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The starting point to one of the most successful religions took place in an arid desert with scorching hot temperatures. This peninsula, in the Middle East, known as Arabia was located between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. This desert is where a prophet would emerge and create an everlasting impact on a civilization known as Islam. Through multiple conquests Islam spread like wildfire throughout parts of Asia, Africa and Europe, changing their government, religion, culture, economics, and military forever. This paper will discuss in depth the origins and rise of Islamic civilization.
Muhammad, a spiritual and political leader, was born to a prominent family in 570 CE. In 610 CE “Muhammad received his first revelation while meditating in a cave at Mount Hira,” As recorded in the Qu’ran, “from the angel Gabriel declaring him a prophet and to spread the message of God.” Concerned for his sanity after this revelation, he kept this message to himself. After a few years Muhammad eventually started to preach the message of God and started building an army of followers. The new religion wasn’t popular in Mecca and it became dangerous for Muhammad and his followers to stay. They then took a “Hijra,” into a nearby city called Medina. By the year, 627 CE Medina had been converted to Islam.
In the 7th century, Islam was expanding its political and religious power at a rapid pace due to the war between the Byzantine and Persian Empires. Their constant battles between each other made it easy for the Muslim army to take control over the empires. The Muslims capitalized on the weakening of the empires and eventually took control over Syria, Persia, Egypt and eventually parts of Africa. Islam was taking over the Arabian peninsula due to Arab-Muslim conquests and it was happening at a very fast pace.
The death of Muhammad in 632 CE brought on new controversies. The problem during this time is the argument of who would succeed him. Some people believed in order to be Muhammad’s replacement he should be a spiritual leader, and a descended from Muhammad's bloodline. This political argument created the Caliphate and because Muhammad did not have a successor Abu Bakr became the first Caliph. Two years later, Umar took over, and then Uthman and finally Ali, but they were all assassinated by competition. According to our book, In God’s Path, during Umar’s reign, “a pact was created allowing Christians to practice their religion without fear of being executed and did not force religious conversion as long as non Muslims continued to pay taxes, most conquests happened during Umar’s reign.” This pact allowed military protection.
In 661 CE, under Mu'awiya, the Umayyad dynasty seized the Caliphate. The Umayyad dynasty was responsible for several civil wars and expanding Muslim territories further north into Byzantine territory. Mu’awiya followed a laissez-faire policy toward the conquered people “he allowed everyone to live as they wanted and reassured them he was not hostile towards their religions.” It was under their rule that Arabic culture started to emerge and spread. Between 661 CE and 750 CE, the empire continued to grow, and in order to sustain such a large empire, the Umayyads had to create a more powerful political structure. “Islamic rule was non-centralized until the military was organized under the Umayyads, who mostly kept the existing governments and cultures how they were and controlled through financial officers to collect taxes.”
Following the Umayyad dynasty, rising to power through the lineage of Muhammad was a new dynasty that brought more sophistication to the rise of Islamic civilization. The Abbasids. The Abbasids “emphasized family lineage with Muhammad rather than his Quraysh ancestors.” This revolt resulted in a change in social hierarchy. The Abbasids began to build a more desirable government in Baghdad, the new capital. Many people converted to Islam during their rule, mainly to avoid paying taxes.
As a result of the conquests and the rise and fall of multiple dynasties, along with the creation of law, philosophy, theology, and art, Islamic civilization was on its way to creating a lasting impression on history. Islamic government, religion, culture, and military made huge contributions in establishing the Islamic civilization. The journey to establish a civilization, like the journey one goes on through life, experiences many ups and downs. Those ups and downs determines how strong a person is or in this scenario how strong a civilization is. Through the development of Islamic civilization, I have learned the life of Muhammad and the Qu’ran brought the people peace and understanding of the world around them.
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