Political Rivalries And The Islamic World

Islam played a huge role in the historical development of the Middle East and in North Africa. In this essay, I will discuss the impact of Islam's conquest of the Levant region in the Middle East, and into North Africa, and Spain. I will also look at the affect that invading forces, namely the Mongols, had on shaping the development of Islam. Beginning in the Middle East, and looking at Abu Bakr, we see the overtaking of many cities. Using one of the sources provided for this course we are able to see how quickly Abu Bakr began his conquest of the Middle East, especially Western Syria in the region of the Levant, "After the death of Muhammad, Abu Bakr became king and sent an army of 30,000 Arabs to conquer Syria in the first year of his reign.

The Islamic prophet Muhammad founded Islam in the Arabian Peninsula. The resulting unified polity in the 7th and 8th centuries led to a rapid expansion of Arab power and influence to the northwest Indian subcontinent, across Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, southern Italy, the Iberian peninsula, and the Pyrenees.[12][13][14] Tolerance, trade, and political relationships between the Arabs and the Christian states of Europe waxed

During the post-classical period, there was islam everywhere. You could see it in architecture, in laws and codes, and in the people themselves; but as islam diffused throughout eurasia, several places received it differently. The different impacts that islam had on these individual is shown in the prime examples of south asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. In both of these countries, Islam allowed trade to flourish and facilitated the spread of knowledge, but as the religion spread to different regions, who converted and how it affected political empire varied greatly, dependant on the region and culture involved.

The unity generated by the Islamic faith allowed for the cooperation of differing tribes and people groups to conquer Arabia, Persia, and beyond (Traditions and Encounters pg203-203). Under the centralized Abbasid Empire,

The Sunni-Shia divide is a major unresolved issue today in the Middle East. There is violence, discrimination, and struggle over political power. These differences creates a massive divide between the two groups of the same religion. This clash has come to the point where the two sects are at the brink of war. The muslim religion was created by the prophet Muhammad in 613 C.E.. It quickly gained followers and began to grow at an increasing rate. Then, in 632 C.E., Muhammad died unexpectedly without leaving a successor. One group believed that the successor should be anyone who was a devoted and religious Muslim, these people became known as the Sunni Muslims. Another smaller group, the Shia Muslims, believed that

Within 140 years islam had created an empire that ruled the Middle East an stretched across North Africa into Europe. This Mini-Q explores why this new religion was able to spread so quickly.

Common people followed their traditional beliefs, while taking some parts of Islam. Islam was a faith that thrived in certain market towns. Many merchants were Islam because their life consisted of much travel, which didn’t allow them to live in a traditional culture. While some rulers attempted to incorporate Islamic practice in their states, others did little to spread the Islam faith. Some leaders of these empires, embarked on jihads and expanded their territory, while others went of pilgrimages to Mecca and returned with influential people, and ideas that would transform the structure of their society. While some prospered from Islamic ways, others did not. Constant fights between the opposing groups contributed to decline in empires power and allowed trade routes to become unstable. The spread of Islam in this region comes from factors, such as, geographical, historical, and influential rule. Ever since it was first introduced, it has continued to grow. Islam has become a religion from Africa and has influenced its people in a variety of

As the Middle East developed over the years, the prominence and teachings of Islam sustained. Numerous aspects in the Middle Eastern Empire altered, but a key element in the

In the 7th century AD there was no world power that controlled the whole of the Arabian Peninsula. The two major world powers at the time, the Byzantines and the Sassanians, both tried and different times to conquer the Arabian Peninsula and failed. By the early seventh century, the empires were at war with each other; the result was a breakdown of the Arabian economy and political order of the Arabian frontiers of both empire s. The isolation from the two competing empires created a conducive environment for Islam to grow. The decentralized nature of Arabia at the time allowed the prophet Mohamed to preach without encountering resistance from a centralized power.

Islam spreaded quickly throughout the Arabian Peninsula through Military Conquest and Taxes and Treaties. However, the most important one is Trade Routes Overseas ( in my opinion ). Islam is a religious system begun in the 7th century my Muhammad. The expansion of the muslim empire ( Caliphate ) in the years following the Prophet Muhammads death. Through the Muslim conquest of Persia, in the 7th Century.

Islam spread over a large portion of Africa through trade with Arabs and the people in the interior of Africa, the Sufi brotherhoods that helped to solidify the beliefs in people, and Arab settlers in Africa. In combination with those, the vast trade networks in Africa and the Indian Ocean, the rise of states in West Africa, urbanization of towns, and the Islamic revivalist movement all helped to spread the religion and ideologies of Islam through Africa. The origins of Islam in Africa did stem from military conquest, which was rare, in North Africa. The conquest was originally directed by the prophet Muhammad in 632 CE, and the conquest continued in North Africa between 639 CE and 712 CE. Despite the military origins of the spread of Islam, trade was the main agent of Islamic expansion.

In 610 CE, a local merchant name Muhammad retreated to a cave outside the city of Mecca in Arabia to meditate. There the archangel Gabriel appeared and gave Muhammad words to recite. These words were to give birth to a religion called Islam. Within 140 years, followers of Islam had created an empire that ruled the Middle East and stretched across North Africa into Europe. From the modest beginning in the west-central Arabia, Islam exploded in size.

Islam was established long ago as a Muslim faith in the city of Medina and spread to Arabia shortly thereafter. This faith was sought to be spread throughout universally starting during the sixth century by means of the dynamic trade routes that were “stretching across Southwest Asia and North Africa to spread its faith and political empire,” (Worlds Together Worlds Apart, 320). The rise of Islamic law called “Sharia” is the foundation of Islam and serves as a guide for the Muslim world (326), this foundation helped to later establish strong Islamic dynasties.

Islam’s story, as you could probably guess, started with the prophet Muhammad. Islam first appeared in Arabia. But what was Arabia like before Islam arose? Before the rise of Muhammad and Islamic religion the Arabian Peninsula was originally the home to a group of nomadic desert dwellers who were able to deal with the harsh desert climate by “migrating” every season. In the fifth century BC more people groups began establishing settlements, many chose Mecca, by the west coast of Saudi Arabia. This location did not provide a preferable climate or many natural resources, but was the site of a large cubical shrine dedicated to various deities, this was called the site of Ka’ba.

Disagreement between Shias and Sunni have been the most important splits in Islamic religion, which are ongoing problems since the 7th century to present-day, conflict in Islamic history has initiated blood spills from generations to generations and is still taking life’s while differences in social and equal opportunities that have taken deep roots in the minds of future leaders.