Islam during the Life of Muhammad
In 613 AD, Muhammad began declaring that he was receiving messages from God, and that he was a prophet in the same line of prophets as Jesus and Moses. At first the Pagan Arabs were tolerant and even curious about this new "prophet", they had a genuine interest in the monotheistic beliefs of the Jews and Christians and were willing to make room for another religious belief system in their society. It was not until Muhammad began insulting the traditional Pagan deities and insisting that the Pagan Arabs and their ancestors will burn in hell for eternity for worshiping false gods that they began to regard Muhammad and his followers with disdain. (Ibn Ishaq pg. 167) The Pagan Arabs placed a trade embargo on them, ridiculed Muhammad in public, and some of the slaves that had begun to follow Muhammad were beaten by their Pagan masters. To escape this persecution, Muhammad and his followers fled from Mecca to Medina in 622 AD, where they were welcomed by the local Pagan and Jewish tribes there.