Islam is and has been at large for centuries so it is of interest to know how Islam emerged, who was affected, how the nation was and continues to thrive despite continuous conflict, and how Islam is connect with Christianity and Judaism.
Ninety percent of Egypt is of Muslim faith, according to a profiling done by Indexmudi. Why is this? When the Byzantine empire was in religious turmoil, the Arabs attempted to strike while the iron was hot and the nation was weakened. However, the attempt failed, though not without gaining land. The Arabs were persistent, and instead, they attacked Syria and Egypt. This time, with successful results. Egypt and Syria fell to the Arabs after the battle of Yarmuk and Muslim influence spread over the territory. Due to the Arab’s conquests, the Islamic nations owned a large expanse of land, from the Hindu Kush to the Persian Gulf (Chase). The Byzantine empire
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It weakened and crushed the health and spirits of the Byzantines, leaving them open to attack from the Ottoman Turks. The conquests affected Egypt, Syria, Persia, North Africa, and surrounding areas as they were acquired and the Arab culture spread. In the same way, Islam was affected by the nations it conquered. They adopted Greek learning and philosophy from the Byzantines and Persians and began their own renaissance. An interest in medicine astronomy, philosophy, and algebra grew among the nation (Chase). Just before the golden age, Muhammad united the Arabs, giving organization to the Arabian Tribes. The tribes were separated into the common ‘Sunni’ and the descendants of Muhammad ‘Shiites’( Chase). Muhammad became the founder of Islam and was considered a prophet. He had considerable influence and established the five pillars of faith, including monotheism. This belief was that there was only one Allah. It also included pilgrimage to Mecca. This is similar to Christian and Judaic beliefs in one God and certain holy
As you can see, the Byzantine and Arab empires had many characteristics that came to define them. Whether it was through their religious beliefs, political structure, or economy, each was able to create a vast, long lasting empire which came to define the post-classical period.
In 2010, the Eastern Orthodox population consisted of 250,000,000 people. (Doc. C) A lot of people are still Orthodox Christians, showing that the religion has carried on from the Byzantine Empire. Also, “Had the [Arabs] captured Constantinople in the seventh century...all Europe - and America - might be Muslim today. (Doc. A) This displays that the Byzantine Empire heavily influenced how the world turns out today, and if the Arabs had the power of the Byzantine Empire civilization would mostly be Muslim.
For example, the spread of Islam to the Byzantines and the Persians. The other caliphs (Umar, Uthman and Ali) expanded the Islamic empire rapidly and grew faster than any other religion. The Muslims conquered a massive amount of land from the Indus River, across North Africa and into Spain. There were many factors that helped Islam succeed; for example, people would rather fight for God and their salvation instead of fighting for a king, the use of military force by the Muslims and how easy it was to convert to Islam.
Despite their differences, the Islamic Caliphate and the Byzantine Empire were remarkably similar. They shared similar governments, they declined under good leaders, were based off Greek ideals and had trade-based economies. Yet, their intellectual achievements were not equal and the way their trade focused economies worked were polar opposites. These empires did rise and fall in very similar ways that were not touched upon. The back and forth sharing of ideas between the empires must have been the cause for so much similarity.
The entry of the Ottoman Turks had carry the war into the middle east. The British had joined the Arabs and had gathered together to revolt against the Turkish rulers. After this unification between the two, they were able to take over and split the Ottoman area. They at first occupied the southern city of Iraqi named Basara in 1914 and then took over Baghdad in 1917. They then invaded Palestine and Syria in 1918. After The Ottoman Empire had been defeated, the thought of a rise for Arab independence was brought to attention. Though the allies had instead rejected that decision and instead replaced the Ottoman rule with British and French control. This had officially broken up The Ottoman
The Ottoman Empire’s first attack on the Byzantine Empire left them enemies but also attracted the attention of nomads and unemployed people (Yapp, 1-2). With the help of his supporters, Osman took over most of the territory ruled by the Byzantine Empire; though unlike the Mongols and Abbasid Caliphate, the Ottoman Empire was not so quickly successful, at first the Ottoman Empire could not take the major parts of the Byzantine Empire due to lack of forces. Eventually The Ottoman Empire made military advancements and with the help of Christian troops, the nomads, the power of gunpowder/cannons and others who had joined their forces, they were finally able to take all of the Byzantine Empire.(class notes, Ottoman Empire) The Ottoman Empire used the same capital city of Constantinople that the Byzantines had used and just renamed it to Istanbul, not only did they established a military and system of administration like the Abbasid Caliphate had previously done in Baghdad but they established economic power by ridding their new area of monopolies (Yapp, 2). In the city of Constantinople the population doubled after it was overthrown and turned into Istanbul, the people of Istanbul were of different religions and cultures but lived together more peacefully than ever before. The Ottomans were even more accepting of cultures
The Arabs charged with religious zeal from Mohammed conquered quickly over the Persians and were welcomed at Egypt and Syria. Egypt and Syria greeted the Arabs as liberators that promised toleration of religion rather than doctrinal disputes from the church at Constantinople. With these two key ports the Arabs had opened the East Mediterranean by 1641. The Muslims were unable to defeat the Byzantine Empire on land and move to the sea for victory, which allowed the Arabs control of Egypt across North Africa and into Spain by 1717.
Both the Byzantine Empire and the Muslim Empire specifically were two very prominent societies that gained popularity from the fourth to the sixth century. Though the Byzantine and Muslim empires rose at the same time they were extremely different in ways of having separate rulers, beliefs, and people, however they were both greatly influenced by the Roman Empire. They both resembled in ways of their religion, art, and law. They Byzantine Empire was centered around the city of Constantinople and managed to remain in power for more than 1000 years. At the height of their power they were the most powerful both economically and militarily in...
Islam is a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion alongside Judaism and Christianity. It is currently the second largest religion in the world today. Its beliefs come from the Qur'an which literally means "the recitation" which is believed to be a literal transcription of the word of God. Its main prophet is named Muhammad who began Islam by speaking with the angel Gabriel in a cave during his meditation and then acting as an instrument of God to help write the Qur’an. Muhammad then spread Islam to the scattered tribes of Arabia by becoming the leader of Yathrib and using his wonderful leadership abilities to then grow his influence over virtually all of Arabia. Muhammad is known by Muslims to be the seal of the profits because no profits after Muhammad should be considered legitimate. Muhammad also left behind the Hadith or “tradition” which is a collection of writings compiled of reports of Muhammad’s actions as leader of Yathrib. These reports are used as a more specific code of ethics in day to day life and from these reports the 5 Pillars of Islam are derived (Smith 160). Although Islam shares many similarities to Judaism and Christianity it is often viewed in the US with hate derived from preconceived notions following the attack on September 11th 2001. This paper seeks to provide an overview of Islam’s history as well as its two major sects and 5 main pillars to remove preconceived notions and provide a glance into the minds of the Islamic people.
Three of the reasons to how this happened were due to trade, the message passed on from god and the conquest of land. All of Islam Empire, including the Byzantine Empire and Persian Empire had set up many trade routes throughout the Arabian Peninsula. Through trading, many inventions and new ideas were brought up. People from different cultures and regions came across to trade and got many new ideas of the Islam religion, then spreading to their people because they liked the idea that it was one god and how the way of life was under this religion. Muslim merchants would travel to all the trading destinations, which allowed exposure of the religion within other countries as well.
Though one should consider the argument by some historians that the Byzantine Empire was really a continuation of the Roman empire and not in fact a new entity. The Byzantine Empire had been formed in Late Antiquity by the splitting of the Roman empire between the two heirs of Theodosius I. While the two halves retained some ties for all intents and purposes the two were independent entities after 395 CE. While the Western Empire continued to decline, the Byzantines actually flourished and by the 4th century included the Balkans, Greece, Anatolia (Asia Minor), the Levant, and parts of North Africa including Egypt. While Byzantium’s power fluctuated, especially during conflicts with the Islamic civilization and during internal wars, for the majority of its history the Byzantine Empire was a strong political, cultural and economic power in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Significant conflicts in the 11th century caused the Byzantine Empire to decline and this decline was made worse by the Sack of Constantinople in 1204 by the Venetian Crusaders. After this defeat, Byzantium was split into two portions and remained so until 1261 when it was reunified. However, the damage was done and internal conflict and civil war continued to plague the Empire until it ultimately was destroyed by the Ottoman Turks in
According to the secular history, the begging or rise of Islam is greatly linked to the prophet Muhammad. Muslims believe that Muhammad was the last in the line of prophets and not Jesus. They believe this because Muhammad was the chosen recipient and messenger for the word of God through the divine revelations. All those who choose to follow the Muslim religion constantly strive to live life as Muhammad did and to follow his example. In Islam the Qur'an is the most important holy text with the sayings of the prophets (Hadith) and the way of Muhammad's life (Sunna) also being very important. Islam can be traced back to the 7th century, therefore making it one of the more recent great world religions. The prophet Muhammad began to introduce Islam in 610 A.D. after experiencing the confrontation by the Angle
Much of past civilizations have endured many failures and triumphs throughout their existence. In the third century, there were many civilizations that started to flourish. One of these civilizations that started to expand was the Byzantine civilization. The Byzantine civilization, also regarded as Byzantium, was part of the Roman Empire which was divided in 395 AD. Byzantium had shared the same attitude, as the Roman Empire, toward exercising its authority over its citizens and throughout its empire. The Islamic civilization had started thrive in the fifth century. The Islamic civilization was unified together as unison by Islam and it has expanded its civilization throughout parts of Europe through jihad. Because of their expansions throughout parts of Europe, they shared various similarities which include their political system, social structure, and economy.
During the early 700s, the Byzantine Empire was in turmoil and chaos. As Leo III took power, Constantinople was being attacked by Avars, Bulgarians, and Arabs. The Arabs from the Middle East were a main concern for Leo III because of their large conquests in the Asia Minor. The Arabs advanced to spread their faith of Islam and control resources. The Arabs slowly acquired land until their siege on Constantinople itself. Leo III made brilliant defense moves to stop the invaders. His military forces attacked the Arabs from the rear successfully while naval forces were repelled with Greek Fire. Greek Fire was the empire's secret weapon that may have saved them from the Arab siege. Arab ships would burst into flames from contact with the "liquid fire." Fighting continued for a year until the Arabs retreated. Constantinople was defended successfully, but the empire suffered heavy losses and continued to loose land.
In the seventh century, a new faith arose in the Middle East known as the Islamic religion. Just like Christianity and Judaism, the Islamic religion believed in one God known as Allah. The founder of Islam was a very unique individual known as Mohammad. Mohammad had an amazing spiritual experience that transformed his life and made a great impact in history. He experienced visions and revelations from Allah which he accepted as messages. Mohammed