And what happened in Zaire which then became known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo? A year later saw the start of the Second Congo War, also known as the African World War (the world's deadliest conflict since World War Two) in which three and a half to four and a half million people died. Laurent Kabila was assassinated in 2001, and his son took over the reins of power. In 2006 the Congo held its first multi-party elections since independence in 1960. The result of the elections produced riots, which continue to the extent that over 100 people died in continued rioting in February 2007. 

When Muhammad overthrew the tyrant rulers of Makkah fourteen hundred years ago, his first purpose was to overthrow the idols they'd installed around the ancient prayer house of Abraham, pieces of metal, wood and stone, shaped by craftsmen into objects that must have been impressive if not beautiful, and endowed with an unreal importance, an unjustified reverence, by the mighty and their subject population.

Of course, that's hardly relevant to us in the modern west. Idols are just for backward tribes far, far away, perhaps in India or Africa. Certainly one well-known African leader never tried to hide what he considered to be most important in his life. Ex-president Mobutu showed a dedication to the accumulation of crafted wood metal and stone in his palaces and possessions, that displayed a reverence for material goods that could be thought of as obsessive.

Mind you, his political backers in the west completely understood and appreciated his behaviour. After all, the capitalist system is based on the inevitable triumph of accumulated wealth, the universal desire for its attainment, and the indisputable right of market forces to operate free from moral and ethical constraint. It's a world where needs are determined by the advertising image, a discard society where dissatisfaction is promoted to sell next season's products, a world of style not substance, where truth is always relative. But what use is a trinket, even one as shiny as a diamond, compared with good health and peace of mind. If something doesn't feed us, or heal us, or protect us from the elements or hostile neighbours, is it really of any consequence?

As Laurent Kabila takes power in Kinshasa we wait to see if his revolution was based on justice or on envy. How many dictators have been overthrown, only to be replaced by another very similar. As with political revolutions much closer to home, it's what happens now that will determine history's judgement of their motives.

When Muhammad's army finally entered Makkah there was no bloodshed or retribution, but as he threw down and smashed the Makkan idols  he quoted verses from the Qur'an:

"The truth has come and falsehood has perished away. And falsehood, of its nature, will always perish."