Rise of Islam
The Spread of Islam started shortly after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in 632. During his lifetime, the community of Muhammad, the ummah, was established in the Arabian Peninsula by means of conversion to Islam and conquering of territory. In the first centuries conversion to Islam followed the rapid growth of the Islamic world under the Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphs.
Muslim dynasties were soon established and subsequent empires such as those of the Abbasids, Almoravids, Seljuk Turks, Mughals in India and Safavids in Persia and Ottomans were among the largest and most powerful in the world. The Islamic world was composed of numerous sophisticated centers of culture and science with far-reaching mercantile networks, travelers, scientists, astronomers, mathematicians, doctors and philosophers, all of whom contributed to the Golden Age of Islam.
The activities of this quasi-political early ummah resulted in the spread of Islam as far from Mecca as China and Indonesia, the latter containing the world's largest Muslim population. As of October 2009, there were 1.571 billion Muslims,[1] making Islam the second-largest religion in the world.[2]
Conversion
Increasing conversion to Islam paralleled the rapid military expansion of the Arab Empire in the first centuries after the Islamic prophet Muhammad's death. Muslim dynasties were soon established in North Africa, West Africa, throughout the Middle East and in Iran. It is generally agreed upon by historians that this took place through conversion of slaves and poor people, as well as waging wars on nearby tribes.
[edit] Phase I: The Early Caliphs and Umayyads (610-750)
See also: Muslim conquests, Rashidun Caliphate, and Umayyad Caliphate
This was the time of the life of Islamic Prophet Muhammad and his early successors, the four rightly guided caliphs, as well as the dynasty of the Umayyad Caliphs (661-750).
In the first last century the establishment of Islam upon the Arabian peninsula and the
Muslim dynasties were soon established and subsequent empires such as those of the Abbasids, Almoravids, Seljuk Turks, Mughals in India and Safavids in Persia and Ottomans were among the largest and most powerful in the world. The Islamic world was composed of numerous sophisticated centers of culture and science with far-reaching mercantile networks, travelers, scientists, astronomers, mathematicians, doctors and philosophers, all of whom contributed to the Golden Age of Islam.
The activities of this quasi-political early ummah resulted in the spread of Islam as far from Mecca as China and Indonesia, the latter containing the world's largest Muslim population. As of October 2009, there were 1.571 billion Muslims,[1] making Islam the second-largest religion in the world.[2]
Conversion
Increasing conversion to Islam paralleled the rapid military expansion of the Arab Empire in the first centuries after the Islamic prophet Muhammad's death. Muslim dynasties were soon established in North Africa, West Africa, throughout the Middle East and in Iran. It is generally agreed upon by historians that this took place through conversion of slaves and poor people, as well as waging wars on nearby tribes.
[edit] Phase I: The Early Caliphs and Umayyads (610-750)
See also: Muslim conquests, Rashidun Caliphate, and Umayyad Caliphate
This was the time of the life of Islamic Prophet Muhammad and his early successors, the four rightly guided caliphs, as well as the dynasty of the Umayyad Caliphs (661-750).
In the first last century the establishment of Islam upon the Arabian peninsula and the