Spread Of Islam Research Paper

The Spread of Islam

Muhammad, an orphaned child born in Mecca around 570 C.E, had greatly inspired the Arabs and influenced them to spread the Islamic religion as a “sacred duty”. Many Arabs who converted to the new religion were well respected by Muslims. However, there were few who disobeyed the offering to convert. They were either punished or forced to become slaves. “Peoples of the Book” also known as Christians and Jews, had the right to practice their faiths, but could not spread it. Along with this they paid special taxes. In 632, Muhammad died and one of this converts, Abu Bakr, succeeded Muhammad and became the new caliph. Abu spread the faith as far as Arabia. Even after the death of Abu, new caliphs after him continued to spread
After his death, the Umayyad family of Damascus took control in his place. Islam’s leadership caused major conflict between the supporters of Ali, the Sh’i, the Sunni, supporters of Aisha and the Umayyad family. In present day, this political conflict remains.

In 661, the Umayyad family moved the Islamic Arab Empire to Damascus, Syria. Mecca was frequently under siege. People were punished or killed quite often as well. At this time, the fight for control of the Arab Empire continued. Islam’s army’s intent was to spread their religion as far as possible. They managed to get as far as Asia and North America. By 711 the Arab Empire was improving and becoming more efficient each year.
The Abbasid Dynasty

Caliph the Arab word meaning “successor” did not rule as believed in the teachings of Islam at the time of the Abbasid Dynasty. After the loss of the Umayyad family, Abu-Abbas was the new caliph. The Arab capital was moved another time, to Baghdad, the power of the caliph greatly increased after this time.

In this dynasty, Abbasid caliphs had the most expensive jewels and dressed in the most fashionable clothes. Many Abbasids were wither at war or preparing for it. The first caliphs had excuses for “wage war”. Splitting the world in two (land of Islam and land of war). Many conflicts took place between the
During the twelfth century he introduced a decimal point number system by his translations on the Indian numerals. His book “The Compendious Book on Calculations by Completion and Balancing” had the first answer to Arabic linear and quadratic equations. Later he was named the original creator of algebra.

One Major Accomplishment

A major accomplishment of the Arabs was algebra. The word developed from “al-jar” meaning “reunion of broken parts”. It is a major part of mathematics that many around the world use in present day. Algebra is a study of symbols also known as variables that are manipulated to solve equations, also known as “isolating the variable” or “solve for x” which is the most commonly used symbol.

The Status of Women

Women and men in the Abbasid society were not equal. Men had more rights than women. They could not have part in government and belonged to the working class, through labour. A women who married a wealthy man or belonged to a wealthy family got to live in a harem. A harem is “a special place for women in a Muslim home where men were not