What were the three methods in which Islam was diffused?

Answer 1

Islam diffused along trade routes because those who believed in it were moral and upright individuals. Islam was not unique in this. Nearly every proselytizing religion has spread through trades routes (like Christianity and Buddhism). Since Muslims had frequent trade with more distant regions, though, Islam's expansion through peaceful diffusion is more pronounced than for other religions.

Answer 2

Islam was diffused mostly by traders who travelled to various lands with goods and thus through cultural exchange. In other places it was through wanders mystics who lived their lives in poverty, devoid of materialism. See. Moinuddin Chisty.

Answer 3

Islam spread by many means, and the peaceful diffusion of Islam is only one of these methods.

Within the Islamic Empires, the call to "convert or die" was very rare, but when countries were annexed to the Caliphates, many citizens did convert either because they saw the Truth of the religion or to gain from the tax, work-related, and legal benefits that came from conversion. As a result the massive expansion of these empires was the primary method of gaining converts and it had spill-over effects. When more people had converted to Islam under the various Islamic Empires, more merchants from non-Islamic States gained exposure to Muslims and Islam. The same is true today in that with the mass Immigration of Muslims to Europe, common Europeans have more exposure to Muslims and therefore a higher likelihood of converting themselves.

Outside of the Islamic Empires, Islam, like most religions, spread also through peaceful means of commerce and education whereby non-Muslims learned of the faith and adopted as their own amidst business dealings with Muslims. This happened especially in maritime cities like Zanzibar or Aceh whose primary source of wealth was trading with Muslims.