With the disintegration of the roman empire, the western portion would eventually reemerge as western europe - a collection of independent kingdoms united by a common religious culture of christianity. the eastern portion would survive for a time as the byzantine empire, a christianized continuation of a much - diminished roman empire. the near east, egypt, north africa, and most of spain, meanwhile, became the heartlands of what new religious culture?

Islamic religious culture

The teachings of Islam began with the prophet Mohammad (570-632).  The Islamic calendar dates the starting point of Islam in 622 on the Julian calendar, the year of Mohammad's hegira from Mecca to Medina with his followers to avoid an assassination plot in Mecca.  Within a few years his following had grown and he returned to Mecca as headquarters of the Islamic faith.  By the 8th century Islam had spread throughout the Middle East and North Africa and as far as the southern half of the Iberian peninsula.