Islam And The Religious Beliefs Of Islam

The Islamic empire benefited surrounding countries with this advancement and

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.

Mecca's central location was imperative to the success the city had in terms of trade, which is a major key to the expansion of Islam. In the article Great Ages of Man: Early Islam, Desmond Stewart writes, "it [Mecca] was at the crossroads of lucrative caravan trade" (Document A). The centrality of the location of Mecca allowed for people from all over the Middle East and Asia to be introduced to the new religion of Islam. The ideas and customs then spread along these routes. As well as being located on land routes, Mecca was also located on sea routes which also increased trade.

Trade and trade routes played a crucial role in the spread of Islam. Mecca, the birthplace of Islam, was a very prominent trade hub. Due

In the “Arabian Peninsula Trade Routes” (Doc. A) it shows how Mecca was very busy with all kinds of trade. Since Mecca is where Islam would start in the upcoming years, traders would come and go taking the teachings of Muhammad with them. Mecca was both the center of trade and the center of Islam which leads to the quick spread of faith through the many traders and merchants that

Trade was a large part in why Islam spread so quickly. Mecca had several trading routes. “By the middle of the sixth century… Mecca was … prosperous and important (Doc A).” They were trading through the two main empires: Byzantine and Persian. East Africa, Spain, India, and China also traded with them. Mecca being at the center of the trading system, they brought in many tourists to see the famous holy shrine. With the help of communication people interested in Islam were also drawn because goods were not just traded, but the Islamic culture as well.

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

It was a crossroad for caravan trade and an added advantage was that Mecca was home to the Ka’ba, a holy pagan shrine that many people the follows the Five pillars make a pilgrimage to sometime during their life. Many cities were easily reached from Mecca because of several surrounding trade routes, land and sea, that connected Mecca to multiple nearby locations. Mecca was a central location of the Arabian Peninsula and was very easy to get to. Not only this, Mecca also had surrounding bodies of water that were very important for trade that led to cultural diffusion. The Surrounding large empires, once conquered would add large additions to the current Islamic empire of the time. This could cause the fast spread of Islam since they were such big areas. (Doc A) Islam stretched across several regions. In the 600’s it spread North to France and out East towards India. Islam was the fastest spreading religion ever and it’s military was able to conquer many areas within a very short period of time. Followers of islam were not only devoted to sharing their religion but they were also well-organized and skilled in fighting. (Doc C) The Byzantine and Persian Empires were nearby and the Muslims were able to take over those areas because the empires were weak from their own battling. (Doc D) The Byzantine Empire tried to resist the expansion of Islam however, the people of the Hims in

It had easy access to the Red Sea and other populated cities, such as Aden, Alexandria, and Muscat. The city began as “the crossroads of the lucrative caravan trade” and grew into an even busier area for vendors to prosper (Document A). Merchants from throughout the region carried merchandise, such as spices, perfumes, precious metals, ivory, and silk, in and out of the city (Document A). Mecca was not only a significant trade center, but became the home of the Ka’ba, the holy site of Islam. As visitors stopped by the area and the holy shrine, they became exposed to the religion and its teachings. Traders then brought Islam’s teachings along trade routes to areas beyond the peninsula. As ideas spread, a variety of people from all over the western world either learned about or experienced Islamic culture. The trade routes, on both land and sea, brought goods and the religion of Islam to areas as far as India, East Africa, China, and Spain (Document

Islam believes in the existence of one God, Allah. It also believes in strict adherence to certain lifestyle principles and that the will of God for an individual is revealed through the Koran. Islam binds all believers to a common faith creating a sense of

Reasons for the Spread of Islam Throughout time, Islam has come to be known as a great empire that rules from the Middle East and stretches across North Africa into Europe. The religion of Islam started off in 610 CE, when a merchant trader from Mecca, made a visit to a nearby cave called Mount Hira. The merchant trader was named, Muhammad Ibn Abdullah, according to him “it was on this visit to Mt.Hira that the archangel Gabriel squeezd him hard and cause the word to flow out, the words said that Allah wa the one god,” [Background Essay]. As years when on Muhammad preached the word of Allah and about the importance of charity. He first started preaching in a town called Medina and worked his way back to Mecca.

Spirituality gives meaning and purposes to their belief (51). In Reconnecting science and spirituality, Walach defines spirituality as “a way to understand the natural makeup of the world by means of rational methods of inquiry”. This quotes allows the world to have faith in their own beliefs (425). The happenings in Hydesville involving the Fox sisters started to increase the rate of mediums around the world (Walliss 129). Spiritualism started to have a greater influence of people’s lives. People started to go to mediums to communicate with lost love ones. Spiritualism was given closures to people in the world (Walliss

Despite the various religions, people also value and pray to different Gods. For example the Hmong culture, they still value the death and the idea that whether one is living or no longer alive they still need food. It is hard to find evidence to prove that people who pass away still have to eat, but it is a belief that was value in the Hmong community. Not only did the beliefs of shaman value their ancestors, but other cultures also have similar practices and beliefs. Human lives are believed to have “An irreducible spiritual dimension” (Frank 93). Many culture believed in spirits and other supernatural deity. The spiritual dimension of each specific group is complex and hard to understand, but they all work in their own way. With these unexplained concepts cultures shape the how each individual or groups develop their mentally of the world. This is why we tend to interpret and classify things

Homework II: Discuss the key features of the religion of Islam. Make use of the Quran in your analysis.

According to the writings of Espisito (2005) there are four schools of thought in the Islamic faith or four attitudes that can be distinguished: (1) secularist; (2) conservative; (3) neotraditonalist; and (4) reformist. (p.228-32) An examination of the primary