Nowadays, Islam is one of the largest religions in the entire world, second only to Christianity. Islam is a monotheistic religion based on the words given to Muhammad by the archangel Gabriel saying that Allah was the one and only God. It began in the year 610 CE in the city of Mecca after Muhammad began to recite the words given to him by Gabriel, and was met with resistance by Arab pagans, Christians, and Jewish people, until he made the decision to leave. However, in 628, Muhammad returned to Mecca with new support and established the duties of Islam, and within 100 years after Muhammad’s death Islam had reached Europe, North Africa, and Asia. So, how did the religion of Islam extend over a large area so quickly? After analyzing the documents …show more content…
This is so because Islam’s government made the law known as the Pact, which allows conquered non-Muslims to be taxed in order to practice their religion, as stated in Document E. Laws such as the Pact could have caused certain non-Muslims to convert, which would give Islam more followers. In addition, Document F displayed that the people of Hims gave their support to the Muslims and guarded them against the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius after they declared, “ We like your rule and justice far better than the state of oppression and tyranny in which we are.” This quote along with the set of verse shown from the Qur’an on Document B support the idea that while some converted to Islam to avoid paying the tax, some genuinely believed life under the Islamic Empire was better. Furthermore, both documents showcase ways in which Islam’s rules and its government helped it …show more content…
Trade and trade routes allowed Islam to spread beyond its own borders to places such as the Persian and Byzantine Empire, and through the silk road to China and India. Many, if not all, of the trade routes shown on Document A diverge from or at least pass through the city of Mecca, the heart of Islam. Likewise, in Document C, the paths showing the spread of Islam are almost identical to the trade routes shown in Document A. Trade also allowed merchants from far away places to be introduced to the practices of Islam, which they would then carry back with them to wherever they had come from. Government allowed Islam to spread through the area Arabic people had conquered, while trade allowed Islam to spread to places unreachable to