Islam is a major world religion. Its origin can be traced back to 610 CE in Arabia. The basis of this religion is the revelations to the prophet Mohammad. Dissatisfied with his life, he traveled to deserts, hills, and the wilderness surrounding Mecca, where he lived, to meditate and reflect. He became a new man through his revelations, which many of his followers believe Allah transmitted to him through his angel Gabriel. Islam was originally an Arab religion, but many different beliefs and practices were added to it, making it extremely popular and aiding in its rapid spread. This new religion spread to many different areas surrounding Arabia, both under Mohammad and after his death. The Muslim Empire grew to encompass Spain and the Eastern Roman Empire as well Persia and Africa. Many different practices and methods were used to spread Islam. The religion itself was appealing to, in addition to the inhabitants of Arabia, other people in the surrounding areas because of its distinct religious beliefs and practices, such as the five pillars, as well as the humility and prayerfulness of the Islamic people. They fought cruel, vicious wars with their enemies. Many different things motivated the warriors to expand, but above all, the riches they would gain from the people of the Fertile Crescent encouraged them to expand. Islamic civilization began in Arabia, but it spread to many areas in the proximity of the peninsula. It spread as far as Spain, as well as many areas between the two locations. The civilization reached the Eastern Roman Empire, Persia, Egypt, and Africa. The Muslim warriors were extremely courageous, and their religious zeal aided in the conquests of many empires surrounding Arabia. However, the weakn... ... middle of paper ... ...f the warring tribes was obtaining booty, or riches, not following the scriptures of the Quran or examples of Mohammed (Document 7) In addition to the many different ways the followers of Islam spread the religion and expanded their empire, the religion itself was appealing to many people outside of Arabia. The Islamic religion contained many beliefs and practices that were extremely appealing to others. One of these beliefs was that Islam is an uncompromising monotheistic religion, meaning there is only one God. In addition, there was an extremely well and highly developed set of legal codes and a strong sense of community among the followers of Islam. The five pillars were also extremely appealing because they provided the basis for religious unity. The humbleness and prayerfulness of the Islamic people was admirable to those of other faiths. (Document 3)
The town of Mecca was the birthplace of Islam, at first the leaders of the city refused the changing of this new religion and forced Muhammad to leave. Muhammad returned and preached to the people about what he had heard, that there is only one god. Islam spread quickly for two main reasons they are the message and military conquest.
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.
Why and how did Islam spread so quickly? I will give three reasons to answer this question. One answer is because of the large trading happening, two is that muslims are protected by Islam, three is because of the religion Muhammad created was attractive to people.
Islam has a deep history, beginning with ideas originating before Muhammad and spanning to the present day. Before Islam, the Bedouin people’s faith contained a belief in supreme beings alongside animism. They also put a large emphasis on ancestor worship (Swartz 15). Some groups...
In 610 CE, Muhammad, a merchant trader from Mecca (Mecca is also a site of a yearly pilgrimage where Muslims come to perform a rituals at the sacred Ka’ba a.k.a. the holy shrine of Mecca), made one of his frequent visits to a cave by Mount Hira. On his way to the cave, he decided to pray because of all the different causes that made him feel like he was losing his way. During this visit to Mount Hira, the Archangel Gabriel squeezed Muhammad hard forcing the words “Allah is one God” continuously coming out of his mouth. After having these words come out of his mouth for about two years, Muhammad decided that it was the time to encourage others to quote
In the early 6th century, Muhammad introduced Islam into the Arab world, and asserted that there was only one true God. Islam demanded that believers obey God’s will and laws (Islamic Law, web). By introducing Isla...
Today’s fastest-growing religion began in 610 C.E., when a merchant went into a cave to meditate. That merchant was Muhammad, and in that cave, he received a message from God. This message, along with the many more that would come, formed the basis of the Islamic faith. Islam grew rapidly from its roots in the Arabian city of Mecca and is now the second-largest religion in the world. There are three reasons why Islam spread so quickly: trade, military conquest, and the appeal of its message.
Islam continued to spread by making the idea of being a Muslim sound great. The Muslim Empire didn’t force any Muslims to pay taxes(Doc 1). The idea of changing religions made a lot of sense money wise. The change to Islam was not a large difference, pray more, and eat a little less during sun up. The idea of going to paradise after your death seemed Marvelous (Doc 2). It also gave you an idea about fighting for the Muslim Army, if you died, you would be taken to Heaven with Allah and his Apostle. To some
The Muslim faith would condemn the displacement of tribal values for the “ambition, greed, arrogance, and hedonism of the new rich” because while it had given Arabia political and commercial order, it was changing its moral and social identity. Arabia became a fermented society touched by imperial influences, marked by monotheistic religions but with competing and henotheistic beliefs, and a prospering society caught in social and moral
Islam expanded quickly due to its competitors, Byzantine Christianity and Sassanian Zoroastrianism in constant battle; Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab’s Islamic expansion; and the unification of the empire through the Arabic language. Muhammad was born into a polytheistic tribe, the Quraysh, and was initially shunned due to the new religion. Islam is an Abrahamic religion, and Muhammad sought to restore the
During this time, Mecca was mostly populated with polytheistic followers. In 610 C.E, Prophet Muhammad, had his first revelations that advance the Islamic culture. His revelations became a way of life for his followers. When the religion started rising in numbers, Muhammad and his followers was exiled from Mecca. When the followers migrated to Medina, Islam began to spread. This religion had much influence in the locations it was practiced in. The Quran is the way of life to its people. The five pillars expressed in the Quran were the religious laws Muslims were expected to follow. They were expected to only accept there is one God and one messenger, Muhammad, pray five times a day, give the poor 2.5 percent of their savings, fast during the month of Ramandan, and pilgrimage to Mecca, where the Holy Ka’ba is located. Besides the religious impact, Muhammad also created a political empire. He united different tribes and customs. Muhammad was very influential that after his death, the religion faced a challenge. They did not have a successor or leader, so many followers left the religion, refused to pay taxes, and wars begun. In the mid- seventh century, the Muslims started wars with the Byzantine and Persian Empires and conquered them. Muslims ruled over many religious groups including Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians. As the Muslims became powerful, they created laws that taxed other religious groups to practice their faith. In the “Pact of Umar”, Christians agreed under extreme circumstances in order to practice their faith. They agreed to not fix the damages done to their churches, to not display any religious ornaments, to not spread the faith, and many more. The Muslims conquered and progressed in
This week the two readings for class are from “The Emergence of Islam” by Gabriel Said Reynolds. The two readings center on Muhammad and his life as a biblical prophet from his birth around 570 CE until his death in 632. The first reading outlines his life as a young boy and his journey as he grows older and begins to introduce Islam to his native town of Mecca. As a child there were several instances in which he was publicly recognized as having prophethood. A Christian hermit noticed a cloud above Muhammad’s head as he walked and upon further contact with each other discovered a mark between the prophet’s shoulder blades that was described as, “the seal of prophethood.” This encounter represents Islam as the corrective missing puzzle piece
was a lot of trading around several places, during this, the word of Islam spread as
Islam spread slowly throughout Arabia due to attacks, boycotts, and rejection. Attacks on Muslims caused Islam to spread slowly due to other religions feeling the need to put an end to the spread of Islam by frequently attacking them. As Muhammad’s followers continued to grow, strong clans started to boycott Muslims, which caused major starvation between Muslims and made Islam very unpopular. Islam spread slowly due to rejection from Arabs; Arab’s disturbed people shunned Islam due to its monotheistic way of religion and influenced the ways others felt about it, making it very unwanted. The attacks, boycotts, and rejection inflicted upon Muslims caused Islam to spread very sluggishly.
These tribulations spread in the Arab Island. A few tribes only remain on the straight path following the religion that the prophet Muhammad Peace Be upon Him teaches them. To save Islam from any deformation Caliph engages in serious wars against the tribulation creators in which the Muslims win and Islam gets its stability.After the apostasy wars, the aim of Muslims was to spread Islam to the whole world and to protect the boundaries of the state; they were also building the Abbassi and Omaoui States and fight thedissent. This atmosphere paves the way in front of many ideologies to appear like “El Moatazila” “El Morjiaa” “El Djabria”…