Before empires…great Islamic dynasties…. and the intellectual centres of Baghdad and Córdoba.
In this 4th episode of The Mosaic Chat, we return to seventh century Arabia to understand how the proclamation “Allāhu akbar”, “God is greater,” emerged and reshaped the Abrahamic landscape.
At the beginning of the seventh century, the Arabian Peninsula was a crossroads of tribes, trade routes, and religious traditions. Polytheistic cults coexisted with Jewish and Christian communities, while merchants carried stories, beliefs, and debates across the wider Middle East. It is within this environment that Muhammad ibn ʿAbdallāh, a merchant from Mecca, begins to receive the revelations that will form the Qurʾān.
Presented as a reminder rather than a completely new message, the Qurʾān situates itself within the same spiritual lineage as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, while reaffirming a central claim: the absolute unity of God.
From this proclamation emerges not only a new religious community, the umma, but also a civilisation that will extend from the Indus to the Atlantic. For centuries, Islamic societies become major centres of intellectual, artistic, and scientific life, transmitting and transforming the heritage of Antiquity.
At the same time, Islam becomes part of a broader Abrahamic conversation. By insisting on uncompromising monotheism, it continues the story of the One God while also challenging the theological paths developed within Judaism and Christianity.
Understanding this moment in history helps illuminate how different expressions of faith in the One God shaped the Middle East and North Africa and why this shared heritage remains central when imagining new forms of dialogue and coexistence today.
🎙 A conversation with Tomer Attias and Dr. Othman El Kachtoul.
📖 Inspired by Abramundi: Manifesto for the Creation of an Abrahamic Alliance in the Middle East and North Africa
