ARABIA AT THE TIME OF THE PROPHET'S BIRTH
The Prophet was born in Mecca in August 570 A.D. He was
given the name Muhammad which means, the Praised One.
To understand his life and character we must have some idea
of the conditions which obtained in Arabia at the time of his
birth.
When he was born the whole of Arabia, with exceptions here
and there, believed in a polytheistic form of religion. The
Arabs traced their descent to Abraham. They knew that
Abraham was a monotheistic Teacher. In spite of this, they
entertained polytheistic beliefs and were given to polytheistic
practices. In defence, they said that some human beings are
outstanding in their contact with God. Their intercession on
behalf of others is accepted by God. God is High and Exalted.
To reach Him is difficult for ordinary human beings. Only
perfect human beings can reach Him. Ordinary human beings,
therefore, must have others to intercede on their behalf before
they can reach God and attain to His pleasure and His help.
With this attitude they were able to combine their reverence for
Abraham, the monotheist, with their own polytheistic beliefs.
Abraham, they said, was a holy man. He was able to reach
God without intercession. But ordinary Meccans were not
able to reach God without the intercession of other holy and
righteous persons. To seek this intercession, the people of
Mecca had made idols of many holy and righteous persons, and
these they worshipped and to these they made offerings in
order to please God through them.
Page-135
http://www.alislam.org/library/books/Introduction-Study-Holy-Quran.pdf
Muhammad was peaceful; he expressed only his own sincere beliefs and used no sword or force.
Regards