''God is most great''. The muezzin calls. ''I testify that there is no other god but God. I testify Muhammad is the messenger of God. Come and pray, come and flourish. God is most great. There is no god but God.'' 

 

In the unfolding of history, Islamic civilization has been one of humanity’s grandest achievements, a worldwide power founded simply on faith, a spiritual revolution that would shape the nations of three continents, and launch an empire. For the west, much of the history of Islam has been obscured behind a veil of fear and misunderstanding. Yet Islam's hidden history is deeply and surprisingly interwoven with western civilization. It was Muslim scholars who reclaimed the ancient wisdom of the Greeks while Europe languished in the dark ages. It was they who sowed the seeds of the Renaissance, six hundred years before the birth of Leonardo da Vinci. From the way we heal the sick to the numerals we use for counting, cultures across the globe have been shaped by Islamic civilization. But all this began with the life of a single ordinary man and the profound message he proclaimed which change the world forever. His name was Muhammad.