Spread Of Islam: Social, Political, And Economic Impacts

As of 2012, Islam was the second largest religion under christianity with 1.3 billion followers.(http://www.religionfacts.com/islam/comparison_charts/islam_judaism_christianity. htm)The Islamic belief was not always this big though. It originated like most other religions as a group of a few select followers under a founding leader. After many years though, the religions popularity began to grow among many civilizations. The Islam religion spread very rapidly leading to many social, political, and economic impacts.
Islam spread rapidly for many reasons. Document 1 shows that over a period of a little over 1200 years, the religion spread from the little area surrounding Mecca to nearly the whole eastern hemisphere. This includes North and East
Africa, India, the Indies, parts of Asia and lower Europe. The spreads through these areas can be attributed to many things. One aspect that could have led to the rapid spread of Islam could have been the location of where it originated. As shown by Document 2, Mecca is right on a major body of water, the Red Sea. This body of water then leads to many other major bodies of water including Mediterranean and Arabian seas. These waterways can allow travelers to reach other destinations without having to face unknown terrains. The Muslims did not only travel by water though They did use land as a way of getting from one place to the other at times. Another factor that could have lead to the rapid spread of Islam was the use of camels while traveling on land."The trans-Sahara trek became somewhat easier after the 4th century A.D., when camels were introduced in place of horses." (Koslow, Ancient Ghana: The Land of Gold)The camels were able to withstand the temperature and terrain of the desert better than the horses were.The camels may have helped move the people, but another new discovery had an even larger influence on the spread of Islam." The advent of paper-making supercharged the Islamic world’s religious lust for the written word." The ability to write ideas down on paper helped the people of the religion have a basic set of guidelines that everyone know. They were also able to more formally explain the beliefs of the religion to new followers and leave them a way to remember it. "The mass production of blank books made it easier for calligraphic experts to copy out the poetic verses of the Koran to be distributed all across the Muslim world. From about 900 CE Islamic mystics from Baghdad, called Sufis, began to teach that the Koran could help individuals gain direct experience of divine love." (Lloyd, What on Earth Happened?)Another thing that ignited a spark in the Islam religion was the fact that, "Wherever they went, the Muslims brought with them their love of art, beauty, and learning."( Roselle, A World History: A Cultural Approach) With the Moslems having such extravagant houses, people became attracted to the religion, believing that if they lived just as the Moslems did, they too would be blessed with nice things. The Moslems also had great libraries that were widely envied. Many people from all over became interested to the Islamic religion as it was quickly spread to different areas. The religion itself began to generate many changes with in civilization.
The spread of Islam had many social, political and economic impacts.
The social effect of the Islamic religion was quite large. "Wherever they went, the Muslims brought with them their love of art, beauty, and learning." The way people decorated their homes changed to incorporate Muslim style. The style of architecture itself even began to change in the areas that the religion spread to. Also, the level of education that people receive began to evolve. Mosques had schools and giant Muslim libraries were made. "...The followers of Mohammed achieved much in science, particularly in chemistry, astronomy, mathematics, and medicine…"( Roselle, A World History: A Cultural Approach). All these achievements lead to the creation of many important things. Muslims were behind the creation of the first handguns, mechanical clocks, and street lights, along with many other things.(http://metaexistence.org/inventions.htm) Politics were majorly affected by the spread of Islam. As new Muslim emperors rose to power many things were change. A good example of this would be the emperor Askia Mohammed. He, "sought to make all of the empire [of Songhai] one big Muslim community". "...He remodeled his empire along Islamic lines as far as possible. Legal and social reforms were introduced, Islamic judges were appointed in all the large districts of the empire, and justice was administered according to Muslim principles." ( Burke, Africa, Houghton Mifflin (adapted)) He wanted his whole empire to follow the same rules he did so he made them laws. Even if you were not a Muslim, you still followed all of the practices. This shows how much a main religion can affect those in an area. Economic changes were brought on by many things but the main thing that caused them was the lifestyle of the Muslims who were converting."Mansa Musa, the king of Mali, was perhaps the best example of a royal convert who developed a strong and sincere interest in Islam." He went on many pilgrimages and with
him he took many people. On these pilgrimages he brought many riches to give to the people he came across. "He distributed so much in Cairo that the value of gold dropped by as much as 25 percent while his entourage was there". Also, "his lavish expenditures in Cairo reverberated in Europe and whetted the western appetite for the precious metals."(Bentley, Old World Encounters) By him spreading his faith, Islam, he brought many changes to the worth of things. He caused people in the areas he did not go to, to want more of what he was giving. This gave it a higher value in these areas. In place that he did go to, like Cairo, the rarity of his gifts went down. This up and down was a fluctuation in the economy because economy is the wealth and resource of a country. The areas he went to became more wealth and more rich in resources that the other areas lacked and envied.
With many impacts on economy, politics and civilization, Islam spread rapidly. Cities became richer, governments became more moral, and people became smarter. Quickly, Islam went from being a religion no one knew or cared about to one of the largest religions there is. The religion will continue to grow as more people become aware of it and begin to believe in the teachings that is has. Just as it spread all those year, it continues to do now and will continue to do until the end of time.