When Almighty Allah sent His last and greatest Prophet, Muhammad [peace be upon him /PBUH], mankind was immersed in a state of degeneration. The messages of the past prophets had been distorted and ignored, civilization was on the decline and humanity had slumped into an age of darkness, with disbelief, oppression and corruption prevalent everywhere. The condition of the world at that time presented the gloomiest picture ever of human history.

At the time of Muhammad's birth, there existed two great powers on the earth: one in the East and another in the West. In the East there was the Persian Empire, and in the West, the Roman Empire. As it might be expected, these two powers were actively hostile towards each other, and were more or less, permanently at war. with each other. They were, therefore, and disunited, though appearing to be otherwise. But despite their disunity and weakness, no serious effort was made to eradicate their causes.