The Spread Of Islam In The Ancient World

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Islam has been and still is one of the most practiced religions in the world today. In the ancient world, the major contributors to the rapid spread of Islam were the conquest of other nations including the Byzantine Empire and Persia, trade, and the very educated Prophet Muhammad. The word “Islam” means “submission to the will of God. (History Slideshow) As of 2010, there are approximately 1.6 billion muslims in the world. This vast number makes Islam the second largest religion in the world, only behind Christianity at 2.2 billion christians. (David 1) There are a substantial number of muslims in 49 countries around the world. The country with the greatest number of muslims is Indonesia with 209 million muslims, or 87.2% of their population. …show more content…

Islam started as a very small group of individuals and has become the second leading religion in the world, so how did the Islamic religion grow to have such an enormous amount of followers? The first reason for Islams growth and prosperous state of being is because of their large conquests which led to many religious conversions. Conquest was a very important aspect to the religion because whoever they conquered would convert to Islam. The first community they began to grow in was the city of Medina, Saudi Arabia in 622. (Michael 1) From there, the muslims spread out and conquered Mecca in 630. This conquest was done by Muhammad bringing ten thousand soldiers with him, forcing the leaders of Quraysh to surrender. (Reem 1) Muhammad and the rest of the religion also controlled the Arabian Peninsula forcing the people to comply with the Islamic religion. Under the rule of the Caliphate Umar from 634-644, the muslims spread north to Mesopotamia, east of Persian lands after defeating Sassanid Empire, and west across North Africa. (Michael 1) They also expanded the muslim Empire to the borders of China and the Indus River Valley, with also conquering …show more content…

Muhammad was born 570 in Mecca and died June 8, 632 in Medina. Muhammad is the founder of Islam and proclaimer of Quran. (William 1) The Quran was sacred text for the muslims that had the Five Pillars of Islam. The Five Pillars were God, five daily prayers facing Mecca, charity to the poor, fast from dust to dawn during Ramadan, and finally the pilgrimage to Mecca or Hajj. Muhammad was known as the “messenger of God.” He started as a merchant living in Mecca and married at the age of twenty five to and older widow named Khadijah. They had six children and all of them died except for one daughter, Fatimah. Muhammed was influenced by many Christians and Jews he met with when he was a merchant. In 610, Muhammed was meditating in a cave when the angel Gabriel came to him and told him to be Allah’s prophet. In 613, Muhammad started to gain followers in Mecca and started to preach the faith he received. He taught many people that there was no other God but Allah and that Muslims should devote their life to this God. (History.com 1) He also spoke out against rich merchants, this is because he criticized them for all of their greed. Even though Muhammed was gaining many followers, he was also gaining many oppositions. Many powerful Meccans feared that his message would disrupt the inflow of pilgrims visiting Mecca, which would result in a loss of money. The people insulted and threatened him so he

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