According to Time-Life Books, Great Ages of Man: Early Islam, Mecca was at a crossroads for a profitable caravan trade. In addition, Mecca had a vast amount of camel trains, bearing spices, perfumes, precious metals, ivory, and silk. This was a major cause for the spread of Islam because many people were attracted to the precious items offered. Therefore, traders arrived at Mecca and became mesmerized by the religion and attractions such as the holy pagan shrine, the Ka’ba. This influenced their ideas and beliefs. When the traders reached their homes, they preached their beliefs of Islam to others around them. This resulted in a chain reaction of people influencing one another, and the end result was that the entire portion of that piece of the world became predominantly Islamic. Also, many other major cities such as Aden, Petra, Damascus, and Medina were located fairly close to Mecca. Therefore, traders coming from the north or south of the Arabian Peninsula traveled through Mecca to arrive at the other major …show more content…
According to the Quran, a person who submits to God is devout, sincere, patient, humble, charitable, and chaste. In addition, the Quran stated that whoever killed a human being, except as punishment for murder or other villainy, shall be deemed as having killed all mankind, and whoever saved a human life shall be deemed as having saved all mankind. As Muhammad preached these words to the people of Mecca and others parts of the world such as Europe and Asia, the people saw a sophisticated, just religion. They acknowledged that Islam valued how priceless human life really was and that if something were to happen to them or another person close to them, the person who committed the crime would be severely punished. Not only did the Quran state the price of human life, but it also stated that both men and women would enter paradise. This made women feel that they would be treated equally, and it was a great deal during this time period because women were often treated as lesser halves of men. Also, peace was guaranteed to all who practiced Islam; violence would no longer be an