Free Essay Sample on The Spread of Islam

As a religion with 1.907 billion followers, Islam has the notion of being one of the world’s most popular, strict, and unique religions. But when it started, it was not already a popular idea. The idea of “Mohammed being the last and greatest prophet” and “Allah” did not exist yet, at least from the Islamic point of view. There were many tribes that worshiped their own gods and deities. But over a thousand years later, it is one of the world’s most popular religions. The religion of Islam spread rapidly through the Arabian Peninsula and the world through the contributions of trade, conquest, and a little bit of diplomacy.

Trade helped the Islamic empire reach far distances across Europe, Asia, and Africa. The Islamic Empire was situated at the end of the Silk Road, contained some of the Royal Road in Persia, and was at a crossroads between Europe, Asia, and Africa. The importance of this matter is that Islam could trade with many different neighbors, as well as spread their religion during trade. They could also march their armies on trade routes. In Islam’s point of view, trade allowed them to spread their religion economically and militarily through trade routes. This is shown in Document A in the map by Desmond Stewart; Arabia is at a crossroads between Africa, Asia, and Europe, and there were land trade routes, the Silk Road and Royal Road, and there were also maritime routes, like the Suez Canal and Arabian Sea. Plentiful trade came into Arabia, like ivory and perfume from Africa, and spices and textiles from Asia. The purpose for this map is to demonstrate how the Arabian Peninsula (more specifically the Islamic Empire) had gotten rich and powerful from its beneficial position in the intersection of 3 massive continents, and many major trading routes.

Military conquest had also helped Islam spread it’s religion throughout the world. During the beginning of Islam’s rise, there were 2 empires to it’s north, the Byzantine and Sassanid Empire. Plagued by war and disease, these empires were relatively weak and susceptible to conquest, which is exactly what the Muslims did. In Document F, Ahmad ibn-Jabir al-Baladhuri, an Islamic historian, tells the story of a Islamic victory against the Byzantines in which the Muslims were outnumbered. He states “The Byzantine General Heraclius gathered an army that was about 200,000. In this battle, about 24,000 Muslims took part. By Allah’s help, some 70,000 Byzantines were put to death. When by Allah’s help the “unbelievers” were defeated and the Muslims won, they opened the gates of their cities.” In the Islam point of view, they beleive that Allah helped them win their military conquests against the Byzantines and Sassanids, even when they were outnumbered. The purpose of this article is to show that the Muslims felt emboldened by their faith in battles, and their victories enabled Islam to spread. Document C also explains the spread of Islam, as in the map it is seen that the Islamic world went from being a part of the Arabian Peninsula under Mohammed, to stretching from Spain to India under the Umayyad Caliphate. The purpose of this map is to show how rapidly and efficiently Islam spread across the world, thanks to military conquest in some instances. 

Islam was also able to spread due to diplomacy with other peoples. During Islam’s period of expansion, they encountered various peoples with different religions, and some with no religion at all. The importance of this is to see how the Muslims treated conquered peoples, and if they contradict the Quran in doing so. We see this in Document F, after the battle with the Byzantines at the Yarmuk river, where al-Baladhuri states “The Muslims refunded to the inhabitants of the Christian Hims the land tax the Byzantines had taken from them. They then said ‘we are too busy to support and protect you, take care of yourselves’. The Christians then said “We like your rule and justice far better than the state of oppression and tyranny in which we were.’” In this document, we can see that the Muslims treated conquered peoples with respect and dignity. This is important because the tolerance expressed by the Muslims may have contributed to their rise as an empire. The point of view towards the Muslims was probably a positive one due to their tolerance, as seen here with the Him Christians. The purpose for writing this was to show that the Islamic Empire also used diplomacy to strengthen their empire’s reach across the world, and it was also written to gain favor across the world for Islam.

Trade, military, and diplomacy helped Islam in many ways enter it’s Golden Age. Islam exploded all around the world thanks to the modern adaptations it made in it’s time in order to grow in influence, power, and finance. The contributions of many pioneers of new technologies also helped to advance Islam and the armies of Islam were a deadly force as well. Islam was entering a era of prosperity thanks to the achievements it was able to accomplish to become successful and prosperous.