Islam/Arabs

Islam/Arabs

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Islam/Arabs

Why did Islam and the Arabs succeed in spreading throughout the Greater Middle-East/Gulf against the Byzantines and Persians?

Islam has been present in the world for many centuries and is regarded as the second largest denomination in the world with approximately 21% of the world’s population as adherents of Islam. Muslims make the coveted journey to Mecca in Saudi Arabia in their show of solidarity with their religions depicting the deep rotted faith for their religion and God, Allah. The prophet Muhammad Ibn Abdullah is responsible for initiating the Islamic religion and more so for spreading the religion to those who required it for spiritual nourishment and more so for their daily lives (Lewis, 1987). Muhammad was born in Mecca in Arabia, another reason why the Muslim communities drawn from all over the world congregate at this venue in a show of unity in fait and their religion for the teachings of God, Allah through his prophet Muhammad. The evolution and phases of growth for Islam has transformed it into one of the biggest religions in the world commanding a great following of approximately 215 being adherents of Islam (Lewis, 1987).

Spread of Islam throughout the Arabian Desert and the whole of the Middle East was facilitated by Prophet Muhammad. Muhammad preached equality and individual repercussions for individual actions in society, which enable people to feel as part of the society. This enabled him to bring a large following into the religion. He was able to win wars between his army of followers and the tribesmen who worshipped false gods and idols as he had exiled himself and his followers in Medina, in a move known as the hijra in Islamic traditions. This enabled him to retake Mecca after fighting off the tribal leaders without any resistance thus enabling him to establish and Islamic state (Historical Boys’ Clothing, 2010). The death of Muhammad turned the warring Arab tribes into one common military front. The war between the Byzantine (Roman Christians) and Sassanid (Persians) had weakened both militaries and societies as they were extravagant and had led to the death of numerous fighters. These societies were either killed or converted forcefully to Islam. Slaves were also sold to Muslim masters, and they were forced to adopt Islam as their religion of choice. Suppression of the Persian and Roman Christianity within these societies and Islam as the only dominant religion and people were forced to adopt Islam as their only means of survival.

What were the military successes of the Umayyad and Abbasids Arab Empires?

The spread of Islam was further facilitated and enforced by the Umayyad Caliphate or ‘Sons of Umayyah’ after the death of Prophet Muhammad, which was founded by Umayya ibn Abd Shams. The Umayyah family established one of the largest kingdoms in the world, which the world had ever witnessed spanning over 5,000,000 square miles (13,000,000 km2) (Kennedy, 2001). This is an indication of the military prowess, which the caliphates possessed to establish the great kingdom. Muhammad bin Qasam of the Umayyad caliphate managed to conquer the Sindh and Punjab regions in the Indus river region, in India. Muawiyah who was a descendant of Abu Sufyan enabled the Umayyad caliphate to expand and spread Islam to north Africa, Sudan, Egypt, Algeria among others and central Asian countries such as Afghanistan and Uzbekistan.

However, the Umayyad Empire came to fall after the Hashimiyya movement, which was led by the Abbasids Abbasid family, overthrew them. The Abbasids were a rival clan belonging to Hisham clan who opposed the Umayyad after the Umayyad was discarded from the noble family. The ability of the Abbasids to overthrow the Umayyad clan is a clear indication of the power that the Abbasid clan had despite the Umayyad having large militaries and resources. The two clans are claimed to have had the same origins as Prophet Muhammad. The Umayyad after losing their power in the Arabian Gulf fled to Europe and began the Caliphate of Córdoba, which is the modern day Spain and Portugal. This is an indication of the power, which was vested within the clan of Umayyad. The clan would not have been able to begin and sustain a clan without the presence of a large following and more so adequate military. The Umayyad and Prophet Muhammad through Hashim are claimed to have originated from one family with Abd Manaf ibn Qusai as their ancestor. However, the Umayyad were, chased away from the family because it is considered that they were not true heirs of the noble family, which bred hatred between the Hashim and Umayyad clans (Lewis, 1987).

The Umayyad and Abbasid were at rivalry because they originated from one family. They both facilitated the growth of Islam through their conquering efforts in Asia, Africa and gulf with specific reference on the Byzantine and Persian or Sassanid kingdoms. The capture of these kingdoms enabled them to increase their followers through enslavement, attrition and conversion of people belonging to these kingdoms. In addition, Muhammad is credited for having begun his campaign is the establishment of Islam in Mecca when he fought with tribal leaders who resisted the religion and his descendants carried on his work of spreading Islam through conquering other nations (Lewis, 1987).

References

Historical Boys’ Clothing. (2010). Spread of Islam. Retrieved from http://histclo.com/chron/me/islam/is-spread.html

Kennedy, H. (2001). The armies of the caliphs: Military and society in the early Islamic state. London: Routledge.

Lewis, B. (1987). Islam: From the Prophet Muhammad to the capture of Constantinople. New York: OxfordUniversity Press.