After the Battle of Badr in 624, Islam became a rapidly expanding religion on the Arabian peninsula, and eventually began expanding into Byzantine land, mostly into Judea. Jerusalem became the main point of this movement, with a large Muslim community, and this began to worry the Jews and Christian already living in the city. They asked that the Muslims be forced out of the country, and that Islam be banned. Their cries were not heeded, and eventually the Muslims established multiple small states along the Arabian peninsula, which the Byzantines thought might threaten their trade along the Red Sea.