Rise Of Islam Research Paper

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Islam is the second largest religion in the world with over 1.8 billion adherents. In Arabic, Islam means “surrendering to the God’s will”, and Muslim – one who practice Islam – means “one who submits to God”. Islam has been divided into two branches, Sunni and Shia, for the disagreement over succession after the death of Muhammad in 632 CE. Although Islam has been split into two major denominations, the common beliefs/customs and their influence on the world has remained the same.

Islam originated in Saudi Arabia in the 7th century by the Prophet Muhammad. Muhammad was born into a family of merchants in Mecca. Islam was first introduced in 610 A.D. after Muhammad saw visions in his dreams which he understood as instructions from Allah delivered through Angel Gabriel, ordering him to spread his faith to others. Muhammad spread the words he heard from his visions to his followers which were then recorded down into written texts. During the early 650s, the written versions of Muhammad’s revelations were issued as the Quran, the holy book of Islam.

Muhammad referred himself as the final prophet through whom Allah would reveal his message to humankind. As Muhammad’s popularity grew, he had conflicts with the ruling …show more content…

These military conquests did not happen in order to convert others to their beliefs, but rather to protect their own faith that was being targeted. The term jihad that Muslims follow means struggle, and can be understood in various ways. Jihad can be understood as a spiritual struggle to combat vice and evil. In another sense, it can be understood as a struggle against ignorance and unbelief by spreading the word of Islam. Jihad was also understood as a physical struggle, which made the Muslims wage war against unbelievers who threatened Islam. By the mid-eighth century, an immense Islamic Empire ruled lands from India and the central Asian steppe lands in the east to northwest Africa and Iberia in the

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