In 570, near the town of Mecca, Muhammad was born. By the time Muhammad was in his late 40’s he went on a spiritual journey. During this journey he claimed that an angel named Gabriel spoke and told him to recite his words. Muhammad recited the words and a new religion was born; Islam. The new religion flourished and spread drastically. There is debate about whether Islam was forced into the lives of people or if it was cultural diffusion. Both force and cultural diffusion contributed in the spread of Islam.
Cultural diffusion is the spread of cultural beliefs and social activities. The Qur’an is a book written while Muhammad was still alive and what he preached. The Qur’an attracts more people to practice Islam with the verse,”But the believers
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An Arab judge wrote a book of Islamic law for the caliph. A caliph is a spiritual ruler, selected to lead the Muslim community. One of the laws in the book is,”To defend the lands of the Islam and to protect them from intrusion so that people may earn their livelihood and travel at will without danger to life or property”(Document E). Guaranteed protection for practicing Islam would appeal to more followers.
Force contributed a broad amount of people to practice Islam. The religion was unable spread peacefully due to the ghazu. The ghazu is raids against other tribes, trying to convert their religion forcefully. “...The objective...was plunder and a common activity that would preserve the unity of the ummah”(Document D). Document D shows how people were forced into the Islamic religion Against their will non-Muslim communities neighboring Muslim communities were invaded and involuntarily forced into the religion.
The Muslim community was spreading quickly and pressure was on for converting. “When by Allah’s help the ‘unbelievers’ were defeated and the Muslims won, they opened the gates of their cities, went out with the singers and music players who began to play, and paid the [land tax]”(Document F). The land tax is for Christians who were unwilling to convert and now they have to pay an extra tax. If a person converted they wouldn’t have to pay extra money to keep their