The history of Islam centers around one person, Muhammad (also spelled Muhammed or Mohammed). He was born around 570 A.D. and was raised by his extended family after the death of his parents. As he grew, he became dissatisfied with polytheism and came to believe in one God, Allah. He began to have religious visions around age 40. During these visions, Muhammad would receive "messages" or "revelations" from Allah. He would memorize them and teach them to his followers. These visions are now recorded in the Qur'an (or Koran). Muhammad continued to receive these visions and messages until his death in 632 A.D.
The Old Testament books of the Bible describe numerous struggles of the Jewish people. After their triumphant Exodus from Egyptian captivity following Moses, they wandered around in the desert for forty years before entering the Promised Land. They had many conflicts with neighboring societies, yet for several centuries were able to maintain a unified state centered in Jerusalem.
Buddhism is a religion which is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, the son of a wealthy landowner born in northern India around 560 B.C. In order to achieve spiritual peace, Gautma renounced his worldly advantages and became known as Buddha, or "the enlightened one". He preached his religious views his entire life throughout South Asia.
Christianity is based upon the teachings of Jesus, a Jew who lived his life in the Roman province of Palestine. Roman communications networks enabled Christianity to spread quickly throughout the Roman empire and eventually to the rest of Europe, and finally the entire globe.
Hinduism is the oldest and most complex of all religious systems. Providing an adequate history for the development of Hinduism is difficult, since it has no specific founder or theology and originated in the religious practices of Aryan tribes who moved to India from central Asia more than three thousand years ago. The Aryans attacked the Harappan people who lived in modern day India around 1500 BC. Eventually, through adaptation to the religious beliefs of the other, both groups developed similar religious belief systems, founded on the polytheism of the Aryans and the sanctity of fertility of the Harappans.