Islam is a monotheistic, universalizing faith, that upholds the main idea of, “There is no God but God, and Muhammad is His prophet”. Islam believes their is one God, called Allah. Basically, Islam is originated on five principles, known as the Five Pillars. First, that there is only one god, Allah. Next, as a dedication to their faith they must pray five times a day facing the city of Mecca. Charity is another important part of the Islam faith, which can also be seen through the sacrifices that they make for their religion. Another pillar is fasting during the Muslim month of Ramadan, by never drinking alcohol, smoking, and eating during the daytime. Lastly, a pilgrimage to the holy city Mecca, called the Hajj, is required once in a Muslim’s life, unless physically or financially unable to. …show more content…
He developed the concept of Islam, when he was given a message from God, to transmit God’s ideas to the people of Arabia during 622 AD. The city of Mecca did not accept Muhammad’s teachings (they were polytheistic), so he was forced to flee to a place called Medina. The travel to Medina is recognized as the Hegira, this was the rise of Islam. Eight years later, Muhammad returned to Mecca with a myriad of followers, and quickly overtook the city. As Muhammad’s sovereignty spread from Spain to India, the followers of Islam dedicated Mecca as a holy city where they practice influential rituals. Islam is the second largest religion in the world, with over 1.3 billion followers worldwide. Asia and Africa occupy the most followers of Islam, but Muslims are found in every continent of the world, and is currently the fastest growing religion in the
Islam is a very large and influential religion, it all originated from one man named Muhammad spreading his beliefs to the people of Mecca, and now it has become the second largest religion in the world. How did this come to be? How did a religion that started with one man spread so quickly? methods , purposeful or not, were used. There are a few methods that appeared to be most effective, and those methods can be classified under two categories. Islam expanded from forceful ways such as government laws and military conquest, and from peaceful ways like the religion being a reasonable jump for other religions and Islam being an easily acceptable religion.
The Muslim Empire began to expand vastly under the Umayyads, with the empire becoming so large many people were converting to Islam religion. The Umayyads were the second of the four major caliphates after the death of Muhammad. The Empire used many different ways to spread the Islamic civilization consisting of war, classes, and appeal. The Islamic civilization spread so strongly because of the way it allured the common man.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, no one imagined that the next great world power would emerge from Saudi Arabia. Especially, because ancient empires thought that the land was worthless but they didn’t know that it had great trade routes. Trade brought them in connection with other civilizations and that’s how the city of Mecca, located in Saudi Arabia became known. The city of Mecca was a mix of religious beliefs, they used to worship many gods and had their own rituals. The world of Islam took place in Mecca where Muhammad was born in 570 CE. He became known as “the Prophet,” he was meant to be God’s final prophet. The main two groups of Islam are the Shia and Sunni; which they were created after Muhammad’s death. The Islam religion as
Mohammad, the chosen messenger of God, spread Islam throughout the Arabian Peninsula. At first, he received little support for the emerging monotheistic religion in Mecca, his hometown. Mohammad then set out on a journey to Medina, which later became known as the Hijra. While in Medina, his ideas were welcomed and supporters began to follow him. The magnitude of followers eventually prompted the religion to develop into one of the five major world religions.
law, whose descendants were seen by the Shiites as the appropriate leaders. However, after Ali became the fourth caliph, he was assassinated.
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.
1) Muhammad- Muhammad was a caravan trader until age forty when he had a great religious experience. He believed that he had seen the angel Gabriel and had been commanded to teach the word of Allah. After meeting persecution at Mecca, he gained many followers in Yathrib. Eventually, he and his followers invaded Mecca and destroyed the pagan idols in the temple in Mecca called Ka'bah. This became the holiest shrine and led to the conversion of many Arabian tribes.
Islam is a monotheistic faith centered around belief in the one God (Allah).
The world you once knew is falling to ashes and food is become such a scarcity that people are fighting over a few pieces of bread. The political class is too busy fighting among themselves to care for anyone else. Children are roaming the streets and begging for work to feed their dying, hungry stomachs. This is not a scene from a horror movie, but rather the reality of the beginning of post classical era. In these times of hardship the people turned to a higher power, which resulted in a religious boom. The main religion during the post classical era that had the greatest impact on people was Islam due to Muhammad, trade routes, the Black Plague, conquests and Islamic culture.
Islam is known as one of the fastest growing religions, in between the years of 622-750 B.C.E, they were able to expand from Arabia, to Persia, Egypt, Africa, and Spain. Muslims have established many methods to spread such an extraordinary religion. Although most people questioned Muhammad and his discovery of Islam, Muhammad, the Rashidun Caliphate, and the Umayyad Caliphate were still able to expand their empire from when the Muslims conquered land and when the Muslims put taxes and restrictions on resources that were vital to the non-Muslims. Due to the Muslims actions, over time they were able to expand the Islamic Empire.
Islam is a religion which is clearly defined, even from the name itself. The word Islam means "submission" or "surrender", and the name of followers of this faith, Muslims, can be translated to "one who submits". Put simply, these translations are essentially what Islam believes in, submission to one God (Allah). Spreading like a wildfire across the world, Islam is followed by over 1.2 billion people, and this figure is growing as more and more individuals choose to listen to the word of Allah. This phenomenal figure of members places Islam as the second-largest religion closely following Christianity.
On the eve of Arabians' conquers, their destinations were the countries, which were living the degradation periods. Middle Eastern countries stood among such kind of countries. Wars between Byzantine and Sasanian Empires, and abusing of valuable sources made Middle East powerless. Arabians prefer to change politically and religiously less organized societies (Lapidus I 2002). Therefore, Arabians choose to conquer new places and spread Islam religion among new places.
The Islamic religion began around the 7th century. The religion expanded from the Arabian Peninsula to other areas in Spain and Asia. This was able to happen with the help of traders, traveling mystics, and soldiers. The Islamic empires supported significant bonds and routes for trade between other civilizations. The Islamic culture also presented the basis of which all the world empires follow.
Like a rumor, Islam spread quickly throughout the Arabian Peninsula. In fact, cultural diffusion has happened throughout history and is happening today. Whether it’s a food, a song, or a religion- a new event or idea is usually transported from one place to the other (Hook exercise). Furthermore, Islam began in the Arabian Peninsula, during the early 6th century CE. During 610 CE, a local merchant named Muhammad made one of his frequent visits to a cave on nearby Mount Hira. For Muhammad,` it was time to pray for how he felt that money and wealth was causing his people to lose their ways. According to Muhammad (the prophet) that was where he met an angel named Gabriel. Also according to Muhammad, angel Gabriel was sent by god to tell Muhammad to tell his people that there is only one god Allah. Angel Gabriel also gave Muhammad words to recite to his people and to others around him. After receiving Allah’s words for two years, Muhammad decided it was time to talk. He spoke of the one god, Allah, and the importance of charity. Together these teachings began the religion called Islam. Later on, Islamic/Islam followers created an empire that stretched across North Africa, and into Europe and Asia. This empire was vast since it spread throughout these three countries in just a matter of time (Background Essay). Islam spreads quickly because of three main reasons: the teachings of Islam,the strong military and the land that the military had conquered , and the strong leaders Islam
Solidifying My Catholic Identity Through Interfaith Experience “One should attempt to be an outsider to one’s own tradition, and an insider to other foreign traditions (Harding, Rodrigues, 11).” World Religions has expanded my knowledge profoundly compared to my first semester of Theology and Religious Studies, primarily where I drew this quote. This quotation has challenged me to break down the boundaries I once had between my own faith tradition as a young Catholic Christian and other religious traditions that I had been quite unfamiliar with. But coming to my own religious identity set the foundation for further studies of religion. It is my faith journey, or my religious autobiography, that began this search for more understanding.