Spread Of Islam Essay

Islam is the second largest religion in the world, right behind Christianity with an estimated 1.6 billion global members as of 2010. With these astoundly high numbers, the Muslim presence is being felt all across the world. Roughly 240 million Muslims are currently residing in the northern half of Africa. Over the [past century the number of African Muslims has skyrocketed and become the second most popular religion in the area with Christianity only slightly ahead of it in terms of numbers. With these high numbers, just like with any group with many people in it, conflict happens and is unavoidable. Within the region, there are several conflicting ideas of religion including Christianity, African tribal religions, and different ideas

These nomads brought their culture and religion with them. To teach the Islamic faith to the Egyptians, Muslims did not translate the Quran because Arabic was seen as “God’s revelation to Muhammad” (). Instead the Hadith was used to teach the traditions that Muhammad, and convert people to Islam. This process of teaching Islam was use although out Africa. Through Egypt Islam was then spread west though the Sahara desert to the Barbary Coast by Muslim nomads. Islam was also spread south along the east coast by Muslims sailors crossing the Red

The number of Muslims has increased greatly. “The number of Muslims living between the Sahara Desert and the Cape of Good Hope has increased more than 20-fold, raising from 11 million to 24 million in 2010” (Liu). There are many different views on Christianity through the eyes of Muslims. If asked about how Muslims see the treatment of Christian women, they would generally say Christians are tolerant, honest, and respectful of women. When it comes to conflict, Muslims prefer it to be handled by someone else rather than themselves. “The Muslims in nearly all countries support allowing leaders and judges to use their religious beliefs when deciding family and property disputes” (Liu). When there are consequences, “the whole Muslim community is not punished as a whole for the actions of one person”