How Did Mansa Musa Influence The Spread Of Islam?

Islam’s spread throughout 630-1600 CE was extremely rapid and sudden; however, it led to many favorable aspects. Over the span of 630-1600 CE, Islam managed to spread throughout Arabia, Mesopotamia, Persia, North Africa, Spain, and parts of Central Asia. Women and education were on a rise, socially. Also, flourishing trade contributed to Islam’s economic wealth. Furthermore, political and legal reforms were also established during its spread. Overall, the spread of Islam brought forth many positive social, political, and economic impacts.

In the beginning, Muhammad started to preach his teachings, called Islam, in a populous trade center known as Mecca. Though, at first, his preachings were resisted as the people worried that idol worship and pilgrimages, or journeys to a sacred place, would end. This, in fact, proved to be true as with enough support, Muhammad ordered that the idols be destroyed and that a shrine dedicated to Allah be built instead, making Mecca the birthplace and foundation of Islam. However, within 100 years of Muhammad’s death in 632 CE, Islam had spread to multiple other countries including Europe, North Africa, and Asia. The question is, how did Islam spread so rapidly over the course of 100 years? Briefly put, Islam spread rapidly due to trade routes, military campaigns, and non-Muslim converts.

Over time, Mali grew and expanded. As a result of Trans-Saharan trade, Inew religions were introduced in Mali. Through the new leadership of Mansa Musa, Mali became a primarily Islamic civilization. They believed that there was only one god: Allah. Muhammad was the final prophet

Mecca was known as a trading city, for its camel caravans that would constantly visit, and an important religious shrine known as the Ka’ba which was economically beneficial since traders would pay to visit it and its other idols. Islam would begin with the teachings of Muhammad: monotheism, support for the weak and the poor, and that Muhammad was allah’s prophet. Muhammad would be unaccepted by the people of Mecca because his teachings threatened their economy and he wanted to eliminate idol worship. Muhammad fled to Medina and began to create a following known as the Ulma and later developed into a political leader. Eventually, Muhammad would return and conquer the city of Mecca, establishing Islam and destroying everything but the Ka’ba.

In 570 C.E., a man was born who would later go on to become the final prophet of the fastest growing religion in the world. Muhammad was a merchant trader from Mecca. He was praying in a cave near Mt. Hira when he first heard the words of Allah from Archangel Gabriel. Muhammad kept silent about the encounters besides telling his wife until two years later. He decided it was time for the world to hear the message of Allah. From there stemmed the religion of Islam in Mecca. The lifestyle of Islam spread quickly due to pre-existing trade routes, the appeal of the religion and through military conquest.

In its Golden Age, Islam’s influence reached all the way to Spain, Anatolia, West Africa, and India, among other regions. While these regions were all, in a way, united under a common religion, each of them both altered and were altered by Islam in their own unique ways. Although there were similarities that existed with the spread of Islam to each of those places, many more differences prevailed. Differences and similarities existed in the forms of the role of migration, role of trade, role of cultural exchange, methods of conversion to Islam, and the unique cultural developments in each region.

September 11, 2001. “Islam equals terrorism” is a thought of most people when they hear the word “Islam”, but many people don’t immediately think of the greatness of Islam, like how the religion spread so fast in such little time. Islam is the second-largest and the fastest-growing religion in the world that began in the 7th century. When Muhammad first began spreading his religion, he had as little as 70 families as members. A century after Muhammad’s death, Islam already spread to Europe and Asia. As of last year, there was about 50 Muslim-majority countries with approximately 1.5 billion people praising the religion. Islam is a religion with many requirements such as fasting, praying everyday, free-will donation, and many more. So, why would a religion with so many demanding rules become so popular? Islam spread quickly because of trade, military conquests, and because it was an amiable religion that was fair to all people with its laws set for the people.

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.

The journey of Mansa Musa on his hajj made everyone wonder if he went on the journey simply for his religion, or if there were other underlying factors for his journey. Mansa Musa traveled along his journey through Africa for his religion. Mansa Musa was a muslim Mali empire who went on a trek through Africa to complete one of the five pillars, which his religion obligated him to do.

A map created from numerous sources suggests Mansa Musa took a different route on his hajj to visit Taghaza compared to previous routes taken by past kings. Compared to these other routes, Musa’s was about a quarter longer (Doc B). Since Mansa Musa went completely off track to visit Taghaza, Musa’s main drive behind taking the long route to Taghaza was to show the people what a special ruler he was. Because of the extremely different route taken, Musa’s main focus of his hajj was to expand his

The empire of Mali was known to all other civilizations in Africa because the riches they obtained through trade and control expanded their society. Mali’s wealth made it possible for them to build an architecturally advanced city that attracted many tourists and travellers. Lastly, the common belief in the Islam faith enabled Mali to become an Empire. Since Mansa Musa was a devout Muslim, he encouraged and inspired Malians to follow his beliefs. As stated in Source B, “Yet another was their zeal for learning the Qur’an by heart” (Sheet 3, Source 7).

One journey, thousands of pounds of gold, thousands of slaves and servants, a hundred camels, and one man spread the Islamic religion for a hajj of four thousand miles. The journey of Mansa Musa was a famous trip that stretched from the ancient city of Mali to Mecca, the birthplace of Islam. Mansa Musa, a rich, prosperous man who took advantage of situations to benefit himself, not only wanted to spread Islam throughout his hajj, but to show off his wealth, to give compulsorily, and accumulate trade partners.

According to the documents A, and B, Islam expanded from military conquest and peace treaties. Document A talks about how the Muslims conquered land and how fierce the Muslims were. It also states that “In the battle of al-Yarmuk certain Muslim women took part of defending/fighting and fought violently. “Among them was Hind, daughter of ‘Utbah and mother of Mu’awivah ibn-abi-Sufyan, who repeatedly exclaimed, “Cut the arms of these non-Muslims with your swords!” It also says that it was one of the bloodiest battles ever fought. “The battle they fought at al-Yarmuk was of the fiercest and bloodiest kind. Document B is about the Treaty of Tudmir. It talks about how they will just make the people of Tudmir “pay one dinar every year, together with

During ancient times, the middle east was divided into many different kingdoms where the Arabian peninsula was the best place to live. During the early 600s, Arabia was never expected to become a powerful nation in the Middle East. Arabia was used mainly as a place where goods could be transported between European nations and the Middle East. Arabia had a society that was a mixed population of nomadic Bedouins and the Mecca that housed the Kaaba which holds a meteor. One of the most influential Arab figures is the prophet Muhammed. Muhammed was born to the Mecca tribe of Quraysh and was orphaned when he was 6 years old. Muhammad was married to a wealthy widow named Khadijah, they had only one child who bore grand children named Fatima. When

The rise and expansion of Islam has had a significant impact on the role and rights of women throughout history. Since its origin in the seventh century until modern times, the Muslim faith has somewhat broadened, but has mostly restricted women’s rights in numerous Islamic communities. The history of Muslim women is complex, as it involves many advances and declines in numerous locations, such as Egypt, Afghanistan, and Iran, concerning several subjects, including both civil and social rights. Thus, in general, the rights of Islamic women did not improve significantly over time, instead, conditions remained the same or became worse for women as Islam evolved and spread as a world religion.