DBQ: The Early Islamic Conquests

In 570, near the town of Mecca, Muhammad was born. By the time Muhammad was in his late 40’s he went on a spiritual journey. During this journey he claimed that an angel named Gabriel spoke and told him to recite his words. Muhammad recited the words and a new religion was born; Islam. The new religion flourished and spread drastically. There is debate about whether Islam was forced into the lives of people or if it was cultural diffusion. Both force and cultural diffusion contributed in the spread of Islam.

In 520 AD, the prophet and messenger Muhammad came to spread Allah's word, and his followers became the first Muslims. Islam spread rapidly and this was was due to the choices that the leaders made through cultural diffusion, strategy for the wage of war, and esteemed morals. When Muslim merchants would trade, they would also spread the culture of Islam. The strategic wage of war helped Islam uphold a strong empire. The desirable morals of the faith led people into becoming Muslim.

Islam is the fastest and second largest religion in the world. Islam started with a prophet named Muhammad. Muhammad was a local merchant in Mecca went to a cave named Mt. Hira in Arabia to meditate. There, he encounters an archangel named Gabriel who squeezed out of him saying, ”Allah is one god.” Then after, he started telling his family members but stood silent since no one listened. Eventually after a encouragement from close friends, he spoke which all went to the Qur’an. Since Mecca resisted, he moved onto other lands to preach the word. Eventually he turned back to Mecca and preached. Soon after it started spreading rapidly. Why did Islam spread so quickly? Islam spread quickly because of conquering others, trade, and taxes.

The early Islamic empire expanded using three methods. These methods included military conquest, political means, and financial incentives. First, the Islamic empire expanded through military force. According to the document A: battle of Yarmuck, the battle was fierce and bloody. 24,000 Muslims took part and 70,000 Greeks were put to death. Next, political means were used to expand the empire. For example, the Muslims were in power because they were telling others what to do. Finally, financial incentives expanded the empire. The Muslim s used gifts called stipends to pay and bribe soldiers to fight for them. If there directions were not followed they wouldn’t receive money. These three methods helped to expand the Islamic

The Islamic religion spreaded quickly because of trade. Based on the fact, that Islam had trade over many empires. Corresponding to the map on Document A, “ Adding from the profits of caravans was a brisk pilgrimage trade, for Mecca was the site of Arabia 's holiest shrine. In addition, the holy city, Mecca was the main site for trade. According to the map, followed by Document C, ”Mecca, the holy city, had military campaigns and was in the middle of Arabia, near the coastlines.” Ultimately, Arabs transported goods to market places. Document A state 's,”Vast camel trains, bearing species, perfume, precious metals, ivory and silk, filed through the town, headed north on the way from Yemen … to the

The leader that everyone referred to as Mohammad had various things to offer his followers.(1) ~insert an opinion on this topic~According to documents 1 and 2 he offered things to his followers and the leaders of Christian Arab tribes.(2) Document 1 states that , “Believe or else pay tribute [money]… obey the Lord and His Apostle [Mohammad], and he will defend you.”(3) This shows that you are only offered something if you believe what he believes or believe in him.(4) In document 2 it is to be said that if you are a Muslim and you follow him you will be brought into the garden of paradise unfortunately if you do not you will be punished.(5) I believe that the strategy isn’t right due to the fact that if someone does not believe in his word

The creation of Islam in the Middle East and its future spread to the other parts of the world beginning in the 600s allowed for diverse and powerful societies to be formed with the monotheistic religion being either the foundation or a major influence. With Islam’s large spread across Africa, Asia, Europe, and continual spread in the Middle East, empires like al-Andalusia and Ghana arose in the West and the Ottoman and Mughal arose in the Eastern part of the world. Islamic beliefs and values shaped these empires similarly to how Christianity became the leading influence in Europe. Moorish rule in the Western Muslim society of Spain lasted for seven hundred years and clean and lavish cities created under their rule served as a contrast to the

The societies of West Africa, Europe, and North America exhibited similarities and differences in their religious beliefs, values, and government systems. These contrasts and similarities were further made apparent during European expansion across the Atlantic and the subsequent new cross cultural interactions that were created.

In Richard Foltz book, Religions of the silk road: Premodern Patterns of Globalization, he introduces us to a trade network that runs across central Asia. This trade network is known as the Silk Road, this road is made up of many different paths predominantly moving East to West. Throughout the book we see Foltz describe the different religions, languages, and political connections among its travelers. Some of the religions seen across the silk road include Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. We see all 3 Abrahamic religions make their mark on the Silk road. Of all 3 Abrahamic faiths, Muslims left the largest mark on this network of roads with Foltz stating, “No religious tradition in history favored trade to the extent Islam did” (Foltz p. 85). Foltz writes about three major reasons for the spread of Islam along the Silk Road. The first reason has to do with politics, the second having to do with economics as the area began to see a Muslim control of commercial activity and thirdly, we see assimilation, an intake of ideas or information. The islamic religion ultimately succeeded

Trade helped Islam spread quickly. According to Doc A, Mecca was prosperous and important since it was at the crossroads of caravan trade. Because Mecca was at the crossroads of trade (Islam was there) many foreigners became introduced to Islam and they expressed that idea to other people.

“The Islamic teachings have left great traditions for equitable and gentle dealings and behavior, and inspire people with nobility and tradition” (H.G. Wells). The society and world around us are greatly influenced by the muslim people, or more specifically, the influence of the Islamic world. Their impact on the world is a controversial topic and their role is also often seen as negative. People are constantly oppressing minorities, but without the Muslims or teachings of Islam, the world wouldn’t be the same. This group of people achieved so many things that are considered necessary to our world today, and not many people recognize that. Muslims and the people of Islam were able to contribute greatly to the world through its sizeable empire.

In the 600’s the religion of Islam started to spread quickly. The religion of Islam spread so quickly because of complex and numerous trade routes, strong military conquests, and strong and convincing religious messages. According to the holy text of the Muslims, in 610 CE a merchant named Muhammad went to a cave outside the city of Mecca to meditate. While there the angel of Gabriel appeared and then the words of Muslim came. Over a period of 140 years, billions of Muslims spread out and began to overrule.

Islam is a religion that controls their follower's daily lives. It quickly spread throughout many large and small civilizations all throughout the world. Two civilizations that Islam affected were the Byzantine Empire and China. The Byzantine empire was the section of Rome that remained after the fall of Rome and was a very successful civilization in its time. During the rise of Christianity, the Byzantine empire became a Christian-based civilization and used the church to solve its political and economic problems that sprang up after the fall of Rome. Similar to the Byzantine Empire, China was very successful before Islam. The main difference was that China remained successful all throughout the spread of Islam while the Byzantine Empire

Islam is the second biggest religion and fastest growing in the world today. Islam is a religion that Muslims follow and is a monotheistic faith regarded as revealed through Muhammad as the prophet of Allah. For Muslims, Muhammad is the last prophet and Abraham is the patriarch of the Qur’an, Bible and Torah. Islam is followed by over a billion people and Muslims make up approximately one quarter of the world’s population. Islam spread quickly during the 600’s trade, choice, and conquest.

The Ottoman and Mughal empires both used Islam in their culture, economy, wars, and society. It influenced their art, the way they treated non-Muslims, their motivations for war. It is important to note that both empires were influenced differently by their majority religion. However, both the Ottomans and Mughals were heavily influenced as Islam was a major part of everyday life from the art to the bureaucracy.