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March 19, 2013

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 …show more content…

“The Origins of the Islamic State” (Doc. F) also helped with the spread of Islam because in Circa 850 CE the Muslims were not able to protect the people of Hims because they were busy with their own war and the people of Hims converted to Islam so they could get protection. This boosted the numbers of the Muslims and it showed that many people converted due to war because it was more convenient to convert to Islam than it was to fight these large armies with no help at all. Ahmad ibn-Jabir al-Baladhuri, the author, used a grim tone to help convey his belief of why the Hims converted to Islam instead of keeping their same belief. It would have helped convey the message of military conquest by getting a journal entry of a commander in the Muslim army so that inferences can be made on how the military made the conversion to Islam possible to so many “non-believers” so that readers can understand how this helped boost the Muslim population.

Islam spread quickly through trade because the many people that traveled to Mecca heard the words of Muhammad and they spread the word to others creating a domino effect with “non-believers. Islam spread quickly through its appealing nature too by telling Muslims of peace and Harmony and other things that appealed to the Muslims such as equality. Military campaigns helped spread Islam as well by forcing people to convert so they can avoid paying taxes and it was more convenient for these people