Islamic, Western European and Chinese civilizations in order to grow and expand followed the teachings and laws of certain enlightened individuals whose minds broke out the traditional molds. These cultures all came into a time of renaissance and change in which the teachings of these leaders were not only accepted but completely changed the course of their civilizations, therefore changing the course of history. The creation of three great civilizations came about because of the quest of three men taking a simple approach to the root questions in life. To fully explain how religion and philosophy molded these civilizations, one must first briefly outline the historical events, which brought the people to the need for a higher being or simple answers to the pressing questions.
             Islamic civilization and its rise came into existence because of the enlightenment of one man, Muhammad. Islam came into being in 622 A.D. with the hegira (emigration) of Muhammad from Mecca to Yathrib or Medina. Islam managed to push the Arabs into a new kind of community (umma), which at the same time spread far beyond Arabia, Persia, India, North African countries and parts of Europe came under its domination. The Arabs managed to capture the most powerful economic areas. In the Mediterranean their navy conquered Cyprus and crippled Byzantine sea power. They first clashed with the Christians when they tried to besiege Constantinople. In 711 they started their raids into Spain and in 716 they conquered it. They tried to conquer France but the Franks under their leader Charles Martel handed the Arabs their first defeat. From the end of the 7th century until the middle of the 11th, the Mediterranean remained something of a Muslim lake and western trade with East Asia w!
             as not cut off during these centuries, it was significantly diminished and carried on in awareness of Muslim dominance.
             In the early Middle Ages the main power in Europe was ...