Why did the Islamic empire grow?

Answer 1

The Islamic empire grew because the Muslim Brotherhood was and is a very persuasive entity. It persuades in various ways: By a genuine giving to the poor and needy; by providing health care; by being very visible; by endless preaching; by oppression of women, to the unlimited delight of men; by severe punishments for infractions of the way the MB interprets the Quran. Finally, the empire grew because people were given a choice: Remain Jewish, and we will kill you. Convert to Islam, and you can live. Most people chose life, and too late realized they would've been better off dead than trying to submit to the laws of Islam.

Answer 2

Answers from Others

Answer 1

The principal behind the expansion was the realisation by the people that Islam is the best religion and that accepting Islam would help them lead better life.

Owing to strict enforcement of laws in the Islamic States of Makkah and Madinah, many people from other places requested the Muslims to take over their land and extend the golden principles of Islam top their land.

The greatest source of expansion was the acceptance of Islam by the rulers and kings. After their acceptance, their territories were automatically added to the Muslim Empire.

Answer 2

Islam spread by violent means. Muhammad began to teach Islam in Makkah. At first the most powerful men in Makkah ignored the Muslims, but by 616 they had become angry with Muhammad who, they said, reviled the faith of their fathers, was obviously a charlatan and only pretended to be a prophet. He was forced to flee to Madinah (Yathrib). Some envoys from Yathrib approached Muhammad during the hajj in 620, converted to Islam and undertook a treaty of mutual support with the Muslims. In 622, the Muslim families slipped away, one by one, and made the migration to Yathrib. Muhammad, whose new protector had recently died, was almost assassinated before escaping.

There was not enough farming land for the immigrants from Mecca. In order to support themselves, they began to conduct ghazu (raids) against the rich Meccan caravans. In March 624, Muhammad led a large band to the coast to intercept the largest Meccan caravan of the year. The Quraysh sent an army to defend the caravan, but the Muslims inflicted a stunning defeat at the well of Badr. This impressed the Bedouin tribes, some of whom enjoyed seeing the mighty Quraysh brought low. Many were willing to side with Muhammad, in the belief that his forces were unbeatable, and gradually Islam spread through the Arabian peninsula and beyond.

By 711 CE, the Muslim Berbers were invited to invade Spain, but this was not because the population wished to convert en masse to Islam. It was the result of tensions between Catholic Christians and Arian Christians in the Iberian peninsula, and revolved around the right to freedom of religion.

By the tenth century, Islamdom was no longer functioning as a single political unit. In 1055, Seljuk Turks seized power in Baghdad, and the caliph agreed to recognise them as his lieutenants throughout the Dar al-Islam, lands under Islamic rule. In 1070, the Seljuks conquered Syria from the Fatimids and found the Byzantine border poorly defended. The cavalry inflicted a devasting defeat on the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikurt in 1071 and within a decade, Turkish nomads had spread throughout Anatolia.

During the fourteenth century, Turkish forces crossed the Aegean, settled in the Balkans and reached the Danube. They had now occupied Eastern Europe and North-western India.

(From Islam: A Short History, by Karen Armstrong)

Answer 3

The Islamic empire spread through:

• The truthfulness and logistics of the Islam religion
• Authenticity of the Quran as real God word revelation to prophet Muhammad
• Good Islam morals and the good morals of Muslims
• prophet Muhammad (Peace be be upon him) as a good model for humanity
• Islam religion call for fairness and justice especially among non Muslims
• Equal human rights irrelevant to race, color, gender, and/or nationality

Answer 3

The early Caliphates (or Islamic Empires) expanded due to a number of factors. It is notable that although there are a few occurrences of Muslims carrying out the "Convert or Die" scenario, this is not the most common reason for Islam's expansion exclusively in terms of territory.

1) Arabia - What's that?: Prior to Mohammed, Arabia had been seen as a cultural and political backwater barely worth notice and therefore Mohammed's consolidation of the Arab Tribes was not seriously considered by the Byzantine and Sassanian Empires. This lead to a very porous southern defense and miscalculation of the Islamic Armies.

2) Byzantine-Sassanian Wars: Since the Byzantines and Sassanians considered each other the only real civilizations in the region, they fought each other numerous times in the early 600s C.E. over control of what is today East Turkey and Iraq. These were intense religious wars (Christian vs. Zoroastrian) and greatly weakened both empires at just the wrong time.

3) Tribal Command Structure: Arab Tribes and warriors owed their loyalty to their Sheikhs and leaders without fault because the Sheikh provided each person with all of the amenities and protection necessary to live a full life. Whenever the Arabs went to war, the Sheikhs could count on the ability to muster their tribesmen as soldiers without issue.

4) Support of the Locals: Since the Byzantine Empire and Sassanian Empire were engaged in religious zealotry, it stands to reason that they did not tolerate their religious minorities very well. The Muslims professed to (and did) treat minorities far better than either of these Empires. This led to religious minorities (especially Jews) from within the conquered territories helping Muslims to secure outposts and positions, freeing the Muslims to continue to spread the religion.

5) Citizenship by Conversion: The Islamic Empire was interesting in that being the leader or a person of import in the Empire was not contingent on ethnicity or place of birth as was the case of most prior empires. All a person had to do to gain power and prestige was to convert to Islam. This simple integration mechanism resulted in a massive number of Persians, Berbers, and Turks converting to Islam. In fact, the furthest expansions of Islam (Spain, India, West China, South Russia, the Balkans) were all accomplished by non-Arabs (respectively Berbers, Persians/Mughals, Turkmen, Azeris, and Ottomans).

6) Warfare: The leaders charged with expanding the influence of Islam were thoughtful and diligent military leaders. Caliph 'Omar, who conquered much of the Levant, Egypt, Persia, and Iraq was well-known as a strategist and a fighter. It was this knowledge of warfare that allowed Muslim forces to expand the territory's influence.

7) Universality: Islam, as a religion, claims salvation for all people in all places, making the religion very attractive, especially to people born into low castes and bad economic positions.

Answer 4

Like the spread of most religions, a mixture of trade, missionary work, conquest, and politically opportune conversions. Very vague, I know, but the question is massive.