The study of the origins and development of early Islam can be said to fall into two major schools of thought. The first view is the traditionalist Muslim pious view which argues that the Islam is unquestionably a work of divine origins revealed by the Islamic deity Allah to a 7th century Arab trader Muhammad. The other view is a secular scholastic view which seeks examine evidence and primary sources and apply the historical method to the study of the early origins and development of Middle Eastern religions.