The Importance Of Religion In The Ancient World

Hello! I'm Veronica, a Muslim soldier. I'm here to explain why Islam spread so quickly. In document A, it is stated that Mecca was a good place for trade and these traders went to many places for their dealings. While they were doing this, they also brought their religion and beliefs, and spread it upon the people they met. In document B, some of Islam's beliefs are stated. Many people seem to enjoy these beliefs, therefore converting to the Islam religion. In document C, traders took routes through Medina, Isahan, Merv, Bukhara, Kabul, Damascus, Constantinople, Cairo, Aswan, Caliruan, Tangler, Cordoba, Toledo, Saragossa, and Tours. These are all places where the brought and expressed their religious beliefs.

Over 1.6 billion people are muslims. That is about about a quarter of the entire world. Islam is the second largest religion the world. This beast of a religion started out in the small town of Mecca on the Arabian Peninsula. Over the next thousand years it spread to the astonishing size we know today.

Islam spread quickly because of trade. “By the middle of the sixth century… Mecca was… prosperous and important.” (Document A). Mecca was a busy town that was always filled with travelers who would go on to spread the word of Islam. “First it

When the Muslims (follower of Islam) pilgrimage to Mecca (to worship a religious shrine), they introduced the religious ideas to the people and they helped the spread of Islam. This was a way that the Muslims were able to spread Islam through religion

As a matter of fact, Mecca was the crossroads of the lucrative caravan trade. Vast camel trains, bearing spices, perfumes, precious metals, ivory and silk, filed through the town, headed north on the way from Yemen to the markets of Syria, etc. (Doc A). In addition, Doc A, also illustrated on a map that these trade routes lead all across the East, from Arabia, all the way to China proving that Islam had the means to travel rapidly. For instance, on trade routes such as the Silk Roads, traders could spread Islam all the way to China and India, making it easy for Islam to spread large distances. However, this information doesn’t explain why it traveled rapidly along these mentioned trade routes. Certainly, this can be explained by the process of cultural diffusion, in which a group’s cultural beliefs are spread from one group to another. In fact, through cultural diffusion, traders could pick up some Islamic influence, and spread it to the other trade

The spread of the Islamic faith throughout the Middle East is through the presence of these Muslim cities. As discussed in Document 4, the establishment of Medina contributed to the spread of Islam. This was where it started. Muhammad and his followers fled to Medina when the ruling class of Mecca started to persecute them. There, Muhammad was able to help the people accept the Islamic faith which helped the overall spread of Islam. Muslim cities are scatted throughout the Middle East (Document 9). The location of these holy cities allowed for a proper diffusion of the faith and is significant because, without these establishments, the spread of Islam would have come to an abrupt halt. Muslim cities are the driving force in the diffusion of Islam, and because of them, the Islamic faith has grown to become a worldwide leader in religious affairs.

Though the religion started in Mecca, Islam spread far and wide. Under the rule of Muhammad, the Four Caliphs, and the Umayyad caliphs, lands from Spain and North Africa to the Middle East became Muslim territory. (Document C). The expanding of Muslim lands exposed more people to the religion. Previously they may not have heard of Islam until the areas in which they lived in came under Muslim control. Later on, a golden opportunity for the Muslims came from their neighboring kingdoms, "Persia and Byzantium had both been engaged for decades in a long . . . series of wars with one another. Both were exhausted. (Document D). With both kingdoms, Persia and Byzantium, weakened, Muslims had a quick and effortless victory and were able to double the size of their kingdom. Altogether, the expansion of Muslim territory resulted in the spread of Islam due to more people being exposed to the Islamic

Religion in the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia played a significant role in developing and organizing the society. Based on the common belief of the world’s divine creation, both civilizations had regular rituals and ceremonies to honor the supernatural beings. In rituals and ceremonies, the cult was expressed as the manifestation of components that symbolized the divine such as the cult images, temples, and shrines. Since religion was an important aspect in the people’s daily lives, it also had an impact on the ruling system in the two civilizations. Even though Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia have similar foundational beliefs about the cult, different cultic practices imply the difference in the structure and the scope of

The first reason Islam spread so quickly was because of Mecca’s central location and importance in trade. Its is shown in Document A that Mecca was easily reached from other locations such as Medina, Muscat, and Aden. There were also sea routes to eastern Africa, India, and even Spain. As a trade center, Mecca sees hundreds, even thousands, of traders annually, and when people trade goods they also trade ideas. Because Mecca was such a bustling trade center, as time went on Islam was spread by traders far and wide.

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.

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.

In the ancient Roman world, religion played the most important role in everyday life, as well as in matters of the state. The Romans looked to the gods for political stability and for control of the unexplainable and natural phenomenon. The gods were believed to control all aspects of Roman life, and for that reason, a great deal of importance was placed in the appropriate worship of the gods. Women played an extremely influential role in ancient Roman religion. Not only did they participate in religious rituals, but some even held religious positions as Vestal Virgins.

Religion answered many question people had about their life that no one else had been able to answer before. Many ancient civilizations linked events to certain gods, such as why it rained or snowed. The Greek Empire was one of the many civilization to hold polytheistic views. Polytheism meaning believing in many gods. The Greeks believed twelve main gods and goddesses with one chief god named Zeus.

The importance of religion in ancient Egypt was huge. Egyptians lived their lives through their religion, which was polytheism. The Egyptians based their religion off of many traditions. Which means no change. They were ruled under the Pharaoh’s.

– “The years as they come bring many agreeable things with them; as they go, they take many away” – Horace (65BC – 8BC)