditin， the stry is tld that he was visiting a muntain in the desert， where heften went t study and think.ne day the angel Gabriel appeared and delivered a message frm Gd. Muhammad listened t this message and setut t teach it tthers. But Muhammad did nt intend t start a whle new religin.
He believed in the same Gd that the Jews and Christians wrshiped. In Arabia there were Jews and Christians， as well asthers wh still wrshiped idls. These grupsften fughtver their religius differences. Muhammad hped that his teachings wuld make them mre understandingfne anther.
Wrldf Islam ( 伊斯兰世界 )
Muhammad saw a ltf unjust and bad behavir arund him. He taught that peple shuld change their selfish waysf living and be mre cncerned fr thse less frtunate. But，f curse， it is impssible t get everyne t agree t change. A new religin began， instead， amng thse peple wh believed in Muhammad"s teachings. His fllwers became knwn as Muslims， and their religin is called Islam. Islam means "submissin" t Gd.
Khadija was the first t fllw her husband"s teachings. Snthers in Mecca fllwed， but there were sme wh wanted t stp Muhammad"s teachings. In 622 A.D. Muhammad and his fllwers mved frm Mecca t the cityf Medina. This first migratin is called the Hegira. Sme years later， they returned t Mecca， but Muslims tday still teach the stryf the angel Gabriel appearing befre Muhammad andf the Hegira.
The Muslims began their calendar with the yearf the Hegira， calling 622A.D. the Year 1， just as Christians began their calendar frm the yearf Jesus"s birth and the Rmans frm the yearf the fundingf their city. Have yuIn 622 A.D. Muhammad and his fllwers mved frm Mecca t the cityf Medina.
公元 622 年，穆罕默德和他的信徒们从麦加城迁移到麦地那城。
nticed that the Christians， the Rmans， and the Muslims each have a different Year 1 ？
Muhammad livednly ten years after the Hegira； that is， until 632 A.D. The new Muslim leaders were called caliphs. The caliphs cntinued t spread Muhammad"s teachings. The first caliph was Abu Bakr； the secnd was namedmar. These teachings frm Gd were written dwn and became the Qur"an (smetimes spelled as Kran)， the Muslim hly bk. "Qur"an" cmes frm a wrd that means "t recite" because Muslims learn t recite the Qur"an when they are yung.
"Allah" is the Arabic wrd fr Gd. When Muslims pray t Allah， they are praying t the same Gd that Christians and Jews wrship. Muslims believe that Muhammad was the lastf Gd"s prphets. They als believe that Abraham， Mses， and Jesus were als Gd"s prphets.
Muslims wrship in a building called a msque， just as Christians wrship in a church， and Jews wrship in a synagguer temple. They als pray five times each day， if pssible， wherever they may be. A man called a muezzin gesutn the balcnyf a minaret，r twer，f a msque and calls alud， "Cme t prayer. Cme t prayer. There is butne Gd， and He is Allah."When Muslims pray， they face tward the cityf Mecca because the hliest shrinef Muslims， called the Ka"ba， is lcated there. At leastnce in their lifetime， Muslims try t make the pilgrimage t the hly cityf Mecca.
During the early yearsf Islam， its leaders were building an empire， muchf it in the lands that hadnce been a partf the Rman Empire. Muslim armies traveled arund the Mediterranean， thrugh the Middle East， all the way t Cnstantinple.
At Cnstantinple， the gateway frm Asia t Eurpe， they were turned back by Christians， wh pured ht tar and burningil frm the wallsf the city. The Muslims tried many times t capture Cnstantinple but withut success. Muslim armies als went westward thrugh Nrth Africa， acrss the Straitf Gibraltar int Spain and acrss the Pyrenees Muntains int suthern France. In 732 A.D.， justne hundred years after the deathf Muhammad， they met their match near the twnf Turs in France.
The kingf France had a right-hand man named Charles，wh had been nicknamed Charles the Hammer because he culd strike such terrific blws. Charles was als called Mayrf the Palace， which meant that he was the chiefMuezzinn minaretcalling t prayer 穆安津在塔楼上呼唤众 人来祈祷servantf the king. Charles the Hammer and his French sldiers defeated the Muslims and kept them frm mving farther int Eurpe.
When Muslims pray， they face tward the cityf Mecca.... the hliest shrinef Muslims called the Ka"ba is lcated there.
穆斯林祈祷的时候，都面朝麦加城的方向…… 穆斯林最神圣的神祠克尔白就坐落在那里。
In just a century， Islam had spread far and wide. Peple in cuntries brdering the Mediterranean， frm Cnstantinple， all the way arund Nrth African the suthern edge， and nrth thrugh Spain int France， lived under Muslim rulers. Manyrdinary peple had becme Muslim. Even tday， Islam is the main religin in the Middle East and Nrth Africa.
【中文阅读】
我们已经知道有两大宗教起源于世界上我们现在称为中东的那个地区，这两大 宗教就是犹太教和基督教。在这个故事中，我要给你讲一讲这同一地区产生的另一 种宗教，这种宗教叫做伊斯兰教。
每一百年被称为一个世纪，但有件事似乎有点奇怪--从 500 年到 600 年这一百年叫 6 世纪，而不是 5 世纪；从 600 年到 700 年这一百年叫 7 世纪，而不是 6世纪，等等。那好，我们现在讲到了 7 世纪，也就是公元六百零几年的时候。我们 就要听说到一个将要给全世界带来变化的人。
在阿拉伯，有个叫穆罕默德的人，他出生于一个低微的家庭。因为父母在他很 小的时候就去世了，他是被叔叔抚养大的。他的叔叔经营着骆驼旅行队，运送旅客 和货物，就像现在的火车或卡车的作用。阿拉伯的麦加城是旅行队贸易的中心，穆 罕默德就住在麦加城。这些骆驼旅行队穿过阿拉伯沙漠到达北非和地中海东端沿岸的地区。尽管穆罕默德没有受过什么正规教育，但他随着旅行队游历过很多奇妙的 地方，见过形形色色的人。他在为叔叔工作的时候，遇到了一个富有的阿拉伯女人， 名叫赫蒂彻。很快，他们就结婚了，幸福地生活在一起，穆罕默德和赫蒂彻有四个 女儿。
大约在穆罕默德 40 岁的时候，他遇到了一件非同寻常的事情。据穆斯林的传 说，事情的经过是这样的：穆罕默德正在拜访一座沙漠里的山，他经常去那里学习 和思考。有一天，天使加百列在他面前显灵，传达了上帝的启示。穆罕默德聆听了 上帝的启示，开始向人们传道，宣讲上帝的启示。但是，穆罕默德并没有打算创立 一门全新的宗教。
他信奉的上帝也就是犹太人和基督徒崇拜的上帝。在阿拉伯，既有犹太教徒和 基督徒，也有信奉诸多神灵的其他一些人。这些群体经常因为宗教信仰的不同而发 生冲突，穆罕默德希望他的教诲可以让他们增进相互的理解。
穆罕默德看到周围有许多不公平和恶劣的行为，他就教诲众人要转变自私自利 的生活方式，更加关心那些不幸的人们。然而，让每个人都愿意做出改变当然是不 可能的。但是，在信奉穆罕默德教诲的众人中，却诞生了一个新的宗教。他的信徒 们逐渐被称为穆斯林，而他们的宗教则被称为伊斯兰教。"伊斯兰"的意思是"顺从 上帝"。
赫蒂彻是第一个听从她丈夫教诲的人。很快，麦加城里的其他人也开始追随穆 罕默德，不过也有些人想要阻止他布道。公元 622 年，穆罕默德和他的信徒们从麦 加城迁移到麦地那城。这第一次迁移称为"希吉拉"1。几年后，他们又回到了麦加 城。今天的穆斯林仍然在传播加百列在穆罕默德面前显灵和希吉拉的故事。
穆斯林是从希吉拉那一年开始纪年，把公元 622 年称为他们的元年，就像基督 徒从耶稣诞生的那一年、罗马人从建立罗马城那一年开始纪年一样。你注意到了吗？ 基督徒、罗马人和穆斯林各自有不同的元年。
穆罕默德在希吉拉之后只活了十年，也就是说他活到了公元 632 年。那些新继 任的穆斯林领袖都被称为"哈里发"2。哈里发继续传播穆罕默德的教诲。第一任哈里 发是阿布-伯克尔，第二任哈里发叫奥马尔。后来，这些来自上帝的教导被记录下 来，成为《古兰经》（也可译为《可兰经》）。"古兰"来自"诵读"一词，因为穆斯 林在幼年就学习诵读《古兰经》了。
"安拉"是阿拉伯语中对上帝的称呼。当穆斯林向安拉祈祷时，他们就是在向基 督徒、犹太教徒所礼拜的那个上帝祈祷。穆斯林认为，穆罕默德是最后一位上帝的 先知。他们认为亚伯拉罕、摩西和耶稣也都是上帝派来的先知。
穆斯林在一个叫"清真寺"的建筑里做礼拜，就像基督徒在教堂里做礼拜、犹 太教徒在犹太会堂或教堂做礼拜一样。不管在什么地方，如果可以的话，他们还要 一天祈祷五次。每一次，一个称作穆安津的人就会来到光塔、塔楼或清真寺的阳台1 "希吉拉"在阿拉伯语中意为"迁徙"--译者注。
2 这个词在阿拉伯语中意为"继承人"--译者注。
上，大声呼唤："来祈祷吧，来祈祷吧，只有一个真主，他就是安拉。" 穆斯林祈祷的时候，都面朝麦加城的方向，因为穆斯林最神圣的神祠克尔白就坐落在那里。穆斯林在一生之中，至少要设法到圣城麦加去朝圣一次。 在伊斯兰教早期，伊斯兰教的领袖们建立了一个帝国，这个帝国的大量土地都曾是罗马帝国的领土。穆斯林的军队绕过地中海，穿过中东，一路进军来到了君士 坦丁堡。
在君士坦丁堡这个亚洲通向欧洲的大门前，城里的基督徒将滚烫的焦油和燃烧 的煤油从城墙上倾泻下来，把穆斯林挡了回来。穆斯林又多次设法攻占君士坦丁堡， 但是都失败了。穆斯林的军队也向西穿过北非，跨越直布罗陀海峡进入西班牙，还 越过比利牛斯山脉进入了法国南部。公元 732 年，正好是穆罕默德去世后一百年， 他们在法国靠近图尔城的地方遇到了强劲的对手。
法国的国王有个得力助手叫查理，绰号"铁锤查理"，因为他打击起敌人来就像 铁锤那样有力。查理也被称为"宫长"，这意味着他是国王的亲信。"铁锤查理"带 领他的法国士兵们打败了穆斯林，阻止了他们向欧洲进一步扩张。
仅仅过了一个世纪，伊斯兰教就广泛地传播开来。地中海周边各国人民，从君 士坦丁堡直到南边的北非、北边的西班牙再到法国，都生活在穆斯林的统治之下。 许多普通民众都成了穆斯林。甚至今天，伊斯兰教仍然是中东和北非的主要宗教。