Every year more than a million animals are shipped to Mecca from all over the world to be slaughtered during the Muslim Hajj. Islam is the only biblical religion that still practices animal sacrifice, a practice that began with the prophet Muhammad sacrificing 100 camels just before his death. A series of camel burials dated sometime between the fourth century BCE and early Islam show that camel sacrifice in Arabia pre-dates Islam. Why did these burials appear (and then disappear) only during this time and in this particular region? Using a "big history" approach, this paper proposes to investigate the potential correlation between climate change and religious practices in ancient Arabia: Were these camel burials, and the origins of Islam, linked to changes in the physical environment? To map climate changes, this study utilizes data from geological (palynological examination of fossil pollen), tree-ring sampling, the analysis of marine microfauana through deep-sea core samples, and literary sources to indicate temperature levels, droughts and monsoon circulation, and tectonic and volcanic activities. Evidence of camel Burials is derived primarily from archaeological discoveries (and zoo-archaeological analyses of animal skeletons) in the Ḥaḍramawt, interior of the Oman peninsula, the ʿAsir region, through middle Arabia (Qaryat al-Faw, al-Rabadha, Biʾr Himā, Jidd Hafs, Wadi Ramm, Merzuʿah and Maysar, Baynumah, Bat, ʿAlī, and Dhahran), and isolated examples from Palestine and Syria. This research anticipates a broader and more inclusive approach to explaining the origins of camel sacrifice in Islam. Preliminary investigation suggests that historical environmental and climate data can provide new insights into the occurrence of these camel sacrifices—Was the increased desertification of the Arabian peninsula during late antiquity responsible for the development of saddle and bit technology that enabled the cultural dominance of certain camel-mounted Arab pastoralists? Was camel burial a way to commemorate the role of this technology and its use by the warrior class in securing prosperity for society through the conquest and protection of territory?