Within only one hundred years, Islam and the empire of the caliphs emerged and profoundly changed the political and cultural coordinates of the world. Lutz Berger explains this "miracle" from the changes in late ancient societies and vividly describes how Islam formed hand in hand with the Arab conquests. There has been much speculation about the sudden emergence of Islam in the 7th century: Was it originally a Christian or Jewish sect? What are the sources of the Koran? Based on the latest research, Lutz Berger shows how, in the competition between monotheistic religions of salvation, an Arab variety with its own prophet and holy book spread from Mecca and pacified the fragmented Arab peninsula. This was the prerequisite for extensive conquests, which were taking place everywhere.