How Did The Arab Peninsula Affect The Arabian Peninsula?

    Islam’s massive growth in size can be credited to the constant battles and war with surrounding areas. The Muslims were determined to share

In the 7th and 8th centuries, Islam spread from its beginnings in Arabia to cover the entire Middle East and parts of Africa, Asia, and Europe. As (Document 8) shows, by the year 750, Islam stretched from Eastern Persia in the Middle East, all the way to the westernmost edges of Spain and North Africa, bordering the Atlantic Ocean. Islam expanded so rapidly because of its techniques on conquering unstable areas and converting people to Islam, preventing setbacks and obstructions. Islam had three main reasons for its eminent prosperity. The way that Muslims treated the conquered people allowed for peace throughout the empire. Tolerance, combined with the military power, a disciplined army, and an overall appealing religion of Islam, provided the template that allowed the empire to expand to encompass an enormous amount of area.

In this essay I will talk to you about different things such as,what the Islamic people did and how they became more successful and expanded their empire. Now that, that's said I hope you enjoy and stay open-minded about my ideas.

The Islamic civilization spread to encompass such an extensive empire by using their resources and becoming a peaceful civilization with peaceful people.

Mecca, the city where Islam was founded, was the meeting point of three large trading routes that lead to the Silk Road(Doc A). When these traders went through this town they saw wealth and prosperity. They took note of the religion and spread the word of the town. It wasn’t long before the whole Arabian Peninsula had heard about the religion. This helped unify the Arabian peninsula which let the next factor of military conquest even take place.

In Document C, a map of the Arabian Peninsula shows how Islam spread through military campaigns. The campaigns were successful because during the seventh and eighth centuries the empires surrounding the Arabian Peninsula, Persia and the Byzantine Empire, were weak after battling each other for almost a century. This allowed for the followers of Islam to conquer them, allowing for the religion to spread easily.Document D explains how military operations aided the spread of Islam. Under the Ummah Muslims are not allowed to attack other Muslims, leading to an increase in ghazu raids against non-Muslim communities around the Middle East. Persia and Byzantium were still weakened, causing effortless raids. In these raides the Muslims would spare those they were attacking who then converted to Islam. These raids were simple for the Muslims and produced copious amounts of followers for their

Military conquest also played a big role in Islam’s growth. “In the year 636 the Byzantine Emperor… gathered an army… to resist the expansion of Islam. The people… are the… Syrians…

The prophet Muhammad sparked the rise of Islam on the Arabian Peninsula by preaching the word of Allah, and inspired the caliphs that came after him to expand the religion and lead it to a period of prosperity. Without the benefits that Islam brought and the power of the Muslim army Islamic Civilization might have secluded itself to one region like Judaism did and not spread so quickly across the region like it did. The appeals that Islamic culture and the teachings of Muhammad offered, as well as practical benefits of converting to Islam, brought many People of the Book and other non-Muslims into the religion. Muslims used military force and threats in the name of Allah to strike fear into all non believers and expand Muslim territory through

The Islamic empire had the Rashidun army which maintained a high level of discipline, strategies prowess, and organization. The Rashidun army was the most prominent and effective military force in the world since both of these empires were so strong it helped develop major empires in the postclassical world. Islam dominated one third of the old world and at its height it reached from the Atlantic Ocean on the West, across North Africa and the Middle East, to central Asia on the East. Emperor Justinian used Christianity's desire to reclaim Rome he used religious thoughts to justify and execute military assaults on lost land. Comprised of brilliant generals and thousands of motivated men striving for eternal after life the Islamic army was immensely dynamic, effective, and cardinal to power of the Islamic kingdom. The location of the Byzantine Empire aided in military conquest and defense because of the Mediterranean sea.

The prominent effect Islam had on Muslims everyday thoughts and actions, portrays how essential the impact of God was in social and governmental relations. Muslim religion was influenced by both the Christians and Jews. Under the guidance of Muhammad the Prophet, Islam became both a meaningful faith and way of life. Unlike just simply “adding” a church like the Christian religion, Islam society was expected to be governed. Their political and religious views and decisions had to be intertwined as one, proving the effect Islam had on everyday lives. For example, the history book The Making of The West, had written, “Arabs had long been used to

The Ottoman Empire rise after the fall of Baghdad to the Mongols. Consolidate their empire the sultans formed fighters group of slaves & Christian converts to Islam

The role of Prophet Muhammad, as both a temporal and religious leader was undeniably an important factor in the success of the Arab conquests. These events took place between 622 and 750, first involving the establishment of a new unified polity in the Arabian Peninsula, then leading to a Muslim Empire which stretched from central Asia to North Africa and was one of the largest the world has ever seen. This overwhelming success merits explanation, yet this is difficult to establish with certainty, due to the small number and poor quality of surviving sources. Muhammad’s main role was to provide a unifying influence, both during his lifetime when he united a

During the postclassical era many great empires arose. Two of the most powerful and influential groups of the time were the Byzantine Empire and the Abbasid Caliphate. Both the Abbasids and the Byzantines were places where important cultural hubs existed and where trade flourished throughout the whole empire. Even though culture was present in each area, the cultures were not the same and there were separate religious beliefs and practices; for example the Byzantine Empire was mainly Orthodox Christian while the Abbasid Caliphate was Sunni Muslim. Use of religion throughout the empire, methods of rule, and eventual ways of declining all caused the Byzantines and Abbasids to have a distinctive and lasting

Pre-Islamic Arabia was a culture knit together by kinship. In this society there was no emperor or ruling elite. The people of pre-Islamic Arabia were bound together by nomadic tribes who made profit by trading and most importantly “raiding”. These raids were often described as small-scale warfare and were instrumented by tribal leaders in order to increase the wealth and power of the tribe (Gordon 5). This was the society in which Islam came to power. Warfare and raiding were essential in order to be successful in pre-Islamic Arabia. The integration of warfare into the Islamic religion created a similarity among Muslims, those who follow Islam, and non-Islamic Arabian people. This relationship and common interest established by the prophet Muhammad helped in the rise of Islam among non-Islamic

Similarly the social integration of pre-Islamic shapes our understanding of Islam. The notion of social integration developed within the Byzantine and Sassanic period (Hoyland, 2001). The Sassanic dynasty influenced the Islamic administrative system, it was also the aftermath of the competition dwelling between the two dynasties (Hoyland, 2001). Although these dynasties were competitive they shared a common values such as being imperialists and harmony (Hoyland, 2001). The imperial commercial network meant that the leaders had to negotiate and political rapports were created with the empires and harmony prevailed.