why did islam spread so quickly dbq essay answer key

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World history

Course: world history   >   unit 3.

• The spread of Islam
• The rise of Islamic empires and states
• Spread of Islamic Culture

The development and spread of Islamic cultures

• Key concepts: the spread of Islam
• Focus on continuity and change: the spread of Islam

• Towards the end of the Abbasid caliphate, the formerly vast and united Islamic empire became fragmented and decentralized.
• Many different groups ruled areas previously held by the Abbasids.
• Religious institutions became more defined during this period as state power waned.
• Trade contributed to the spread of Islamic culture and led to a growing feeling of internationalism.

Political decentralization and fragmentation

The formation of diverse religious and state institutions, want to join the conversation.

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7.2: Spread of Islam

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Learning Objective

• Discuss the spread of Islam and identify how the caliphs maintained authority over conquered territories
• The expansion of the Arab Empire in the years following the Prophet Muhammad’s death led to the creation of caliphates, who occupied a vast geographical area and sought converts to Islamic faith.
• The people of the Islamic world created numerous sophisticated centers of culture and science with far-reaching mercantile networks, travelers, scientists, hunters, mathematicians, doctors, and philosophers.

Historians distinguish between two separate strands of converts of the time. One is animists and polytheists of tribal societies of the Arabian Peninsula and the Fertile crescent; the other is the monotheistic populations of the Middle Eastern agrarian and urbanized societies.

• The Arab conquerors generally respected the traditional middle-Eastern pattern of religious pluralism with regard to the conquered populations, respecting the practice of other faiths in Arab territory, although widespread conversions to Islam came about as a result of the breakdown of historically religiously organized societies.

An Islamic leadership position, most commonly in the context of a worship leader of a mosque and Sunni Muslim community.

Zoroastrianism

an ancient Iranian religion and religious philosophy that arose in the eastern ancient Persian Empire, when the religious philosopher Zoroaster simplified the pantheon of early Iranian gods into two opposing forces.

The expansion of the Arab Empire in the years following the Prophet Muhammad’s death led to the creation of caliphates occupying a vast geographical area. Conversion to Islam was boosted by missionary activities, particularly those of Imams, who easily intermingled with local populace to propagate religious teachings. These early caliphates, coupled with Muslim economics and trading and the later expansion of the Ottoman Empire, resulted in Islam’s spread outwards from Mecca towards both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the creation of the Muslim world. Trading played an important role in the spread of Islam in several parts of the world, notably southeast Asia.

Muslim dynasties were soon established and subsequent empires such as those of the Abbasids, Fatimids, Almoravids, Seljukids, and Ajurans, Adal and Warsangali in Somalia, Mughals in India, Safavids in Persia, and Ottomans in Anatolia were among the largest and most powerful in the world. The people of the Islamic world created numerous sophisticated centers of culture and science with far-reaching mercantile networks, travelers, scientists, hunters, mathematicians, doctors, and philosophers, all contributing to the Golden Age of Islam. Islamic expansion in South and East Asia fostered cosmopolitan and eclectic Muslim cultures in the Indian subcontinent, Malaysia, Indonesia, and China.

Within the first century of the establishment of Islam upon the Arabian Peninsula and the subsequent rapid expansion of the Arab Empire during the Muslim conquests, one of the most significant empires in world history was formed. For the subjects of this new empire, formerly subjects of the greatly reduced Byzantine and obliterated Sassanid empires, not much changed in practice. The objective of the conquests was of a practical nature more than anything else, as fertile land and water were scarce in the Arabian Peninsula. A real Islamization therefore only came about in the subsequent centuries.

Conversions to Islam

For the polytheistic and pagan societies, apart from the religious and spiritual reasons each individual may have had, conversion to Islam “represented the response of a tribal, pastoral population to the need for a larger framework for political and economic integration, a more stable state, and a more imaginative and encompassing moral vision to cope with the problems of a tumultuous society.” In contrast, for sedentary and often already monotheistic societies, “Islam was substituted for a Byzantine or Sassanian political identity and for a Christian, Jewish or Zoroastrian religious affiliation.” Initially, conversion was neither required nor necessarily wished for: “[The Arab conquerors] did not require the conversion as much as the subordination of non-Muslim peoples. At the outset, they were hostile to conversions because new Muslims diluted the economic and status advantages of the Arabs.”

Only in subsequent centuries, with the development of the religious doctrine of Islam and with that the understanding of the Muslim Ummah, did mass conversion take place. The new understanding by the religious and political leadership led in many cases to a weakening or breakdown of the social and religious structures of parallel religious communities such as Christians and Jews. With the weakening of many churches, for example, and with the favoring of Islam and the migration of substantial Muslim Turkish populations into the areas of Anatolia and the Balkans, the “social and cultural relevance of Islam” were enhanced and a large number of peoples were converted.

During the Abbasid Caliphate, expansion ceased and the central disciplines of Islamic philosophy, theology, law, and mysticism became more widespread, and the gradual conversions of the populations within the empire occurred. Significant conversions also occurred beyond the extents of the empire, such as that of the Turkic tribes in Central Asia and peoples living in regions south of the Sahara in Africa through contact with Muslim traders active in the area and Sufi orders. In Africa it spread along three routes—across the Sahara via trading towns such as Timbuktu, up the Nile Valley through the Sudan up to Uganda, and across the Red Sea and down East Africa through settlements such as Mombasa and Zanzibar. These initial conversions were of a flexible nature.

The Arab-Muslim conquests followed a general pattern of nomadic conquests of settled regions, whereby conquering peoples became the new military elite and reached a compromise with the old elites by allowing them to retain local political, religious, and financial authority. Peasants, workers, and merchants paid taxes, while members of the old and new elites collected them.

Policy Toward Non-Muslims

The Arab conquerors did not repeat the mistake made by the Byzantine and Sasanian empires, who had tried and failed to impose an official religion on subject populations, which had caused resentments that made the Muslim conquests more acceptable to them. Instead, the rulers of the new empire generally respected the traditional middle-Eastern pattern of religious pluralism, which was not one of equality but rather of dominance by one group over the others. After the end of military operations, which involved the sacking of some monasteries and confiscation of Zoroastrian fire temples in Syria and Iraq, the early caliphate was characterized by religious tolerance, and people of all ethnicities and religions blended in public life. Before Muslims were ready to build mosques in Syria, they accepted Christian churches as holy places and shared them with local Christians. In Iraq and Egypt, Muslim authorities cooperated with Christian religious leaders. Numerous churches were repaired and new ones built during the Umayyad era.

Some non-Muslim populations did experience persecution, however. After the Muslim conquest of Persia, Zoroastrians were given dhimmi (non-Muslim) status and subjected to persecutions; discrimination and harassment began in the form of sparse violence. Zoroastrians were made to pay an extra tax called Jizya; if they failed, they were killed, enslaved, or imprisoned. Those paying Jizya were subjected to insults and humiliation by the tax collectors. Zoroastrians who were captured as slaves in wars were given their freedom if they converted to Islam.

• Boundless World History. Authored by : Boundless. Located at : https://www.boundless.com/world-history/textbooks/boundless-world-history-textbook/ . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike

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Why did Islam spread so quickly DBQ/essay

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Final answer:

Islam spread quickly due to its inclusive message, the political and military prowess of the leaders promoting it, and cultural and economic factors that made adoption of the faith attractive.

Explanation:

The spread of Islam happened quickly due to several key factors. Firstly, Islam's simple, inclusive message resonated with many people seeking spiritual fulfillment. At the time, there was a general dissatisfaction with the complexities and inequalities present in many societies, and Islam's message of equality before God was very appealing.

Secondly, the political and military prowess of the early Islamic Empire helped spread the faith. The leaders of the Islamic Empire incorporated the practice of Islam into the administration of their territories, which helped to make the transition to the new faith easier for conquered peoples. Furthermore, Islam's policy of religious tolerance allowed for the peaceful coexistence of Muslims, people of other faiths, and those who had yet to convert.

Lastly, cultural and economic factors played a big role. The Islamic Empire established major trade networks and made advancements in various cultural fields like architecture, literature, and science. This fostered a sense of unity and shared culture among disparate peoples, and made adopting Islam seem more attractive.

Learn more about Spread of Islam

brainly.com/question/33477032

Why Did Islam Spread So Quickly " Islam originated in present day Saudi Arabia where the prophet, Muhammad, had been born. Islam would later be able to spread quickly through trade, the appealing nature of the Islamic faith, and military campaigns.

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…

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